The In Crowd

Tropicália in Furs, a hole-in-the-wall Brazilian record shop in the East Village, is the kind of place New Yorkers worry will disappear from the city forever. A tiny alternate universe where Technicolor dots bounce off glossy LP covers by Os Mutantes, the Cramps, and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, it's never crowded or empty, and the same affable connoisseur is always behind the counter.

Joel (pronounced "jo-EL") Olveira, whose old-school afro and proto-hip-hop wardrobe make him look younger than his 36 years, opened the store's first incarnation five years ago in a flooded basement on the Bowery under the motto "Buy, Sell, Barter, Chit-Chat," quickly attracting a following with his warm demeanor and overflowing knowledge of late-'60s psychedelic Brazilian rock. Among serious collectors and DJs, word began to spread about the unequaled treasures Olveira kept hidden in a crate in the back of the store—possibly the best collection of obscure Tropicália singles on earth.

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Tropicália in Furs