P057 – DJ LYNCE – Live @ Bola de Cristal

April 5, 2024
Artwork, Catalogue
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Cassette / Digital
Assembled & performed live in concert by DJ Lynce (24.05.2023 for Bola da Liberdade at ZDB);
Mastered by DJ N.K., Recorded by Olga Matvchk, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released April, 2024.

CASSETTE/DIGITAL: Order from us

SIDE A & B

01- Live @ Bola de Cristal 44:48

PRESS RELEASE

The feeling is it’s been there since the beginning of time. With strong, immutable foundations, acid techno (naturally the offspring of acid house) still sends the same wild, troublesome vibes it did back when it erupted. For all its bad, mentally fucked-up reputation, you also get a perennial shimmer, immediately comfortable as soon as you lock into the groove. Or you can download all the theory and technicalities, stretch back and invoke the timeline of the whole hardcore evolution since its prehistory up until at least the later 1990s period of breakbeat / IDM approaching the year 2000 with the proverbial bang.

Lynce has been on the decks for 20 years now. Investigative, curious, ever reaching closer to the foundations, offering an irreverent perspective, sometimes even impertinent, slowly adding to history and for a few years now a firm reference in Porto’s more leftfield club scene.  This gig was a live premiere in front of an audience. You can hear the anticipation and the excitement when shouts are able to intrude on the overall sound. It’s an improv hardware jam with all the classic traits one would expect: breakbeats, plenty of acid squelching, strong pads and bleepy melodies. Straightforward, banging, joyous, we’d risk universal.

Cassette; hand-stickered artwork 150 copies available for the world.

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DJ Lynce serves Príncipe something a little different with his locked-in live hardware recording of a gnashing acid techno and braindance jungle, on a one-off, limited edition tape.

For 45 minutes DJ Lynce places his 20 years of service DJing, raving, and causing havoc into this steaming set harking back to a heyday of late ‘90s/early ‘00s dance music. Calling to mind the Rephlex Disco Assault System lot of AFX, Kosmik Kommando or Ceephax Acid Crew as much as Skam’s MR76IX or the skull-curdle 303 lashes of The Liberators, the set includes a frisson of crowd noise that captures the energy in the room. 

Lynce proves themselves a very capable pilot of their gear, raising tension with a synth intro that precipitates a torrent of nervy hardcore breaks, chewiest 303s and classic stabs shot from the hip, keeping us on our toes with a reticulated restlessness that does not let go. It’s definitely not the usual kuduro/batida/tarraxho you’d be led to expect from Príncipe, but it does give a smart inkling of where the label’s roots lie, and it’s not hard to draw parallels between this mode of rave, developed in the twilight years of its golden era, and the up-to-the-second drive of artists from Lisbon’s hardcore ends.
Boomkat, April 2024

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Workshop de Dança Kuduro

March 19, 2024
Casa da Príncipe
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artwork by Márcio Matos

INSCRIÇÃO aqui.


O quê:
Um workshop de dança kuduro de 4 dias, de frequência gratuita, com cerca de 2h30 diárias de actividade, e apresentação final pública no último dia. Orientado pelo coreógrafo, dançarino e comunicador Fábio Krayze, com os convidados Tixo, Titica e Dj Firmeza.

Quando:
25, 26 e 27 de Março, das 18h às 20h30.
28 de Março apresentação às 19h30.

Onde:
Casa da Cultura de Sacavém

Público alvo:
Jovens entre os 18 e os 28, amadores e iniciados.

Limite de participantes:
20 pessoas, por ordem de inscrição.

Esboço do programa:
1º dia – Apresentação e dinâmica de grupo, breve discussão da história do Kuduro e o papel central da dança na sua criação e internacionalização, primeiros passos e ensaios de movimento.
2º dia – Continuação, início de trabalhos numa coreografia original para uma performance pública. Visita de Tixo, herói local e além-fronteiras, criador e divulgador fundamental do Kuduro enquanto dança na Área Metropolitana de Lisboa. “Ainda hoje se dançam toques que o Tixo inventou”.
3º dia – Ensaios, ensaios, e ensaio final. Visita de Titica, estrela do Kuduro, cantora e performer. Vem partilhar a sua visão e experiência de espectáculo em cima de um palco, um exemplo de orgulho na sua cultura e a importância de a representar à sua maneira.
4º dia – Performance pública no salão, com entrada livre, mediante a lotação do espaço. Dj de serviço, o único, Dj Firmeza.

Equipa:
Fábio Krayze – https://www.instagram.com/krayze_fabio
Tixo – https://youtu.be/aymjOU7D0ho?si=19H2NyNz0YCM2poL
Titica – https://www.youtube.com/@TiticaMusicOficial/videos
Dj Firmeza – https://www.thefader.com/2017/11/30/firmeza-principe-lisbon-dance-
music-batida-clayton-vomero-pai-nosso-film

INSCRIÇÃO aqui.

