Marcos Valle

Marcos Valle's self-titled LP from 1970 finds the Brazilian maestro slowly making his way from the poignant bossa nova ballads of Samba '68 to the juiced-up electronic-funk of his mid-'70s masterpieces. Consequently, for every ballad like "Que eu Canse e Descanse" or "?le e Ela" (the latter complete with giggling and nearly audible lovers' talk), Valle throws in a track like "Pigmali?o," featuring a brassy orchestra and tilting rhythms continually being interrupted by jack-in-the-box studio effects, or the final track, "Suite Imaginária," a four-part work of experimental woodwinds, baroque vocal choirs, and soft arrangements. Preceding the suite, however, are two of his finest pop songs: "Os Grilos" and "Freio Aerodin?mico." Definitely not a seamless listen, and since the best tracks are covered well on his hits collections, Marcos Valle is a pick only for you'll-buy-anything collectors floored by everything his hand touches. [The 2001 reissue includes a rarely heard (and radically different) single version of "Os Grilos" from 1967.]