- Although electronic artists have long raided it for samples, genuine Brazilian music is something of a niche market outside of South America itself. That's where London-based Far Out Recordings have laid out their stall however; offering not just the wares of Brazilian-influenced producers like Flytronix and Mark Pritchard's Troubleman project, but also importing new indigenous acts such as Sabrina Malheiros, alongside reissuing rare masterpieces from Brazilian legends like Azymuth and Joyce. Far Out boast a back catalogue that has won them many loyal customers, not least Gilles Peterson, Kenny Dope and 4 Hero, all of whom have mixed editions of the label's Brazilika series.
As with many specialist concerns, those compilations could all seem slightly samey if you're not actually an aficionado yourself. Most people can tell the difference between samba and bossa nova, but dilettantes may hear a lot of Brazilian music blending into a blur of thundering percussion, sultry jazz and Latin vocals, glorious though it so often is.
The third Brazilika, mixed by Andy Votel, was the exception to that "get one and you've got them all" rule though. Subtitled "Subtropical Sunstroke Psych-Out," Votel's contribution took Far Out on a sharp swerve left into the strange fringes of Brazilian rock to unearth old artists who seemingly had as much in common with the oddball psychedelia Votel puts out on his Finders Keepers imprint as they did with the more traditional Latin music which is Far Out's normal stock-in-trade. It was a true journey into uncharted territory in a way so few compilations of any genre really are, and it's territory that Far Out delve even deeper into with Far Out Spaced Odyssey.
Widening the remit to include jazz, folk and electronica from the '70s to the present day, this vinyl-only compilation serves as an eye-opening reminder that there's much more to Brazilian music than carnival dancers whooping it up to samba bands in Rio De Janeiro. Indeed, Jose Mauro's "Apocalipse" or Reza Brava's "Piri" sound more like the soundtrack to some hippy free festival on the weird hinterlands of folk where Tunng reside. Things then get even weirder still, as an unsettling ambient mist envelops Rabotnik's "Jonas" before being blown away by the short space rock storm of Binario's "E Ai Galera Voltei." And although they might be synonymous with the vintage sound of Brazil, Azymuth themselves take a ride on this spaceship with the sprawling psychedelic jazz-funk groove of "Caca A Raposa" and the mellifluous keys and broken beats in Rabotnik's remix of "Os Cara La." Ultimately, Far Out Spaced Odyssey belongs not to any single country but to a world beyond musical boundaries—and most definitely in your collection.
Tracklist 01. Jose Mauro - Apocalipse
02. Piri - Reza Brava
03. Aleuda - Galope (A.P.E Remix)
04. Joyce | Nana Vaconcelos | Mauricio Maestro - Tudo Bonito
05. Binario - Diretriz
06. Rabotnik - Jonas
07. Binario - E Ai Galera Voltei
08. Kirk DeGiorgio's Offworld - Black Magic
09. Azymuth - Caca A Raposa
10. Azymuth - Os Cara La (Rabotnik Remix)