Rating: NNN
Just about a year after Sony BMG released a Mutantes concert DVD of the tropicalia group’s triumphant reunion show at London’s Barbican Theatre, Mutantes fan David Byrne has decided to release a two-CD version sans live footage, ignoring the fact that anyone can get the all-region DVD (including bonus documentary and rehearsal clips) online with a couple of mouse clicks.
In any case, after 30 years, you’d expect the Mutantes brain trust of Arnaldo Baptista and Sergio Dias (the group’s popular singer, Rita Lee, wasn’t down with the get-together, so Zélia Duncan fills in the appropriate howling) to have mellowed out considerably. But they seem to be driven by the same mischievous sense of experimental whimsy as they were back in the late 60s. The big difference today is they play to adoring audiences free of the threat of being beaten, imprisoned or both. It must be tough to be confrontationally daring when staring into the smiling faces of delighted fans merrily clapping along.
