A lot of people think that Asian music begins with Bollywood and ends with bhangra, with not much in between, which isn't really the right answer. The sounds of the urban underground have been richly filled with an eastern vibe and the scene has been growing steadily for a number of years now.

Heading the way with the drum 'n' bass and breakbeat sound has been the Nasha Records collective, who, headed by producer Ges-E, host the regular underground club nights at Herbal and Plastic People in London. The east end boys put out their first compilation album, 'Eastern Drum And Breaks' a year ago and received wide critical acclaim. Here at Desitunes4u, we have perhaps neglected the underground sound for a while, so we're making up for lost time by reviewing this album.

The opening track is called 'Freedom', put together by Visionary Underground. The airy intro pulls you in to a classic bass filled underground track and the Indian strings fit in perfectly, but it's the low frequencies that send sensations through your body.

Quickly following the opening track is 'Ektaa', a more industrial sounding piece composed by Ges-E and Visionary Underground. With more sick bass flows, the vocals work well through the track and demonstrate the Nasha crew's excellent production skills.

Niraj Chag takes over for track three, a superbly put together track called 'The Wheel'. A warped intro sets the tone for a great melody shift, but make sure that the sharp drumbeat doesn't take your ear off.

Ges-E jumps back on with Visionary Underground for 'Militant 24', perhaps Nasha's best known work to date as the theme track to the 1st series of BBC's Desi DNA programme. The aggressive hits and chatter work harmoniously with the tabla and vocal, but the driven bass will definitely affect you, this is one of the reasons why you should play drum 'n' bass as loud as you can.

Track five slows the pace a little bit, with Osmani Soundz' 'Village Vibez'. Still with an industrial feel, this tune creeps up on you slowly and is cool just to chill out to.

Number six opens up with a wicked urban street beat before chilling into a low frequency firefight. Simbad makes the bass do the talking on 'El-Hoggar', which has some great ideas but the effect of the low sounds isn't as effective as it could perhaps be when the strings enter the fray. However, play this loud in your car and it will play havoc on your digestive system!!

DJ Feelfree hooks up with Ges-E for number seven, dubbed a 'Sonic Solution'. I really like this track, which could easily be the theme to a car choice in a Hollywood thriller, the tune just carries on rolling without showing signs of stopping.

Master tabla player and the longest serving member of Nitin Sawhney's live band, Aref Durvesh opens up the sound with 'Genetix', which gives great throwbacks to back home with the elephant-type fanfares. Although it never really takes off as you're anticipating it to do so, it breathes a fresher, more organic voice into what has been a very industrial album.

Drum FM's Inna-Most supplies track nine, 'I…Volcano'. The intro really does bubble and the low sounds flow down your speakers like lava. An almost hip-hop-esque beat seems to go on for ages, but there is an eventual eruption near the end of the track.

The Bandish Projekt treat us to a slice of 'Electronik Dausa' for track ten, which chills the volcano which has just gone off, with some deep beats and thoughtful vocals working aginst each other to a nice effect. Watch the effect a sonically invisible area of the low frequancies has on your speakers, those cones go absolutely crazy!!

Ges-E returns with Aref Durvesh for some superb tabla driven D&B on 'Aftershock'. A sombre mood is retained but not exasperated when the drums are let free and you can soon pick out intricate melodies coming from the beats.

New York talent Navdeep ends affairs with 'Amrit', a soulful track whose intro has more air than the Hindenburg. The beat that kicks in is anthem like and the precisely placed melodies give a great signing off.

This album is more than just some loud beats and louder bass that crazy gorrahs dance to in shady clubs, it's full of thoughtful and excellent production which can be enjoyed by all. Without an MC, interlude or skit in sight, this is a CD which is full of nothing but high quality music. 'Eastern Drum And Breaks' is an essential underground album and it gets a 7.5 out of 10, and if Nasha can continue in what they are doing then bigger things will follow soon. Look out for an amazing AR Rahman refix called 'So Gaye Hai (Liquid Dreams)' by Ges-E and a second compilation album coming out in the near future.