There was quite a bit of buzz on this title when it first came out. I listened to it at the time and thought it was good, but nothing really special. In acquiring the CD for the first time recently, I sat down again with it and enjoyed a +1 listen, but it still fell short of my rather lofty expectation. Part of that is the title of the set and the hype that comes with it (yes... hype). To level set the perspective I'm coming from: I wasn't really a 45 guy until the last 5 years or so. And that was driven by similar compilations to Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas. These mostly American comps really delivered the goods. The best of the best of fuzz psychers. Each track an adrenalin rush filled with raging guitars and teenage angst. I've since found some unknowns on my own, adding to the allure the genre can bring.
Now we're in Brazil. The land of Gal Costa, Som Imaginario, Os Mutantes, Modulo 1000, and Lula Cortes & Ze Remalho. Combine the US experience of 45s with the albums of the aforementioned groups, and this CD should be phenomenal. But it's really not. Which is different than saying it's a waste of time or not any good. If it was that, I wouldn't bother to feature it. Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas is a very good and varied selection of obscure (as in seriously obscure) bands from Brazil putting out interesting, if somewhat underwhelming material. In this way, it reminds me of those comps I just covered in Nigeria and Zambia. Though this is definitely more psychedelic influenced, and Brazil had a fascinating and established culture happening in the late 60s. For the finest hotels you were getting Astrud Gilberto and Sergio Mendes. In the underground were Loyce e Os Gnomes, perhaps the finest group on offer here. Considering the overall package, this still is well worth acquiring for historical deep divers.
Ownership: CD: 2010 WPFC. Recent new acquisition (2023). Awesome digipak with a full history for each artist. WPFC stands for World Psychedelic Funk Classics and were based in Cheyenne, Wyoming (what???).
4/12/23 (new entry)
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