Hard to believe Music From Memory have gone this long without a multi-artist compilation. Most of our favorite archival labels have used compilations to define themselves (Minimal Wave, PPU, BBE), digging into scenes with little more than a small handful of recordings from each act they unearth. Music From Memory are another story, though; with a triptych of full-lengths by ambient and jazz behemoths (Leon Lowman, Gigi Masin and Joan Bibiloni) with rich back catalogues ripe for reissuing as their inaugural releases. We’ve seen plenty of excellent compilations examining Brazilian forays into psych, disco and boogie, but none which survey the country’s experiments with synthesizers and DIY electronics. While the totalitarian 1970s inspired a generation of musicians to pick up their instruments and fight the power of the military dictatorship (read: MPB), a new generation of musicians were thinking outside of the box and picking up new technologies that were generally considered cheap and soulless. The avid diggers at Music From Memory have poured their hearts into the extensive research required for a comp of this magnitude, and the result is extraordinary: holy grail cuts from Maria Rita and Fernando Falcão alongside previously unheard cuts by obscure bedroom artists. Presented on double vinyl, housed in deluxe gatefold sleeve with extensive liner notes. Recommended.

• double vinyl pressing
• gatefold sleeve
• extensive liner notes
• music label: Music From Memory 2017

reviewed by peanut dust 05/2017