Amazing Records That Sound Incredible: Sidney Miller, Brasil Do Guarani Ao Guaraná (Elenco, 1968)
The highs are high on this sophomore effort from my personal hero of post-bossa MPB, the awkwardly brilliant Sidney Miller. Despite my lack of Portuguese, I think I’m right in assuming this is some kind of concept album about Brazilian history — a Sufjan Stevens’s Michigan avant la lettre. In between the stagey numbers you’ll find lyrical stunners like the jaw-dropping “Ora, Acho Que Vou-me Embora,” sung by a young Gal Costa. It captures Miller’s skills as a pop songwriter, whereas “Pois É, Pra Que?” captures his sensitive, vulnerable side. Note the gorgeous cover, featuring a very Steve-Buscemi-looking hunched-over Miller.
Sonically, this album doesn’t reach the heights of contemporaneous Philips/Elenco records like Edu Lobo’s Edu (1967) or Nara Leao’s Coisas do Mundo (1969) — but it’s still got that rich, transparent, holographic mono magic you find on so many Brazilian records of this era: 8/10.