7/13/7, Los Angeles: Brazilian tropicalia pioneers Os Mutantes haven't popped up onstage in the U.S. very often since their late-sixties hey-day, but the revitalized group has been making the rounds lately, and hopefully they'll be back soon (and play more than just four North American cities).
Probably best know for their fuzzy, exotic 1968 garage nugget "Bat macumba", Os Mutantes' founding brothers Arnaldo Baptista and Sergio Dias Baptista are nowadays joined by Sergio's wife-singer Zelia Duncan, original drummer Ronaldo "Dinho" Leme and 6 newbies, all extremely talented. The dectet spun some feel-good Brazilain jams, freely bouncing from samba to bosa nova to straight rock, with Sergio truly shredding his axe. Where has this guy been for the past 30-odd years? He sounds like Vernon Reid, except all of his solos seem necessary. He even quoted a few licks from Clapton's phantom solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
The nearly-sold out El Rey ate it up, and went nuts when they kicked out a mega-extended take on "Bat Macumba" for their sonically psychedelic encore. Os Mutantes seemed to be having too much fun not to return for a proper U.S tour soon.
L.A. indie rapper Busdriver landed the opening slot, but his clever wordplay and often improvised rhymes were all but drowned out by his DJ tag-team of Anti-MC and Daddy Kev. In a nod to the ominous date of the performance, Kev sported a Jason-style goalie mask while Busdriver, his apparent victim, wore a plastic knife-in-the-head rig.
Pitchfork has an excellent set of photos from their recent Chicago gig, and a clip of the performing "Bat Macumba" at the Pitchfork Fest last year. Hey hey!
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