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Thomas Pappon, a Fly writer who has forgotten more about left field Brazilian music than I will ever know, included the Beatlesque fairground ride 'Panis et Circenses' in his fantasy mix tape, "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." Brazilian Music: The Hidden Gems (A Hometape)

The truth though is that to say they were a fusion of bossa and psychedelia is to miss the point -- that this weird and wonderful pop music was years ahead of its time and would in itself be hugely influential to musicians as diverse as David Byrne and Kurt Cobain. Their sound is entirely fresh to this day as proved by The Bees releasing 'A Minha Menina' (the track was taken up by Citroen to advertise its C5).

'Bat Macumba' has the sing-along quality of a samba classic in the chorus but crazy distorted vocal trickery makes the result quirky without spoiling it. If that one hasn't made it to an advert already, expect it to come along soon.

I guess the other monster track(s) on this album would be the two versions of 'Baby'. First recorded in 1968, it was -- as you would expect -- sung in Portuguese. Polydor, sensing a crossover hit on their hands twisted Os Mutantes' arms into recording English versions of their songs and 'Baby' from 1971 is one of the results and a pure pop treasure.

Os Mutantes are the global music band that it is cool for indie kids to like. And if you are one of them, check Brazilian Music: The Hidden Gems (A Hometape) for some more good stuff.

Subtitled: World Psychedelic Classics 1: Brazil, Everything is Possible (Best of) is being released on Luaka Bop records.