One of the advantages of living in the 00s is that we can take stock and review the past 40 years in music. You can browse through distant periods and places, miles away from rock, and come back with a radically different approach to pop music itself — like coming to the conclusion that sophisticated harmonies and arrangements are definitely not the preserve of a musical elite. Listening to Brazilian treasures from the 60s and 70s — or to French and Italian film soundtracks from the same period — is more than just doing an investigation into the past. It's like discovering the future of pop music. This is a music that seeks to explore and inform the music of tomorrow.

For a long time, the general notion of Brazilian music was associated with a not very positive cliche of easy listening orchestral schmaltz — even the great 'Tom' Jobim did crap instrumental elevator music arrangements for his own material

It always seemed that Brazilian music (or MPB, Música Popular Brasileira) was doomed to stay in a seldom visited backyard in the record shops — and in our thoughts — somewhere between jazz and world music. This incredible music never had a chance to become a major force in pop — unlike its not very distant American cousin rhythm 'n' blues. There were good attempts to bring it to a wider audience. Labels like Far Out, Mr. Bongo, David Byrne's Luaka Bop, What Music and EMI's Hemisphere re-released old albums and some nice compilations — which never sold well. The lack of an international commercial appeal may have three simple explanations: a) MPB is sung in Portuguese — which is a very nice sounding language indeed, b) its rhythm is based on samba, which is in the 2/4 time, instead of the usual 4/4 pattern which makes rock music much easier to dance to, and c) its melodic and harmonic structures are unusual, sophisticated, almost too complicated — ask jazz musicians about this.

In fact, Brazilian music has captivated the world only once, in the early sixties, when bossa nova was the epitome of cool. It was more like a summer fever really. Bossa nova quickly ended up as a genre of jazz standards, fitted for the laid back and more softer moments in the repertoire of every jazz bar group. And for a long time, the general notion of Brazilian music was associated with a not very positive cliche of easy listening orchestral schmaltz — even the great 'Tom' (Antonio) Jobim did crap instrumental elevator music arrangements for his own material then.

These were effervescent times. The utterly beautiful harmonic tapestries, colorful arrangements and astonishing beats made Brazilian music so mysterious and unique, fluid and pop

So many things happened in Brazil beyond ''Girl From Ipanema'', one can only wonder that it is still such an obscure item. Slowly, its influence is getting noted. You can spot elements of MPB in David Byrne, Beck, Burt Bacharach, Stereolab, Ryuichi Sakamoto and dozens of Japanese dancefloor jazz artists (Pizzicato Five, Towa Tei, U.F.O.) from the nineties.

So here is a particular selection of Brazilian music, that tries to uncover some of the gems from its most creative period , the 60s and the 70s, when the idea of exploring new territories and bringing in some elements of jazz and rock, consolidated two movements (bossa nova, tropicalia) and defined all the parameters of modern pop music in Brazil. These were effervescent times. The utter beautiful harmonic tapestries, colorful arrangements and astonishing beats, which made Brazilian music so mysterious and unique, fluid and pop. During this time, the great singers and writers were at their best, from Joao Gilberto to Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil to Milton Nascimento, Jorge Ben (who changed his name to Benjor in the 80s) to Os Mutantes, just to mention a few. This period will never be repeated.

Almost everything here is linked to the samba rhythm. It's not rock 'n' roll, but you're gonna like it a damn lot.

THE BRAZILIAN GEMS HOMETAPE

SIDE A

1. NILO AMARO E SEUS CANTORES DE ·BANO
Leva Eu Sodade (2.56)
Album: Os Anjos Cantam (Odeon) 1961

One of the few hits from this 12-headed black vocal group, formed in a suburb from Rio. They were strongly influenced by The Platters and American gospel music, but the soulful ''Leva Eu Sodade'' sounds more like ''música caipira'', popular music from the countryside. A ballad about homesickness, sung by sheer beautiful deep voices. Nothing to do with bossa nova.

