Proibido Cochilar

Cabruêra, from the northeast of Brazil, have a wonderfully cavalier attitude to music. Grounded in the raw, countrified forro style of the region and inspired by the musical experimentation of the late Chico Science, they play fast and loose with styles, mixing and matching tradition with jungle, funk, hip-hop, and beyond in often exhilarating combinations, starting straight off with the title track that sets the album's iconoclastic agenda. Although the disc is subtitled "Sambas for Sleepless Nights" you'll only find one real samba on here, "Eu Sambo," which is — as you'd expect — a wonderfully subverted piece. This isn't an album that defies tradition, by any means; instead, it uses forro, maculêlê, and other ideas as starting points. The counter-rhythms bite very crisply, and when they add funk to the mix everything soars, as "Xingatório" clearly proves. There's a strong imagination at work on this record, but it's powered by more than cleverness. There's also passion in the music, not only for what they're playing but for the sounds of their native region, and enriching and expanding the powerful tradition. An album that bears repeated playing.