Upside Down

LP version. 180 gram vinyl. 2011 release. Brazilian greats, Mauricio Maestro and Nana Vasconcelos, finally reconnect on the second part of their five decade psychedelic folk trilogy with Upside Down. Following Visions Of Dawn (FARO 138LP) - the 1976 acid-folk lost classic - Upside Down is a special new recording that stirs up a time when people dared to make liberated records. Nana and guest vocalist Kay Lyra - completing the modern folk trio - combine floating harmonies and delicate psychedelia. Maestro's moving compositions melt together hypnotizing strings with his darting guitar and wonderfully languid vocals. The master of percussion, Nana Vasconcelos brings an endless concoction of exotic instrumentation to stirring life as mind-bending vocals move in and out of focus. Together at the center of the underground '60s tropicalia and darker Afro-samba jazz movements (rising against a repressive Brazilian military regime) to the free '70s Brazilian acid-folk (that flourished in North American and European exile) Maestro and Vasconcelos have created eleven tracks that stir up this time, but in the backdrop of a liberated, prosperous Brazil. Recorded in 2010, the pair combined Maestro's classic and new compositions with modern folk ideas to outshine many current impressionists. Inspired by the success of Visions Of Dawn, Far Out Recordings label head Joe Davis encouraged Maestro and Nana to return to the studio to complete the long-time coming follow up. Mauricio Maestro began his career in vocal quartet Momentoquatro in the late '60s before he and Nana became friends in the great Luiz Eça's thirteen member band Sagrada Familia. The pair were also part of Milton Nascimento's Clube de Esquina scene along with Joyce and Marcos Valle.