Sambaloco Brazilian Drum 'n' Bass Classics

Funnily enough, Drumagick and Porto also provide another pair of this set's strongest numbers, "So Tinha De Ser Com Voce" and "Cambraia". Emotive vocals and choppy guitar shapes are all-important factors, providing a mellower centre to the programming storm. There's also frequent saxophone seepage, providing a strong jazz input. The high melodic content is usually strapped onto to a pummelling rear end. The dynamic range is broad, with tracks by Silvera and Claudio Zoli sounding quite mainstream in their poppiness, but then there's O Discurso's "Silence of the Wolves", its violence restrained until the very end, its fearsome throb finally unleashed to send us headbanging into the night... --Martin Longley