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Over the course of the 60s, Roberto Quartin released more than 20 albums in Brazil on his label Forma, by artists including the likes of Eumir Deodato and Quateto Em Cy. Selling the rights of Forma to Polygram in 1969, Quartin struck out for pastures new at the dawn of the 1970s with the launch of his self-titled label. Significant works and high-water marks for Brazilian music overall followed in that decade’s first year, with Victor Assis Brasil Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim and Jose Mauro’s Obnoxius. These singular gems in Brazilian music, difficult to categorise yet compellingly haunting, have for too long gone unheard. The 3rd release in the series (following the aforementioned albums by Jose Mauro and Victor Assis Brasil) is Piri’s Vocês Querem Mate, a highly sought after jewel of twisted psychedelic MPB.Vocês Querem Mate?, the first recording by the relatively unknown singer songwriter Piry Reis is dreamy and ethereal, groovy Brazilian psych-folk at its finest. Reis has collaborated with greats like Egberto Gismonti and Robertinho Silva, and had his music performed by Celia, Charlie Haden and Jan Garbarek. His four solo albums are all rare as hens’ teeth and have been known to fetch a hefty bounty, but none higher than his debut, and for good reason.

Instantly captivating from its first second, the lone trembling piano in ‘Reza Breva’ builds a tremendous tension before bursting into the joyously funky Tropicalista folk jam that keeps up throughout the album. Flying the Brazilian freak flag high are percussion kings Juquina and Wilson Das Neves along with Paulinho Jobim and Danilo Caymmi on flutes. It’s a dazzling, lucid piece of escapism, as necessary today as it was when released into the tumultuous political climate of 1970s Brazil. Tracks like ‘As Incríveis Peripécias De Danilo’ and ‘Cupído Esculpido’ are tripped out MPB at its most decadent, and more sombre moments like ‘Sombra Morta’ and closer ‘Chão Vermelho’ offer shadier melancholic contrasts. Without a doubt the most free-spirited release in the Quartin catalogue, Voces Querem Mate? is a forgotten treasure of Brazilian music of the highest order.

All the releases in the Quartin series have been re-mastered from the original 2” tapes, and pressed to high quality heavyweight vinyl. Still to come from Far Out’s reissuing of the catalogue are Victor Assis Brasil’s Esperanto, and another Jose Mauro release A Viagem Des Horas