(Brazil) Urban ToTem is the brainchild of drummer Andre Jung, who after a successful and long run with the popular Brazilian band IRA! decided to put together a quasi-experimental group. There’s a bit of everything in Urban ToTem--berimbao (the quintessential instrument of capoeira), cello, synthesizers, drums and a singer who can croon or rap. The process for putting the music together was unusual; there were no rehearsals, just individual recording sessions which were then arranged into songs by Jung. Yet the music is cohesive, with layers of samba, hip hop, and electronica. The very creative video was made on a shoestring, and despite its urban images, the lyric conjures up a hallucinatory seaside walk.Download Urban Totem on Amazon.com