This Samba Rock tune is written by Jorge Ben. He is really one of the under estimated musicians in the West. Probably because the fact that all of his songs are in Portuguese. He has made and written such good music and was on the footing of Samba Rock, Tropicalia and MPB. Right now one of his songs is a big hit again by Sergio Mendes "Más que nada". This track "a minha menina" will drive you wild because of the fuzz guitar, percussion and again: handclapping. That's also why I like this version by Os Mutantes better then the original by Jorge Ben.

You've got to love a guy who has a song on his first album that translates as "Catechism, Toothpaste and You". From that same LP, here's a great off-kilter tropicalia with a heavy baroque-pop influence and really odd instrumentation, featuring fuzz guitar, organ and trumpet in a very nice way.

A superb tale of wronged love and wounded pride performed with a mighty swagger, drenched in latin rhythms and horns, but with that bittersweet humour and English setting that have been hallmark's of Kirsty's whole career.

There are so many songs from Kirsty that I love in so many musical styles, but the "Tropical Brainstorm" album is really the best thing she ever did. She has absorbed the influences from her travels in Latin America, but the album is no pastiche, it is pure MacColl. Whilst occasionally missing its mark, it has so many fine, joyful and wryly funny moments, and, to me, all the signs of an artist entering a new, fiercely creative and joyful stage of her career.

Sadly we will never know where Kirsty's musical journey would have taken her.

Tropical, like most of the Beach Boys' songs. Really sweet and calming- the harmonies sound great.

A weird and unsettling piece of lounge music ,nightmarish backing vocals and jazz like vibes set the tone ,with a bontempi like beat pushing the track into shark infested waters and tropical scariness .A brief but perfect vocal passage from the sardonic Terry Hall sends this track in to the realm of sublime brilliance .

Song with a definitively caribbean beat, with great, simple lyrics. The Unicorns may be dead, but Islands picks up right where they left off.

A really nice gently tropical instrumental with strings and a rock (drums/guitars) backing. I seem to be in a minority in adoring Les's 'Que Mango' album (which apparently was originally sold only in supermarkets at $1.99). I actually listen to this album as much as I listen to his classic exotic jazz LPs from the late 50s. It contains lots of great, shimmering, groovy tracks, such as 'boca chica', and the superb 'tropicando', which you can now hear almost everywhere (via a TV ad, and the aptly named 'Thievery Corporation'). Record geek part: on the vinyl version of this I have, the track 'Jungle Montuno' is shorter and sweeter - it begins one minute into the CD version of the track. I'm just mentioning this because the first minute seems to me to be inferior, and from a different song.

What can I say. You are not going to find a colombian who doesn't like Vives. He just took folk vallenato music and made it rock!! This tropical sounds of thumbs, pipes and acordion mixed with some rock are brilliant. This is really "The Rock of My Town". Ay hombeeeeeeee!! From Vives I would reccomend every single song, but this one is very special cause he dedicated it to his daughter and son. The lyrics is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.

P.S. Now a little of General Culture: It's Colombia, not Columbia!!

An August Darnell penned song that rivals much of the prestigious 'Dr. Buzzard' catalog. Smooth, tropical, moderate-tempo late 70's Cosmopolitan-Disco tune with wordly lyrics...and Lordes Cotto on vocals!

From one of the key Tropicalia albums, a typically genius Veloso composition, with a jazzy but vaguely psychedelic feel, sung in gorgeously beguiling style (and in English!) by Gal. Actually, this whole LP is essential. (note: in London there seem to be a lot of vinyl pressings � of dubious legality � of vintage Brazilian LPs around at the moment. Sound quality is sometimes iffy, but most of this stuff is hard to find on CD).

An unusual sounding piece from a recently reissued Library LP, the overall sound here reminds me of the lush tropical easy listening/rock hybrid which Les Baxter achieves on his superb 'Que Mango' LP from 1970. However, on this track the strings and guitar sound very slightly out of tune in a way which our man Les would never have tolerated. Still, it’s a very pleasant sound, which takes some unexpected turns (e.g. the wild guitar solo in the middle).

