Dreaming Of Mardi Gras With Galactic's 'Magalenha'

Galactic, the great — these days I'd say legendary — New Orleans party band, are a mainstay of Mardi Gras music despite never having recorded a Carnival record. Until now. This Mardi Gras, February 21, the group's new album, Carnivale Electricos, will hit the streets, and we have a preview for you now.

The album is filled with contributions from New Orleans music masters including Al "Carnival Time" Johnson; the classic voice of New Orleans, Mr. Cyril Neville; master Cajun accordionist Steve Riley and the rapper Mystikal, among others. The very long list is filled with some of the funkiest fun musicians in New Orleans today, and because the album also explores Brazilian carnival music, you also hear Carlinhos Brown and the New Orleans Carnival ambassadors of Brazilian Music, Casa Samba.

That group is featured on the track we have to share with you today, a song that was made famous in the 1960s by Sergio Mendes, one of the most famous Brazilians to make music in the U.S. Galactic's Robert Mercurio describes recording their version of "Magalenha," which was written by Carlinhos Brown:

This is a remake of the Sergio Mendes classic song, which is very popular around Carnivale. We recorded it with New Orleans' Brazilian troupe, Casa Samba. We took the original blueprint and added in our own Galactic weirdness.

So while we're still weeks away from Fat Tuesday, give yourself a little time to prepare for the celebration with this sneak preview from Galactic's Carnivale Electricos.

And you can pre-order the new album by Galactic by going here http://galacticfunk.com/carnivale-electricos