Brazil: Sampa Nova (Sao Paulo - A Tropical Flash Of The Future)

Sao Paolo is Brazil's Bristol, the cradle of its electronic scene. Much of that is perhaps due to the late producer Suba, who made his home there. But it's also a magnet to those with a slightly different creativity. On the basis of the Sampa Nova compilation, there's definitely a scene in the city -- and one of remarkably high quality. With no Suba, one of the real pioneers and innovators in Brazilian electronica, there's no leader, but the artists seem to be doing fine by themselves. Cibelle is here, of course, with the inventive "Deixa" from her debut, as is multi-instrumentalist Fernanda Porta. For both, melody is the prime ingredient in a song, and everything else secondary -- in other words, in the best Brazilian tradition, they use real songs, not tacking together effects and beats, which seems to be the heart of the Sao Paolo. It's even evident in a pair of different mixes of Otto's "Bob," which offer radically different ideas on the piece -- but never lose that sense of melody inherent in the composition. Even the strangest track, from Jair Oliveira, a spoken piece about everyday life in the city, has real melody and rhythm. ~ Chris Nickson