P051 – DJ Nigga Fox – Chá Preto

March 15, 2024
Artwork, Catalogue
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Vinyl LP / Digital
Written and produced by DJ Nigga Fox;
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released March, 2024.

VINYL/DIGITAL: Order from us

A1 – DJ Nigga Fox – Ondas da Terra
A2 – DJ Nigga Fox – Má Rotina
A3 – DJ Nigga Fox – Mutadoree

B1 – DJ Nigga Fox – Bom te Ver
B2 – DJ Nigga Fox – Wanguila
B3 – DJ Nigga Fox – 4 Fantasias

PRESS RELEASE

Feels as if we’re stepping outside the known universe of Nigga Fox but simultaneously being invited in. It’s not about being hermetic, shutting out followers of his trademark dance beats or making an experimental statement per se. All this music comes effortlessly during sessions such as any other, so don’t throw away valuable time searching for a concept.

“Chá Preto” sounds revolutionary but not so much in his discography, accustomed as we are to game-changing compositional solutions in the afro musical continuum but – never forget – also in Dance Music taken as a broad genre. But is it Dance? Certainly a fair amount of suffering and introspection comes clear throughout the album, namely in the sequence made up of “Má Rotina” and “Mutadoree Leonor”. “Mutadoree” is a free, alternative spelling of “much pain” and each listener can process the info as s(h)e pleases. The music is also strikingly beautiful, so there’s really no final word on this.

Beats come sparse, a very personal phraseology, the dancefloor a memory. Or just something to keep in mind for a future night out. Presently there’s no lack of adventure or excitement in these grooves, a uniquely themed one-person show of musical skills and bare emotion. It ends in a snap, not a trace of embellishment. Pragmatic and out of the loop. Rewind and feel it all over again. Any comparison in mind? Flip through History books and you won’t find this chapter.

Vinyl LP; Individually hand-painted sleeve, 800 copies available for the world.

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Rogério Brandão, AKA DJ Nigga Fox, has become synonymous with Lisbon’s batida scene. Drawing from his Angolan and Congolese heritage and the sprawling Afro-Lusophone diaspora, Brandão recontextualises kuduro, tarraxinha, zouk, jazz, acid and deep house across his frenetic club records. His maverick approach has been apparent since his 2013 debut EP O Meu Estilo, especially on early cuts like “Hwwambo” and “Weed.” 2019’s Cartas na Manga and 2022’s Música da Terra refined his sound, transforming his once-visceral soundscapes with wistful, cerebral melodies, modulated vocal chops and springy pads. His approach is something of a paradox, wielding rambunctious yet ruminative soundscapes that feel endless—often all in a span of four minutes. On his new album, Chá Preto (“black tea”), Brandão allows himself to meander into longer track lengths. He remains languid yet poised as he mutates time signatures and language in a way that’s outlandish even by his standards.

Like his long-form 2017 composition “15 barras”, DJ Nigga Fox uses Chá Preto’s longer runtimes to steep listeners in every note. Where previous openers have erupted into urgent, fluid idiosyncrasies almost immediately, “Ondas da Terra” is noticeably sparse. A heartbeat bassline pulses through a maze of sinuous organs, vocal pants and maniacal laughs. The absence of kick drums creates a foreboding atmosphere, though the transition to “Má Rotina” is harmonious—a buttery piano melody and hand drum rhythm unfurl towards a more familiar 4/4 cadence. Brandão shakily croons in “Mutadoree,” and its horns, which come in and out of earshot like a passing train, only make the track feel more cavernous.

That space and silence becomes gargantuan by the time you’re in the far-flung orbit of Afrofuturism on the back-to-back highlights “Wanguila” and “4 Fantasias.” Every beep and wobble makes the former, a patchwork of whirring, gurgling synths, seem fit for a space odyssey—especially with a pitch change just shy of three minutes that hoists you out of gravity’s clutches. “4 Fantasias” is the longest track, hovering around nine minutes. It establishes a chorus of yips and a sauntering bassline before a spritely clave is swept up in a synth loop. Just after four minutes, that rhythm shoots through a record scratch wormhole, as tendrils of Brandão’s voice overtake the scene.

Brandão puts his vocals on full display on “Mutadoree,” huskily croaking the title alongside his partner, who sings sweetly, “é muita, é muita dor” (“it’s a lot, a lot of pain”). Together, they’re able to convey universal feelings of isolation and melancholy with a short phrase. It’s a rare, welcome addition to hear his raw voice in a catalogue of otherwise filtered and dubbed vocals. On “Bom te Ver,” (“good to see you”) sound bites of babbling laughter help to epitomise the feeling of a long-awaited reunion with a loved one. It’s the fastest, shortest and most ecstatic song on the album, almost like a sentimental reacquaintance with longtime listeners sandwiched in between Brandão’s most eccentric works yet.

