Lula Côrtes E Zé Ramalho

Long before Zé Ramalho emerged as a want-on pop star, in some hip pocket of the ’70s Brazilian psych underground’s deepest recesses, Lula Côrtes and Ramalho were recording layer after freaking layer of primitive stoner beauty that stills resonates throughout the spiritual realms of mankind. Originally a double album recorded in late ’74, Paêbirú’s four concise sections are themed "Terra,” "Ar,” "Fogo” and "Agua” — Earth, Man, Fire, Water — though these heady divisions never threaten to overbear the free flowing feel of the album, which moves with ease (and a large cast of alarmingly astounding players) through rocking freak-outs, tribal chant fests, jazzy zonings and thrilling otherworldly cast-outs made even more powerful for their fresh similarities to timeless underground sounds of today coming from the likes of Six Organs of Admittance, various Jewelled Antler Collective projects, and even Animal Collective. Props to Normal Records’ Shadoks Music division for their ongoing love in restoring such lost and overlooked classics of the psych freedom era, because the sound quality and design work they spent laying out the artwork here is top notch. "Nas Paredes da Pedra Encantada” could be your new favourite funky psych-rock anthem, and what’s with the piano breakdown during "Omm” that totally free associates the Kinks’ "Death of a Clown”? The mysteries within Paêbirú run deep.