TRIBO MASSAHI - Estrelando Embaixador (1972) / EMBAIXADOR - 45 (19??)

Tribo Massàhi is a perfect example of how user-generated content online is overturning how we create cultural canons. This obscure gem has been posted on a great many blogs over the last several years. Though seemingly much loved, details about the album or its creators still remain unknown. La Colmena de Humo seems to have pulled together a few facts. Apparently the lead songwriter—known as Embaixador (Ambassador)—appeared in at least one film in Brazil, playing a gangster in the James Bonds-like musical Roberto Carlos em Ritmo de Aventura (1968), and is reported to have died in the 90s. I am assuming he recorded the single first, a more conservative affair as evidenced by the tamer version of "Fareuá" on the B-side, before making an ensemble album, Estrelando Embaixador, under the collective name Tribo Massàhi. The production quality and experimentation on the Tribo Massàhi recording is an exponential leap forward from the the 45. Estrelando Embaixador  is candomblé-inspired psychedelic party music, taking the Afro-Brazlian sound into some wild territory. It's a heady mix of tropicalismo, chimed guitar, conversational chatter, studio fuckery, and heavy percussion with a female chorus. The songs blend together so that each side of the record runs as a continual piece. Side A is called "Timolô, Timodê;" Side B "Lido's Square."

A few notes: Though the original record Estrelando Embaixador plays nonstop start to finish on each side, I have separated the tracks here for your mp3/deejay convenience. I also tried to slightly clean up the sound, but the higher bitrate here may be misleading; I appropriated the same source files as posted on Brazilian Nuggets, which is where I bid you go if you prefer the unedited files. I also just ripped the singles for the Embaixador 45 off of Youtube because that's the only way to hear them so far to my knowledge. More info in the comments section.

AMBASSADOR

SECOS & MOLHADOS - Secos & Molhados (1973) + Secos & Molhados II (1974)

Originally the brainchild of João Ricardo, Secos & Molhados took definitive form in August 1972 with the addition of the bisexually charismatic countertenor, Ney Matogrosso. Ricardo wrote many of the songs on the group's first album when he was still a teenager. By the time he was joined by Gerson Conrad, who shared songwriting duties, Ricardo had pretty much formed the concept—face paint, a combination of Portugese vira, tropicália, schmaltz, and glam rock, and a male singer with a very high-pitched voice. After a few less successful lineups, Ricardo met Matogrosso through a mutual friend, Luli (of future Luli e Lucinha fame). After a few months of intensive practice, they played their first show in December and signed to Continental Records almost immediately. They were an overnight success, breaking records within the first couple of months and eventually selling over a million copies.

Ever since I first learned of Secos & Molhados from WFMU's blog post in 2005, I've been fascinated with the group's enormous success there. For one thing, despite Brazil's well-known record of sexual tolerance and a thriving gay community, they also have the highest rates of violence against homosexuals anywhere in the world, with few murder cases ever being solved. Furthermore, Secos e Molhados came on the scene when the right-wing military junta still kidnapped and tortured subversives. If their Indo-Hippie pansexual thing wasn't wild enough, instead of lyrics they quoted poems from the likes of Fernando Pessoa, Julio Cortazar, Oswald De Andrade, and João Apolinário (Ricardo's father). At any rate, Secos & Molhados were a short-lived affair, breaking up less than two years after they formed. They released a second eponymous record (underrated in my opinion though admittedly spotty) and then they broke up shortly after over some money shit. Matogrosso went on to a successful solo career, but hung onto the persona well into the MPB years. He eventually lost the face paint after reinventing himself as a singer of standards in 1986. Ricardo did some fairly interesting solo work but returned to claim the Secos & Molhados name in the late 70s and 80s with little success and no original members.

  

SECOS E MOLHADOS