Various Artists: Brazil Classics 7: What's Happening in Pernambuco - New Sounds of the Brazilian Northeast

This compilation can be heard as somewhat of a sequel to the excellent Tropicália: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound (Soul Jazz, 2006), which focused on 1960s music that incorporated rock n' roll, experimental song structures and politically-charged attitudes. Fast forward to the mid-1990s, when hip-hop was hitting the ghettos of the Pernambucan capital, Recife; giving birth to the Mangue Beat scene. This movement, led by innovators Chico Science and Fred Zero-Four, intensified hybrid forms by splintering traditional rhythms like maracatu, coco and ciranda, juxtaposing them with punk, hip-hop and electronica.

Collage is the key approach among the artists on Pernambuco, with imaginative uses of cut-and-paste methods. Mombojó's tune "Cabidela combines live hip-hop drums and turntable scratches with a bossa-infused flute breakdown and vocals that float with melancholic, behind-the-beat phrasing. Cidadão Instigado's "O Pobre dos Dentes de Ouro bends genres by slyly shifting a wistful melody from the acoustic tinge of Portugal's fado song form into a mélange of spacey samples, pitch-shifted vocals and acid rock guitar over a funky loop.

Several tunes recognize the affinity between samba and drum n' bass; both genres share similar tempos and frenetic feels. Chico Science collaborators Nação Zumbi name their song "Carimbó after a native Amazonian drum, but the tune is purely contemporary as it drops a bright, electric guitar tremolo over a skittering drum n' bass pattern. Meanwhile, Otto's "Bob employs a sort of mongrel rhythm with a crisp, popping snare drum supporting warm Fender Rhodes chords and a busy vocal melody with sugary female backups.

However, other songs simply reintroduce traditional styles for a new generation. Tiné evokes the sound of a "Cobrinha ("Cobra ) with the slithery pulse of his words and just the sparse ensemble of acoustic guitar, violin, maracas and the tambourine-like pandeiro. Similarly, Siba takes a rustic roots approach to create "Vale do Jucà, where maracas cushion a spindly acoustic guitar and a lilting melody of whistling and wordless vocals. And even though "Instante Feliz, by the duo Vates e Violas, keeps it conventional with an accordion-fueled, rural arrasta-pé rhythm, the polka-sounding style is itself likely derived from early Dutch and/or German influences—and thus a multicultural pastiche in the first place.

This whole mash-up of intriguing sounds would sound bizarre if it wasn't all so catchy, sexy and fun. To tweak your eardrums with a new-school approach to musical globalization, give a listen to What's Happening in Pernambuco.

Visit What's Happening in Pernambuco on the web.

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