sidney miller: linguas de fogo

Sol Re Sol Records is happy to announce the reissue of Sidney Miller’s lost classic Linguas De Fogo. Originally released in 1974, Miller’s third album is one of the best Brazilian records of its time. A seamless mesh of Brazilian pop, psychedelia and Bossa Nova, Linguas De Fogo could almost be mistaken as Tropicalia—if Miller hadn’t distanced himself from the genre. Of Linguas De Fogo, Flabbergated Vibes writes, “The record is dreamy, hazy, psychedlicized, progressive MPB that evokes early Lô Borges, or Beto Guedes, or the first Nelson Angelo / Joyce album.... The arrangements are all great, balancing his relaxed, almost sedated vocal lines against taught, double-tracked flute harmonies or funky electric piano or keyboards or fuzzy electric guitars that sometimes sound like it was plugged straight into the mixing board and using the input as an overdrive.... This album is very deserving of that tag of ‘lost masterpiece’ that gets thrown around a little too freely these days.” Miller first received notice in 1967 when Nara Leão recorded five of his songs (along with four by Chico Buraque, to whom Miller was compared). This was soon followed by his own album and recordings of his songs by Quarteto em Cy. He then contributed music to film (many for his friend director Paulo Thiago) and plays (one of which he collaborated on with Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil). While his songs were recorded by Veloso, Leão, Quarteto em Cy, MPB-4, Alaíde Costa and Gal Costa, Miller released only two more albums in his lifetime, Linguas De Fogo being his last. That he did not receive the acclaim his peers did was not due to his lack of talent. Miller was incredibly shy; he loathed to take the stage and masked his shyness with drugs and drink. He passed away young, at age 30 in 1980. How he died is disputed. Though Linguas De Fogo is highly regarded among diehard Brazilain music fanatics and the original vinyl pressing is much coveted, Miller has been a secret pleasure yet undiscovered by the general public. However, recently he has been rediscovered by a new crop of Brazilian artists, and hopefully this release will further push interest in his music.