Lô Borges - s/t (1972)

About 6,000 miles south-east of Shuggie Otis, another incredibly talented musician barely out of his teens was involved in two great albums in 1972.  First was the Clube Da Esquina double-album with Milton Nascimento (see below); and then whilst it was being put together, Lô Borges was also asked by the label to make a solo album.

This was the result: with 15 tracks in a half-hour runtime, quickly made with songs written and recorded the same day, Borges' solo debut covers a mind-boggling variety of songwriting hooks and great guitar playing.  "Disco do tênis", as it would become informally known due to the shoes on the cover, squeezes in inspired moments in the very model of economy - even the 37-second track that ends Side 1 packs in a neat harpsichord part and a tempo change.

Much of the material is cut from the same Beatlesque cloth as Clube Da Esquina, including three instrumentals, making this album an every-bit-as-good overspill from its legendary parent project.  An essential MPB classic.

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Previously posted at SGTG:
Clube Da Esquina
Clube Da Esquina 2

Milton Nascimento/Lô Borges - Clube Da Esquina (1972)

Back to Brazil, with possibly the most stunning high water mark in MPB (música popular brasileira).  Clube Da Esquina (corner club) was a collective of musicians from the Minas Gerais state, led by Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges, the latter just 20 when this double-album was recorded.  With 21 songs in 64 minutes, Clube Da Esquina is like a fat-free White Album or stripped-down Manassas.  Over the succinct running time, it manages to take in regional folk influences, hazy, languid psychedelic pop and a huge dash of Beatlesque styling in a journey that feels more perfect with every listen.  Even the album cover has a great story behind it.

A track-by-track is pointless on an album like this; picking out highlights near-impossible for one with literally no duds - even the two tracks that don't break the minute mark are necessary, rather than jokey filler.  So here's a handful of favourites.  From Lô Borges' seven compositions, I'll go for the sun-dappled goodbyes of O Trem Azul with its gorgeous harmonies, and Trem De Doido, a poignant ode to mistreated psychiatric patients, with Beto Guedes' stinging lead guitar.

Out of Milton Nascimento's phenomenal songwriting and legendary voice... what to choose as favourites?  I'm going to plump for his more impressionistic side that comes out in the Side 3-4 split, on Um Gusto De Sol's woozy, sleepy personification of a pear in a fruit bowl, and the swirling production effects of Pelo Amor De Deus.  But then he's just as good as an interpreter, of Spanish songwriter Carmelo Larrea's bolero standard Dos Cruces, or duetting with Alaíde Costa on Me Deixa Em Paz.  Or indeed with no lyrics at all, on the near-title track or on the ode to his adoptive mother Lilia, soon to be re-recorded with Wayne Shorter (Wagner Tiso from Native Dancer is also all over Clube with his great organ style). Stay tuned for more of the near-instrumental side of Milton later this week, but for now make sure to download this perfect album.

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