Electronica

The latest releases reviewed

BURAKA SOM SISTEMA Black Diamond Fabric   ****

In the global dance underground, Diplo is king. So it comes as no surprise that the US DJ/producer has already endorsed Lisbon suburban youths Buraka Som Sistema. Lil' John, DJ Riot and Conductor take their cues from kudura, the wildy percussive Angolan take on Brazilian baile funk, before throwing down a fiery, punky mix of raving beeps, ghetto- funk, slap-happy basslines and super-stretched Afrobeat rhythms. It's a soundclash that doesn't really make much sense once deconstructed (you'd get dizzy trying to join up all the dots in the BSS sound) but is perfectly tooled for hands-in-the-air dancefloor bliss. A bevy of MCs (including M.I.A., Kano and a couple of newer talents) supply rhymes while Buraka Som Sistema keep this raw, energetic blast on the boil for the entire album. www.myspace.com/burakasomsistema JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: IC19, Sound of Kuduro