You might not realize how swept up you were in DJ Nigga Fox’s sonic universe until Chá Preto sputters to its abrupt end. Despite being around the same length as Cartas na Manga, his latest album feels colossal because of how its smouldering ambience never quite combusts. Here, the cross-pollination of contorted, ancestral West African rhythms and zingy timbres manifests as an out-of-body time warp. In this new dimension–-the most introspective and vulnerable we’ve visited with him yet—Brandão reinvents both himself and the Afro-Lisbon sound he’s helped popularise. As the humdrum sound of reality returns after the LP finishes, don’t be surprised if the strange polyrhythms of Chá Preto float on in the back of your mind.
Resident Advisor, Akili, March 2024

On one of the year’s most staggering weirdo club records, Príncipe MVP Rogério Brandão sets expressive new levels for batida/kuduro and progressive African dance music with an extraordinary set of slow/fast and humid head-wreckers that sound like some indescribable melt of Matias Aguayo/Closer Musik, Villalobos and futuristic funk. 

‘Chá Preto’ invites the dance to the furthest reaches of DJ N-Fox’s imagination. Since debuting in 2013, the Lisbon-based artist has been a radical force in contemporary club music, physically making everyone move to his different beat and vibe. Perhaps best compared to Nídia in his field for an ability to juice unique motion and emotion from his music, in ‘Chá Preto’ he follows his nose for outright weird and singular style and pattern on all counts, seducing the mind/body with liquified syncopations and synth sensations that just feel alien and highly satisfying to even the hardest-to-please quibblers.

On his first mission since 2022, Brandão follows the form of his ‘Música Da Terra’ EP and a string of Warp bullets into the beyond. The spectral carousel of lop-sided subs and haunted fairground melodies in ‘Ondas da Terra’ is slow and screwed, like several tracks cut in concentric circles and playing off one another, battling the grid, before ‘Má Rotina’ pushes a more bittersweet sort of bloozy introspection with clipped West African rhythms trotting on bombed out bass laced with ambient pads and a hooky chant that sets up ‘Mutadoree’ on a tip like Lolina adrift in Yorgos Lanthimos’ oneiric depiction of Lisbon in ‘Poor Things’, conveying fantastical feelings we can’t quite translate, or fathom.

‘Bom Te Ver’ recalls Marina Rosenfeld’s electro-dub as if kerned by Autechre’s AI, while the diffracted flow of the closing ‘4 Fantasias’ most strongly reminds us of Closer Musik’s ‘You Don’t Know Me’ alltimer with its humid landscaping and sensual, snake-charming melodies. 

There’s just nowt like it out there right now.
Boomkat, March 2024

Universo paralelo de Nigga Fox no correr da evolução musical afro-lusa, luso-africana, angolana, portuguesa.A assinatura única do produtor e DJ é conhecida há muito e, se tem um nome, esse é “O Meu Estilo”, título do primeiro EP na Príncipe. Em “Chá Preto”, seis faixas que puxam para dentro, para escuta atenta, para apreciação do puro génio que acende estas luzes de criatividade. Quase sempre em contorno da pista de dança, o álbum sugere uma entrada nela, ensaia mas não permanece, numa afirmação de personalidade e de travão natural nas expectativas de quem vem meramente pelas batidas. Acontecem em “Má Rotina”, “Bom Te Ver” e no shuffle de “4 Fantasias”, mas ficamos com a sensação de que a verdade está nas entrelinhas, na grande riqueza do ecossistema que conta as histórias, aqui. A batida surge quase por inevitabilidade, como se não tivesse sido criada mas aparecesse em cena, por si, na exacta medida em que o ambiente das faixas assim o requer. Momento alto num percurso que já ultrapassa a década e mostra sinais de progressão.
Flur, March 2024

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Conversa e Masterclass no Hangar

March 13, 2024
Casa da Príncipe
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artwork by Márcio Matos

Vivemos tempos de simultaneamente enorme optimismo e preocupação animados pelos supostos avanços revolucionários da inteligência artificial.

A Príncipe convidou um painel de gente capaz e generosa para navegarmos os assuntos da autoria e comércio da música na actualidade no próximo Sábado, 16 de Março, pelas 17h, no Hangar, em Lisboa.

Publishing, licenciamentos musicais e sincronizações, direitos conexos e distribuição digital, serão os campos abordados para uma conversa com a participação de Carlos Gonçalves (Warp Publishing), Eduardo Simões (GDA), Núria Pinto (Altafonte), Lilocox (Artista e editor) e moderação da Isilda Sanches (Antena 3).

Na Quinta-feira seguinte, 21 de Março, também no Hangar mas pelas 19h, promovemos uma masterclass pelo DJ Marfox. 

