Sambadelic -- the debut album of
Rica Amabis -- is a fine example of the wave of excellent electronic music that was produced in Brazil during the late '90s and early 21st century, and that also brought great and inventive records from the likes of Stela Campos, Fernanda Porto,
Andrea Marquee, and
DJ Dolores. Although
Sambadelic lacks much of the melodic fluency shown on Campos' Fim de Semana and Porto's self-titled debut album, it is still full of originality and fun. The music is based mostly on drum'n'bass and jungle that have been spiced up with modern Brazilian rhythms and a large variety of samples and guest artists. The first track of the record, "Samba Tal Sabá," is a fierce, swinging, electronic and very Brazilian rap song, with Tejo providing the rap vocals. That one is followed by a fresh version by
Ataulfo Alves' old bossa classic "Mulata Assanhada," sung here by
Marquee. Two other great tunes on the cracking first half of the album are a hard jungle version of "A Falsa Baiana" (featuring
Céu) and a very remodeled and heavy version of Luiz Conzaga's famous "Vozes da Seca" (featuring samples from Gonzaga's original version as well as brand new rap vocals by Speed Freaks and
Black Alien). The second part of the album is comprised of largely instrumental songs, among which the somewhat bizarre drum'n'bass of "Steve Austin" is one of the highlights. ~ Philip Jandovský