“And now nothing but drums, a battery of drums, the conga drums jamming out, in a descarga, and the drummers lifting their heads and shaking under some kind of spell. There’s rain drums, like pitter-patter pitter-patter but a hundred times faster, and then slamming-the-door drums and dropping-the-bucket drums, kicking-the-car-fender drums. Then circus drums, then coconuts-falling-out-of-the-trees-and-thumping-against-the-ground-drums, then lion-skin drums, then the-the-whacking-of-a-hand-against-a-wall drums, the-beating-of-a-pillow drums, a man-fucking-a-woman-and-jamming-the-bed-frame-into-the-wall-drums and then someone-jumping-up-and-down-on-the-floor drums and then a-fat-man-slapping-his-own-belly drums, and then a-woman-smacking-her-ass-down-on-the-floor drums and then Morse-code drums and then the sky-breaking-up-and-all-the-heavens-falling-down-drums, and then a-bap-bap-bap-like-dialogue drums and children-running-through-an-empty-church drums…”

- Oscar Hijuelos, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, 1989.

Cuban Drums
Henry Fiol – Tiene Sabor
(from Son Cubano NYC. Honest Jon’s, 2005)
From one of New York City’s finest conga players and vocalists, here’s a track that makes you want to hit the fire escape. This compilation from Honest Jon’s is an invaluable introduction to the 1970s salsa that emerge from NYC by way of Havana.

Techno Drums
Basic Channel – Octagon
(from the Octagon/Octaedre 12″. Basic Channel, 1994)
A dead-eyed machine collides with an organic weather system in this full-on epic loaded with splattering drums that rain steadily across thirteen minutes of dirty concrete – brilliantly rinsed and relaxed by a muted choral bloom, a slow pulse, and a sneaky synth flutter. Thirteen years later, Basic Channel still rips most techno to shreds.