2. TAMBA TRIO
Barumba (2.50)
Album: Tempo (Mercury) 1964

Like Quarteto Novo, this instrumental/vocal trio, led by the deceased pianist Luis EÁa, was always at the edge of MPB, clashing Brazilian rhythms with cool jazz and lots of strange ideas. The vocals sound like Kristof Komeda's score for Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers. Totally dissonant, they are almost reluctant to fit in with the chords. Fantastic drumming by Halcio Milito.

3. OS IPANEMAS
Java (3.19)
Album: Os Ipanemas (CBS) 1964

Completely unknown quintet — even in Brazil — lead by deceased trombonist and arranger Astor Silva. Afro-bossa at its best, without drums, just percussion. Great chords, haunting voices. Could have been a major influence on Jorge Ben, who knows?

4. QUARTETO EM CY & TAMBA TRIO
Agua De Beber (2.44)
Album: Som Definitivo (Forma) 1966

Absolutely cool female vocal quartet — four sisters, whose names all began with ''Cy...'' — merging with Tamba Trio's famous instrumental eloquence. Edgy vibes all around, chords verging into dissonance, radical texture arrangements and completely unpredictable vocal turnings. This is almost free-form music, compared with Sinatra's version of the same Tom Jobim song (see below).

5. JORGE BEN
Menina Gata Augusta (2.59)
Album: O Bidú (SilÍncio No Brooklyn) (Mocambo) 1967

By now, everybody must have heard of Jorge Ben, the inventor of the shuffled samba — maybe he is the John Fogerty of Brazilian music. Beck and a lot of underground bands love him. A sport injury prevented him from becoming a football player, and he became one of Brazil's most influential songwriters. This is what perfect pop music should be. There is a samba-loop, that is repeated until you're lost, and then, unexpectedly, you're almost approaching dissonance. The instrument choices, as always, are vey bizarre: 12 string guitars, a wild piano, and, at the end, Jorge Ben's signature yelp in the background.

6. QUARTETO NOVO
Algodao (7.15)
Album: Quarteto Novo (Odeon) 1967

Airto Moreira's and Hermeto Paschoal's first recording group. Both went on to work with some of the finest musicians of the 70s — including Miles Davis. Quarteto Novo only recorded one album, simply a classic. All songs are a mixture of bossa nova with baiao, a genre from the North East, with strong roots in Iberic music. The unusual choice of instruments makes them totally unique (12 string guitars, piano, flute, percussion). No one else's record would include a triangle solo. Where do you want to go with this song? To North Africa, to Gil Evans, to Miles Davis circa Kind of Blue? It's all here.

7. ASTRUD GILBERTO
The Face I Love (2.06)
Album: Beach Samba (Verve) 1967

This English version of a Marcos Valle song (Chris Montez also recorded it), arranged by Eumir Deodato (who worked with Bjork on her last two albums), has a French feel. It could have come from the soundtrack of The Umbrellas From Cherbourg, but the chorus is too cool. It's great how the vibes sneak in the background. Did you know that Astrud, the figurehead of bossa nova, never ever recorded in Brazil?

8. MILTON NASCIMENTO
Travessia (4.13)
Album: Travessia (Codil) 1967

Milton Nascimento is probably one of the greatest unknown songwriters in the world — ask Burt Bacharach. ''Travessia'' (recorded in America by Milton and Sarah Vaughan as ''Bridges'') is his very first masterpiece. It shows off his harmonic side, as opposed to his more experimental one. There's so much information, you could write a hundred songs out of it. The second verse is totally unexpected. This is the song that draw Bjork's attention to the arrangement skills of Eumir Deodato.

9. GILBERTO GIL
Domingo No Parque (3.40)
Album: Gilberto Gil (Philips) 1968

West Side Story in 4 minutes. Love, passion, knifes, death and a noisy fairground. Bombastic, laid back, funny and sad. Samba, blues, baiao, Beatles, soundtrack music. The whole spirit of the Tropicalia in one song. Urban sambas filtered through the lenses of rock music and counterculture ideology, or vice-versa. Guitars and background vocals are courtesy of the legendary Os Mutantes.

