Bingo

Motor Maravilha by Bango

Continuing our southern hemisphere stretch, I'd like to present to you a slice of classic psychedelia from Brazil, the heavy heavy sound that is Bango. A four piece (or so I assume from the crazy melting and bleeding heads on the cover) who's self-titled album, originally released in 1970, is considered a classic of the genre, and one of the best Brazillian psychedelic albums ever released.

I love how the song sort of starts out all easy, like any other rock song from the era, but then the fuzzy-buzzy guitars start in, and at the chorus the heaviness really kicks in. At the same time, the harmonized vocals give it a kind of sweetness that I really appreciate. The whole CD is really good, and shows the band's range, from short, sweet poppy songs, to these huge ear-melting psychedlic work-outs. I can only imagine the kind of funky, crazy parties at which you'd see a band like Bango in Brazil in 1970. I always enjoy hearing what folks from other countries do within the bounds of well established musical genres, and this is no exception. Pair that with the fact that I think Brazillian Portuguese is one of the most beautiful sounding languages out there, and you have a real winner here.

I've really only begun to learn about rare psych records lately, but there's quite a collectors market for it, much like rare funk and soul from the same era, with many albums that were released either on tiny little labels, or as private-press recordings. Original pressings of Bango go for upwards of $700...

Buuuuuut, thanks to the German upstart Shadoks Music, this album, and many other rare classics of psychedelia, has been reissued. You can purchase Bango and other Shadoks releases from Forced Exposure if you're in the US, or from Normal Records, Shadoks' distributor in Europe. For you Brazilian's, I'm not sure what to tell you - maybe you'll get lucky and find yourself a vinyl copy at a garage sale?