With dance music gaining more of a presence on the charts and more play on many people's CD players, rhythm rather than melody is supreme. Granted, much of it -- from fey pop to dance crossovers -- is soulless. It is mechanical, not just in the way it is produced, but also in the way it sounds.

Brian Eno once complained of "a lack of Africa" in music, referring to both the mechanization of the beat and also its boring simplicity. For Eno, Africa means something live, organic and polyrhythmic -- attributes missing in much beat-based music.

Many seem to agree with him. Recently, live performances with real people playing real drums have become trendy in genres that have hitherto been slaves to samplers and drum machines. In hip-hop, there's the Roots and Ozomatli. Drum 'n' bass has Roni Size.

The physicality of production is as crucial as the actual sound. It is as if the slap of a hand against a drum head -- even if only recognizable as such by a credit on the record label -- reverberates somehow more real or more authentic a sound than the best sample. (But how many people can actually distinguish a really good drum sample from the real thing?)

Given the craze for authenticity in Japan (witness the continuing popularity of vintage vinyl records), it is no wonder that many groups following this code have arisen here. But for Japanese musicians, it is Asia, more than Africa, that seems to be an inspiration. There is a whole subset of indie bands that feature tablas, and the didgeridoo has become almost de rigueur at trance events. After imitating modes of Western pop music for so long, more and more artists are adding Eastern sounds and instrumentation.

Of course, one could argue that tabla star Talvin Singh's Anokha movement of Eastern-influenced dance music or the "crustie" convergence of hippie vibes with techno that bloomed in the U.K. during the early '90s guided them from West to East in the first place. Regardless, a slew of new "live" beat-based releases have recently made their mark.

The Ochi Brothers' "Beating the Earth" is one of the most traditional. The two, who really are brothers, have long played at the intersection of ambient and techno music (some call it "drum 'n' space"). On "Beating the Earth," they have opted for a more conservative approach, with few if any effects and no strings or other melody-bearing instruments, at least not in the usual sense.

That leaves only percussion, but what percussion. The Ochi Brothers are able to coax just about any sound from a drum. The rhythms are never boring or flat, as Thai drums, talking drums and African rhythm instruments such as the agogo or kogiri weave around each other. The effect of the different tones from the Ochi Brothers' arsenal of percussion instruments is almost melodic in its catchiness.

At the other end of the spectrum is the improvisational collective Tribal Circus. If "Beating the Earth" is club music or, more rightly, "clubbable" music despite itself, Tribal Circus' eponymous debut is aimed right at the dance floor.

As an outgrowth of Tokyo's trance scene (some members also perform as the electronic group Hi Fana), Tribal Circus imitates the crustie combination of traditional percussion and electronica. Middle Eastern horns wail, and hip-hop style samples intervene. The didgeridoo is what keeps things together, giving the album a dry, rumbling low end that is so organic you can almost hear the musician breathing.

Asa Chang and Junray's "Hana" is in different territory altogether. It doesn't have Tribal Circus' frantic dance-floor vibe, though it would certainly be at home in a chill-out room. It is also much more experimental in the way it uses its beats than either of the other two groups.

Asa Chang, a veteran of Tokyo's music scene (and one of the founding members of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra), was one of the first musicians here to play tablas seriously, and he puts the instrument to good and interesting use.

The opening, title cut of "Hana" is a lovely concoction of elegiac, almost haikulike lyrics and washes of sound mingled with the soft pitter-pat of tablas. The vocals are purred rather than sung, and, paired with the tabla, the effect is like a sonic waterfall of beats and consonants. The other cuts on the album are equally entrancing.

The test of such "live" beat-oriented music is, logically, how it plays live. The Ochi Brothers are known for their detailed, highly choreographed performances. Tribal Circus is at the other extreme in this too: improvisational and sweat-drenched. Asa Chang and Junray's music, depending more on texture than the full-on throb, may be more difficult to pull off live. Their upcoming Japanese tour will show whether they can do it.