10. OS MUTANTES
Panis Et Circenses (3.38)
Album: Os Mutantes (Philips) 1968

The brothers Baptista (Arnaldo and Sergio) and Rita Lee were os Mutantes, Brazil's very own version of the Beach Boys, the Beatles and the Byrds, all in one band. They were young, rebellious, beautiful and funny, had millions of crazy musical ideas, introduced synthesizers and guitars to MPB, were miles ahead of their time and the more conservative people hated them. They recorded three incredible albums for Philips, before turning into a progressive rock outfit. This is the opener of their first album. Tom & Jerry, Stones, psychedelia, medieval vocals and piping trumpets. They turned the tape down, in the middle of the song. You can blame the arranger, Rogerio Duprat — the George Martin of the whole Tropicalia (he also worked with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Ze and Gal Costa) — for the breathtakingly original orchestrations.

11. JORGE BEN
Crioula (3.30)
Album: Jorge Ben (Philips) 1969

The brass section is dancing all over the place. Somehow, Ben gets his vocals to wind up around the brass. And, again, he is yelping in the background.

12. OS MUTANTES
Caminhante Noturno (5.09)
Album: Os Mutantes (Philips) 1969

As mad as the stuff in Smile, the legendary Beach Boys album. A cabaret orchestra, guitars, lots of vocals, effects and dozens of radical harmonic changes.

SIDE B

1. CHICO BUARQUE
Pois · (2.36)
Album: Chico Buarque de Hollanda Nr. 4 (Philips) 1970

Chico Buarque's songs about being dumped by a long time partner have the emotionally devastating effect of a Thomas Hardy novel. He has also written songs loaded with leftist politic metaphors — as a lot of other songwriters did, during the military dictatorship years — but he is definitely an unrivaled genius when writing from the perspective of the loser in the game of love, be it a man or a woman. If you don't understand the lyric, you will maybe think that he is just trying to emulate Joao Gilberto's unique singing style, which is a shame.

2. MARCOS VALLE
Garra (3.02)
Album: Garra (EMI) 1971

Valle, revered by the international acid jazz scene, is more of an outsider in Brazil, where he is never remembered as one of its greatest songwriters. Maybe he has lost some credibility in the 70s, because of his work as a composer of TV soap opera and film soundtracks. ''Garra" has a chorus which is ripped off advertising music, and suddenly shifts into a sort of ''tribute to the Beatles'' part.

3. FRANK SINATRA & ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM
Water To Drink (2.35)
Album: Sinatra & Company (Reprise) 1971

Bossa nova was so cool, that Sinatra wanted to join in. This is from his second session with Jobim, after the wonderful first album with ''Girl From Ipanema'' and other classics, recorded in 67. The arrangement, again, is from Eumir Deodato. Sinatra sings a slightly left-wingish lyric in Portuguese, ''agua de beber / agua de beber, camara'', which makes this piece an absolutely must for tongue-in-cheek easy listening compilations.

4. MILTON NASCIMENTO & L BORGES
Estrelas / Clube da Esquina N.2 (4.07)
Album: Clube Da Esquina (EMI) 1972

This song drips all over you. Sounds like an Ennio Morricone arrangement, with completely unexpected strings. John Cale would have been proud of these strings, if they were on Paris 1919. L Borges was one of Milton's many collaborators, while he was living in Belo Horizonte. All of the songwriters, lyricists and musicians which arose from this same Belo Horizonte scene, were strongly inspired by the Beatles.

5. JOÃO DONATO
Cala A Boca Menino (2.25)
Album: Quem · Quem (EMI) 1973

The pianist/songwriter Donato was in fact one of the forefathers of bossa nova in the 50s. He recorded in America in the early 60s, and had always been deeply interested in jazz music. His few records made in Brazil in the 70s are top items in dancefloor jazz importers in Europe and Japan. Donato is also a very stylized singer. He is white, but sounds so African in this song, its ridiculous. A master in creating mesmerizing loops.

