Brazilian Beats 7

One of the great things about the Brazilian Beats series is that it has precious few restraints to its remit. The only criterion is that a track should have a danceable groove and be Brazilian, which, as the inclusion of Swedish group Junip’s cover of Jorge Ben’s ‘Oba, Lá Vem Ela’ proves, is evidently open to interpretation. Samba clearly ticks all the right boxes, and represents over half of the compilation, though rarely in its purest form – it’s found here mixing with jazz, rock and early disco. Then there are oddities such as Odair Cabeça de Poeta’s lively forró, the north-eastern jazz of Quarteto Novo (featuring Hermeto Pascoal and Airto Moreira at the start of their careers) and capoeira music from Mestre Bimba. Best of all though are the new tracks from Karol Conka and Bemba Trio, representing the new hip-hop and bass music emanating from Brazil. Brazilian Beats 7 offers more variety than you get on many more genre-specific compilations, and keeps your foot tapping too.