Arnaldo Baptista - Loki?

Anyone who visits regularly, or has read the little blurb about detritus on the right hand side of this page, will know that I am consistently fascinated by the music that turns up at those places where people get rid of their junk. I used to buy lots of new records containing new music by new bands, indeed, I spent a number of years working in a record shop selling new music by new bands to other hip young things (though this is many years ago now), but I now find it difficult to remember the last new record I bought. I feel much more excited by the thrill of finding something wonderful and unusual in a flea market and that thrill shows no signs of abaiting.

I picked this LP up at a boot sale about a year ago. Shuffling through a pile of old vinyl (mostly Cliff Richard, Des O'Connor, James Last and all the other usual suspects) I was immediately taken by the bizarrely tasteless cover of this particular record. I really didn't know what to expect when I bought it and, as the label show the release date as 1983, I was expecting to hear something pretty horrible. Upon returning home and putting the record on the turntable, I was certainly very confused to hear this sensitive, piano driven prog-pop music.

Luckily (although this is a moot point), we now appear to have a world of information at our fingertips and Google provided me with plenty of gossip about Arnaldo Baptista, one of Brazil's most important musical figures. Arnaldo was one of the founding members of the legendary group, Os Mutantes, and was a leading light of the tropicalia movement throughout the '60s and early '70s. By 1974 the drugs, touring, military harrassment and complex relationships within the group became too much for Arnaldo and he left the band amidst rumours of nervous breakdowns and an ever loosening grip on reality. He recorded Loki? at this troubled time in his life, then promptly retired from the spotlight.

Here's a taste of Os Mutantes psychedelic lunacy:


Now taste the madness of Loki?


Tracklist:

01 Sera Que Eu Vou Virar Bolor?
02 Uma Pessoa So
03 Nao Estou Nem Ai'
04 Vou Me Afundar Na Lingerie
05 Honky Tonky
06 Ce Ta' Pensando Que Eu Sou Loki?
07 Desculpe
08 Navegar De Novo
09 Te Amo Podes Crer
10 E Facil

Get it HERE.