Argentinean-born and Sao Paulo-based percussionist Ramiro Musotto made his name playing with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and other heavies, and he’s one of the few electronic artists who can blend "real" percussion with samples. This gives his music a thick rhythmic base that sounds both primitive and futuristic, so every track on Sudaka sounds unique. "Bayaka" blends sampled pygmy voices, synthesizers and Candomble drumming for a mid-tempo shamanistic stomp, "Antonio das Mortes" features Gato Barbieri laying down a relaxed sax solo over a loping Hawaiian reggae skank, while on "Danza del Tezcatlipoca Rojo" Musotto plays berimbau—a one stringed percussion instrument that’s part mini-bass and part jews harp—with programmed percussion in front of a live audience that adds rhythmic clapping to the mix.

Mylene is a Rio singer/songwriter with a sultry, throaty alto that sends sensual ripples down your spine. Musotto added his production know-how to her dazzling debut, a set that bends samba, bossa, electronica and folkloric beats. Like much of Brazil’s best pop, it blurs the line between traditional and modern. Mylene’s relaxed vocals are set off by Musotto’s shimmering dub reggatrack on "Coraçao Tonto,""Pipoca Contemporanea" is a funky bit of Brazilian R&B that breaks up the beat in dozens of unexpected ways, while Musotto’s percussion dexterity and Mylene’s overdubbed vocals turn "Eleanor Rigby" into a jazzy funeral lament.