As the daughter of the legendary Joao Gilberto, you'd expect something good from Bebel, and fortunately she supplies with a mostly Portuguese-sung set of up to the minute bossa nova-influenced music. Using producers such as the late Suba, whose work on an elegant and sunny version of Baden Powell's classic "Samba da Bencao" integrates electronics with "real" instruments beautifully, Bebel Gilberto has made "Tanto Tempo" a seductive, forward-looking modern Brazilian album. An album that nonetheless references the past intelligently. "August Day Song", a duet with Smoke City's Nina Miranda follows, with the space in the bossa rhythm filled with unorthodox ambiences. The title song, Tanto Tempo samples the strings from Gilberto Gil's "Amor da Carnaval" to produce a gentle, soulful and optimistic tune. The songs are all excellent, and particularly strong in the vocal arrangements, with multi-tracked choruses aplenty, while the songs are frequently surprising and unorthodox. This is state-of-the-art Brazilian music that suggests a middle ground between Arto Lindsay and Zuco 103, mellow, warm and gorgeous.--Neil Bennun