Of all the tropicalias Gil is my main man. I find Caetano Veloso a bit boring and Mutantes enjoyable in small doses but a bit irritating. The incredibly infectous Pega a voga, Cabeludo is taken from Gils 68 album and puts a smile on my face every time i hear it.

Incredible Bossa Nova inspired Tropicalia duet with Caetano Veloso. Drenched in strings & flute, everything follows the enthusiastic guitar!

Post Bossa-Nova, Pre-Tropicalia, Brasilian Samba at it's finest!

This song is on one of Jorge Bens best records: O Bidu (Silencio No Brooklin) from 1967. This Brooklin is a district in the city of São Paulo, not New Yorks neighbourhood. In this period of his career Jorge Ben had moved from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo. He was the first to use the electric guitar in samba. His previous records were all recorded with a acoustic guitar and had a more classical Bossa Nova and Samba sound. "Si manda" is a great up-tempo Samba Rock track with a powerful beat and electric rhythm guitar. This record and this song in particluar must have had a big influence on the Tropicalia movement and a band like Os Mutantes.

I was immediately captivated by the tropical beat that begins this 6 minute tune. The track simultaneously induces a melancholic yet inspired feeling. Kevin Wright's delicate voice, like many fine things in life, is an aquired taste. His mournful voice tells of ethereal objects"the moon..the stars..the milky way.."and his longing to be with the one he "holds dear."

Jimmy Buffet...need I say more? But I will. Jimmy Buffet is hilarious...and listening to his music always makes me feel like I'm laying on some tropical island drinking pina coladas. This song is no exception.

"The beer is too cold, the daquiri's too fruitiful..."

i'm really starting to get into the sandpipers nowadays because of their amazingly clear, fluid sound. great 60s vocal pop song, this. flute, soft strings and some sweet understated harpsichord (or some electronic instrument) playing in the background. the bassline and percussion gives it a slight italian 60's soundtrack vibe. i love how it seems to constantly change its mood, epecially when it returns to form after the first flute part. there's even a bit in there that sounds like syd barret...

Beautiful bossa nova by the Japanese artist.
The whole album is sweet guitar & piano bossa nova.

Rough but with fragile edges.You can just feel the emotion and longing.

Singer Gal Costa was born in Salvador (Bahia state). Together with other musicians from Bahia: Caetano Veloso, his sister Maria Bethânia, Gilberto Gil and Tom Zé, she moved to São Paulo in 1964. There she bacame one of the most important members of de Tropicalia movement. I consider �Tuareg� as her best song.

�
Pois ele é sentimental
Humano, é nobre é mouro
È muçulmano
Pois ele é guerreiro
Ele é bandoleiro
Ele é justiceiro
Ele é mandingueiro
Ele é um tuareg

�Tuareg� is from an era in which the attitude towards Muslims was a lot more positive then these days. The song is written by Jorge Ben and a fruitful mixture between Brazilian and Arabic music. I love the sound of the ud (the classical Arabic lute) and ghaita (or oboe: a double reed instrument) which Ben put together with an organ, a bass and a groovy rhythm. The song reminds me of Yusef Lateefs version of �Brazil�, Ary Barbosa�s hit. This jazz musician was also exploring and fusing musical cultures, and often used instruments of the Eastern world.

Possibly the most peculiar song to ever hit the top 5,surreal in the extreme but oh ,so beautiful,like a little piece of music from every corner of the globe distilled through a trip hop filter,it has the funk foundations of acid jazz ,the majesty of the samba and the exotic mystery of Asia .Part spoken,oddly sung and complimented by an incessant tropical ambience thats hard to pin down.A real pearl from an oyster as suggested by the songs sublime watery brilliance .Initially used to sell L--I jeans ,a perfect example of why beauty and commerce should never be in the same room .