Maybe Suba and Chico Science ruined it for us. Maybe we wouldn't have known what was possible in Brazilian electronica if they hadn't existed, and, unfortunately, both perished at such early ages. In general, we shouldn't think of Brazil's digital forays as dance floor material; most of the output, save some Nacao Zumbi and Bebel Gilberto remixes, are down- to mid-tempo lounge songs too soothing and, at best, seductive (at worst, generic bossa fodder) to really move us around the club. It's not a requirement, of course, but if you're going to tote the image of Brazilian DJ culture, the masters have spoken and still await challenge

Now Otto has done some serious work, and Zuco 103 is commendable, albeit swerving onto dangerously mundane turf at times. Bossacucanova hang somewhere in this fold, not heavy enough to pulse with rugged street culture samba, sometimes too quirky for their own good (matching the quirkiest of Arto Lindsay). Their musical scholarship and tight studio production (like the best of Lindsay) is what lifts Uma Batida Diferente not only above most bossa fusions today, but even above their first two records, Revisited Classics and Brasilidade. Whereas those spawned too many cliché cuts, A Different Beat (as the name translates), lives up to the name. Almost.

For Bossacucanova, the beats are different, more refined, spacious and meaningful than the light backing electronics they employed behind the samba and lambada of older material. They've invited the recurring crew of bossa new wave into the studio: label mates Zuco 103, Trio Mocotó and Celso Fonseca all make strong contributions. Accomplished guitarist Roberto Menescal (who oversaw the careers of Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Gal Costa, and whose son Márcio is Bossa's bassist) not only kicks in around the mixing board, he throws a few licks onto three tracks. His dexterous fingers nimble at "Bom Dia Rio (Posto 6)," a stellar opener whose strength is solidified by the breathy Cris Delano. She adds further flavor to "Aguas de Marco," a Jobim standard (also recorded by Joao Gilberto) featuring gorgeous vocals by Elis Regina (if we're discussing the "new wave" of bossa, Maria Rita, Elis's daughter, is something truly innovative), as well as the record's highly danceable "Onde Anda Meu Amor."

With Márcio taking cue from papa, he lays down very pliant bass tones for his co-onspirators - keyboardist Alexandre Moreira and DJ Marcelinho DaLúa - to work with. With so much of Brazil flooding American shelf space, sifting through the piles is harder by the week. If you're looking for a truly different beat, there's an entire DJ culture developing in Sao Paulo, Recife and Rio (Bossacucanova's turf). If you want to imagine what old standards would sound like cut in a more dynamic modern studio, we have the perfect disc for you.

Contributed by: Derek Beres for www.afropop.org