Com o tema “A Arte e o Ofício DJ”, o Mestre irá discorrer sobre isso mesmo, segundo a sua perspectiva e experiência, sustentado pela sua carreira internacional de referência há mais de década e meia. A moderação ficará a cargo da XEXA.

A entrada é livre para ambos os eventos, mediante a lotação do espaço.

16.03.2024, 17h
Conversa sobre publishing, licenciamento musicais e sincronizações, direitos conexos e distribuição digital

21.03.2024, 19h
Masterclass sobre a Arte e o Ofício DJ

Hangar – Centro de Investigação Artística
Entrada livre

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P050 – DJ Kolt – Verdadeiro

February 2, 2024
Artwork, Catalogue
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Vinyl LP / Digital
Written and produced by DJ Kolt;
Mastered byDJ N.K., Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released February, 2024.

VINYL/DIGITAL: Order from us

A1 – DJ Kolt – Fiqexpert
A2 – DJ Kolt – VUGUVUGUU

B1 – DJ Kolt – BATESTE
B2 – DJ Kolt – Shaman

PRESS RELEASE

Dancefloor fire bombs from Kolt, a DJ and producer thus far mostly operating under the crew name Blacksea Não Maya (with Perigoso and Noronha). This is his first Retirement record. No quotation marks here, Kolt is actually stepping down from a fruitful decade-long career as DJ and producer.

Fat, techno-ish, idiosyncratic big room afro mind melt sounding like no other hyped or non-hyped dance cuts out there. Futuristic and decidedly non-European in structure, this set of 4 tracks carries a more synthetic DNA than previous material, if we exclude his quasi-gothic slow burners in BNM’s “Máquina de Vénus” LP. But in “Verdadeiro” Kolt is all virtual open arms and bare chest, appearing to satirize this idea of the megastar DJ. But what comes across is distinctive and alive (consequently deadly on the club sound system), wiping out the floor of any zombie-preset-DJ vibes.

Take “Bateste” as an example: an evil bassline, wtf beeps, a vocal snippet prodding the dancers and a final blissful 30 seconds to ease you out. “Shaman” is the final track, its title just maybe nailing the atmosphere felt by people on the dancefloor. Shamelessly epic and in your face, a simulation of a throwback to a more clichéd clubland but just so left of centre that one can’t find a complete correlation to fit the picture. Yes, we all go OMG.

Vinyl LP; Individually hand-painted sleeve, 500 copies available for the world.

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Blacksea Não Maya’s DJ Kolt serves pure kuduro hoof and wiggle on his penultimate 12” with Lisbon’s Príncipe powerhouse.

Previously heard on jams with DJ Noronho and DJ Perigoso in 2015, DJ Kolt recently signalled his intent to retire from the kuduro game, but not until he’s dropped two final 12”s on the deadly Príncipe. ‘Verdadeciro’ features four swingeing variants toggling the pressure gauge between sub-loaded and breezy canter, galloping badness, and a lethal, UKF-style winner that’s bound for summer destruction.

Vibes steadily escalate in intensity from the pendulous, scything drums and bloozy string motif tucked into bolshy motion on ‘Fiqexpert’, to the big room-sweeping rave flares and powerful slosh of ‘VUGUVUGUU’, to dial in wickedly discordant bleeps and see-sawing leads with a wide-eyed UK ’91 gnash and surprisingly moody finish on ‘BATESTE’, then utterly finishing us off with the laser-guided hardcore pressure of ‘Shaman’, complete with diva stabs and fanfares synched to subbass in a way recalling Pinch’s post-UKF productions, but with bags of extra wiggle room.

Proper heavy, this.
Boomkat, February 2024

Material duro de DJ Kolt, a anunciar a sua já efectivada retirada enquanto DJ e produtor (outro disco desta fase final aguarda publicação mais adiante no ano). Quatro malhas cheias de fogo, sim, mas a riqueza de pormenor em escuta mais atenta mostra uma gama de emoções variada. Directo a assentar na pista de dança, enganador em primeira leve abordagem, “Verdadeiro” parece brincar às Grandes Salas, como a editora comunicou, utilizando um espectro sonoro próximo da figura do DJ zombie que os anos 10 deste século foram intensificando, com a música a rolar pesada em acompanhamento dos punhos no ar. O que se ouve aqui é épico, sem dúvida, só que entra na cabeça com questões que na Lusitânia ficam meio no ar. O que é isto? A pergunta já foi feita antes em relação a outras edições Príncipe. Africano ou português? Global? A querer ser algo ou a sê-lo já com naturalidade? O que é consensual é que esta criatividade desaguou em Lisboa e seus arredores, onde aconteceram e até foram desenhadas circunstâncias que continuam a imprimir nesta música uma identidade e urgência de comunicação até que isso deixe eventualmente de ser assunto.
Flur, February 2024

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