6. CAETANO VELOSO
Canto Do Povo De Um Lugar (4.17)
Album: Joia (Philips) 1975

Caetano is Brazil's most revered touring artist, in and outside Brazil. In the 70s, he was reinventing himself with every album he released. A fantastic singer/songwriter. His vocals here provide a feeling of inclusion. This song is so unpretentious, it puts the cynicism of the music business today to a shame. Warm and simple, with wonderful falsettos. People seem to be embarrassed of falsettos, but definitely not in Brazilian music.

7. QUINTETO ARMORIAL
Lancinante (3.33)
Album: Aralume (Discos Marcus Pereira) 1976

A group linked to the Federal University of Pernambuco. They have an academic approach to the roots of the music of the North East, which was strongly influenced by north African and southern Spanish medieval music. Imagine Arabic instruments and oriental harmony scales mixed with Brazilian rhythms. Curiously, it is similar to Andy Irvine, the Irish musician who looked for inspiration in Eastern Europe. Or similar to Einstuerzende Neubauten. It is quite challenging, indignant and threatening.

8. CAETANO VELOSO, GAL COSTA, GILBERTO GIL & MARIA BETHÂNIA
O Seu Amor (4.27)
Album: Doces Barbaros (Philips) 1976

A song written while on tour, and recorded live. Even though, the chord developments are totally unpredictable and unusual. It's bizarrely relaxed, again, with lots of falsettos. Four great voices and interpretation styles.

9. STAN GETZ & JOÃO GILBERTO
· Preciso Perdoar (5.15)
Album: The Best Of Two Worlds (Columbia) 1976

The very recognizable side of 60s bossa nova. The combination of Getz's elegant tenor sax with Gilberto's unique vocals and acoustic samba guitar. But this song is special. The chords are great, repetitive and Gilberto sings cooler than he ever was.

10. TAIGUARA
Sete Cenas De Imyra (4.45)
Album: Imyra, Tayra, Ipy (EMI) 1976

This all inspiring song seriously defies classification. A samba in 7/8 time, with an orchestra of 65 musicians playing an arrangement in which every single compass is different. The way the strings are recorded remind great 20th century classical music. The bass figures and the horn developments are pure Leonard Bernstein. Imyra, Tayra , Ipy is so full of ideas, it would make Bacharach, Stan Kenton, Don Ellis and Gil Evans flip out. The pianist/singer/composer/arranger Taiguara studied music theory and arrangement techniques in London, before returning to Brazil to record this album. Hermeto Paschoal and lots of musicians who usually played with Milton Nascimento and Egberto Gismonti have key roles in this fantastic — but not very well known — record.

11. JOYCE
De Frente Pro Crime (1.50)
Album: Passarinho Urbano (Continental) 1977

Very classic brazilian chord progressions, in this song written by Joao Bosco. It starts off only with voice and guitar. A joyful experience in harmonic textures, before a fairly rudimentary rhythm section pops in to draw your attention away from Joyce's voice.

12. JOYCE
Aldeia De Ogum (4.36)
Album: Feminina (EMI) 1980

Turned into an acid jazz classic by Gilles Peterson. Joyce athletically scats around beautiful chord developments. The texture holds the interest. Superb drumming, hard to follow. There are lots of jazz turns around, but they don't sound pretentious at all.

13. JOÃO GILBERTO, CAETANO VELOSO & GILBERTO GIL
Cordeiro De Nana (1.15)
Album: Brasil (WEA) 1981

A Brazilian supergroup, but the sound doesn't have a hint of arrogance. Its basically a guitar and low percussion loop, with strings. The chords are so cool you don't want them to change. Beautiful unison vocals.

Many thanks to Sean O'Hagan