Japan is in the house! Boris is a band that defies all conventional classifications except for one: Amazing. This is the title track from their ninth 2005 album. What influences do you pick up on? Arigato gozaimasu, Boris! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bREC4gvH5Gw&list=RDbREC4gvH5Gw&start_radio=1

Brazil: samba, futebol, carnaval, saudade, and... psychedelic rock??? Welcome to the mesmerizing world of Os Mutantes, a band that didn't really care much of the Bossa Nova scene of the 60's because they took a couple ounces of The Rolling Stones, added a tablespoon of 13th Floor Elevators and a pinch of The Ventures, shook it vigorously until perfectly combined and poured this gem into a caipirinha glass made of solid gold. Take that, Jobim! (I mean no disrespect to Jobim, of course, one of the best composers of all time) This was 1968 but the band is still active and just as amazing. Maybe we'll do a deep dive at some point? Let me know! Enjoy A Minha Menina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIbJylD_c84&list=RDXIbJylD_c84&start_radio=1

Ok, this isn't necessarily a lesser known piece of music at this point, with 99 million views of this video on YouTube, but... WHAAAAAAT??? Jinjer hails from Ukraine and when the magnificent Tatiana Shmayluk joined the band their fate was written in the stars. Tatiana is an absolute beast and the bass work on this song is out of this and many other possible worlds. If you haven't seen this yet, you're in for a BIG surprise, just sayin'... Remember folks, this is recorded LIVE. Miraculous. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNtGoM3FVU&list=RDSQNtGoM3FVU&start_radio=1

Let's get this started with this little gem from Dutch artist Solex. Solex is a master at "musical recycling". She owns a record store and builds her music by sampling parts from rock and jazz albums in her own collection with an 8-track! This is the title track and first cut from her 2001 album, which I cannot recommend enough. There is simply nothing like it. Let me know what you think! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6omQmcnupI&list=RD4r_cu6ebAGI&index=2