A collaboration between Mandarin Movie?s Rob Mazurek and Hurtmold?s trumpeter Mauricio Takara, with the addition of several Brazilian samplers and percussionists, Sao Paulo Underground is both an experiment and a tight unit.

This release features seven expressionistic tracks, each a heady mix of dub, electronica, samba, local rhythms; the collage approach creates a soundscape that is at once otherworldly and as vibrant and diverse as a summer street corner in a bustling city.

Highlights include ?The Realm of The Ripper? and ?Afrihouse?, where local funk meets experiments in their texture, and ?Pombaral,? which is the way psychedelia is supposed to sound: rooted in a specific place that is slowly losing ground to the eternal. You can dance to it too. ?Black Liquor? is simply an amazing piece of rhythm and mixing.

This may turn out to be a one-off project, but Mazurek and Takara have created a memorable and masterful work, one that satisfies on many levels. 9/10 -- Mike Wood (30 January, 2007)