OBNOXIUS by JOSE MAURO

2021 repress!

Far Out Recordings presents the peerless and criminally undervalued Quartin catalogue, beginning with the reissue of Jose Mauro's forgotten masterpiece 'Obnoxious'.

There is very little information to be found about Jose Mauro and as a result those searching for some kind of insight on the man behind the music must attempt to glean what they can from the music itself. In a musical landscape in which the context from music emerges can often overshadow the music itself, Jose Mauro is an increasingly rare phenomenon. Mauro is said to have died in a car accident shortly before the release of 'Obnoxious' in 1970, a fact that could have lent his brief musical career a touch of mythology were it not for how scant the details concerning any other aspects of his life are. All tracks on the record were composed by Mauro and Ana Maria Bahiana

Production on the record was cancelled after Mauro's death and it was never sold commercially until it was rereleased decades later. What appeal does Mauro's music stand to hold to today's listeners, forty-something years removed from its conception? Simply put, there is very little else, even within the realm of contemporaneous Brazilian music employing similar tropes, that sounds much like it all. Take the title track of the 'Obnoxious' LP, included here. A wholly singular piece of music, it blends string-drenched melancholia with orchestral pomp, sunny psychedelic strumming with propulsive percussion, topped off with Mauro's yearning vocals. The result is indicative of Mauro's unique blend of sounds from Latin Jazz and samba to psychedelic folk and baroque orchestration.