In the Wilderness: Os Mutantes, 1969-1974
In the Wilderness is a feature in which a group of Strange Currencies contributors examine an overlooked or under-appreciated period of an artisRead More…
Author: Matt Ryan
Matt Ryan founded Strange Currencies Music in January 2020, and remains the site's editor-in-chief. The creator of the "A Century of Song" project and co-host of the "Strange Currencies Podcast," Matt enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has a particular affinity for 60s pop, 90s indie rock, and post-bop jazz. He is an avid collector of vinyl, and a multi-instrumentalist who has played/recorded with several different bands and projects.
Marcos Valle – Previsão do tempo
Marcos Valle Previsão do tempo Odeon – 1973 Rating: 9.1 Marcos Valle eluded Brazil’s cultural censors, and created his definitive Read More…
Episode 13 – Maintaining a Collection
The Strange Currencies Podcast finally returns! In this episode – recorded before our summer recess – Matt and Glenn are joined again by frequentRead More…
Various Artists – Tropicália ou panis et circencis
Various Artists Tropicália ou panis et circencis Philips – 1968 Rating: 10.0 Fashioned as the Brazilian response to The Beatles’ mRead More…
An Introduction to Tropicália
Few musical scenes have ever burned as briefly, brightly, or brilliantly as Brazil’s Tropicalismo movement. Essentially emerging in March of 1968Read More…
Os Mutantes – Os Mutantes
Os Mutantes Os Mutantes Polydor – 1968 Rating: 9.8 Os Mutantes’ debut album is a psychedelic masterstroke – a record undoubtedlRead More…
Welcome to Brazil Month
Few nations celebrate as rich of a musical heritage as Brazil. Whether found in traditional folk stylings, samba, bossa nova, MPB, or the wild soRead More…
An Introduction to Blaxploitation Soundtracks
On the last day of March 1971, a film with little precedent was released in two American theaters: one in Detroit, and one in Atlanta. Written, dRead More…
Duke Ellington – Anatomy of a Murder
Duke Ellington Anatomy of a Murder Columbia – 1959 Rating: 8.3 Duke Ellington’s first foray into composing for film yielded a memorRead More…
Antônio Carlos Jobim & Luiz Bonfá – Black Orpheus
Antônio Carlos Jobim & Luiz Bonfá Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) Epic – 1959 Rating: 9.2 The soundtrack to Marcel Camus’ surprisRead More…