P052 – DJ LILOCOX – Drums (Lata)

Cassette / Digital
Written and produced by DJ Lilocox;
Mixed and blended by Novo Major;
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released January, 2023.

CASSETTE/DIGITAL: Order from us

SIDE A

01- AfroTech (Original) 03:19
02 – Electrohouse Style (OriginalMix) 03:58
03 – Various (Original) 04:20
04 – (LATAS VOL.1) 01:22
05 – LISBOA MUSIC (Original) 03:42
06 – GANANÇIA (Original) 01:47
07 – Floute Style (Originalmix) 02:15
08 – Ritmos (Original) 01:37
09 – Alto Percurço (Original) 01:36
10 – BANAH [Edit-Vocal] (Originalmix) 01:50
11 – BASS 02:28
12 – BEATS (Original) 01:30
13 – Crazy (Original) 01:15
14 – DA CU PEDRA 01:44
15 – DRUM CLASSIC (Original) 01:01
16 – DRUMS (LATA) 01:15
17 – E LOCURA 2 (Originalmix) 01:46
18 – FILHA DA GODA (OriginalMix) 01:44
19 – House Deep Tech 02:37
20 – Hoje é undi (Original) 04:04

SIDE B

01 – LADO B —- NO LUME 02:18
02 – KAPETA(MALUCO) (Originalmix) 01:28
03 – UNICO (Original) 01:45
04 – LOS HERMANOS (Original) 01:28
05 – ‘What Pho’ (Edit) (Original Mix) feat. DJ Nigga Fox 02:24
06 – OLHA OH (Originalmix) 02:28
07 – MALUQUIÇE (Original) 02:30
08 – SAMBAPITO (OriginalGhetto) 01:56
09 – VIOLAS DJ JESUS (GIRA-A-BULA) (Originalmix) 01:39
10 – Soculentaa (Original) 02:46
11 – The World Dance (Original) 02:15
12 – vibe (Original) 02:03
13 – TOKIO (Originalmix) 01:29
14 – JAZZ (OriginalMix) 02:14
15 – PARABENS PEDRO(RITMOriginal) 03:02
16 – ROTREDAO 01:46
17 – PASSA-TEMPO (OriginalGhetto) 01:59
18 – Marimba (T-Box) (Originalmix) 01:28
19 – RUMOS (Originalmix) 01:30
20 – SEGURA (Original) 02:06
21 – Zona J (Original) 01:46
22 – REALITE (Original) 00:44
23 – VAMO NO SALO (Originalmix) 01:15

PRESS RELEASE

Yes, 43 tracks and over 80 minutes worth of private beats from back in the day. These were banged out by Lilocox for his own DJ sets while still fine tuning the skills that got him where he now stands – as a prominent figure in the Afro-portuguese dance music rhizome. House grooves outside of the continuum, informed by his Cape Verdean descent and a rough cut past as a young kid producing harsh batida polyrhythmia, both solo and as part of the now pretty legendary Piquenos DJs do Guetto crew with Firmeza and Maboku.

So travel the spaceways with this smoothly mixed and blended set of music we thought criminal to just let sit as archival memory. Deep, sprawling house ambience + slick beats and further reaching Latin and African vibes, a more “tribal” stance. Lata was the derogatory term used by Lisbon’s African night club owners to stamp out the outlawed music Ricardo and other fellow free spirited producers were creating 10, 12 years ago. But they proudly ran with it and turned Lata into an affectionate epithet for a certain standard, tinny sound typical of old school batida beats, most appropriate as a DIY message for this collection of pure and intuitive dance music.

Cassette; printed case 300 copies available for the world.

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Ricardo Vieira aka Lilocox is as well known for his percussive solo productions as for his work in the Piquenos DJs do Guetto crew with Firmeza and Maboku. On ‘Drums (Lata)’ he raids his archive for a throwback to the days when Lisbon promoters termed the Afro-Latin sound of the ghettos as “Lata”, a derogatory word used to describe their “tinny” beats, as opposed to more rounded and “well produced” house and club music. In a classic act of defiance, Lilocox and his peers would come to own the term as a self-description in much the same way Jamal Moss flipped accusations of “the worst DJ ever” (rightly so, cos he’s one of the very best), reclaiming their agency and giving a frank f you to dogmatic doyles. 

Mixing up rough-cut rhythms and sultry ambient pads with velvety weapons, the session is full of the “cargaa”, or charge – or even moxie – that makes batida/kuduro so damn effective in the dance worldwide. Drawing on his Cape Verdean roots, and a life lived in Lisbon’s margins, Lilocox speaks directly to the Black Atlantic dialogue between displaced peoples from West Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, US, and their European nodes, that has resulted in the best dance music of the past century and longer. Liliocox’s mix situates those vital drum communications in the here-and-now with infectious offbeats splintering into myriad directions from UK Funky to gqom, amapiano, and singeli – all sharing a relentless, undeniable fire.
Boomkat, February 2023

 

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P043 – RS PRODUÇÕES – Saúde Em 1º Lugar

Vinyl LP / Digital
Written and produced by RS Produções (DJ Narciso, Nuno Beats, Farucox);
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released December, 2022.

VINYL/DIGITAL: Order from us

A1 – DJ Narciso – ORAÇÃO
A2 – Farucox – TABA
A3 – Nuno Beats – Tribal
A4 – DJ Narciso – Semana Chata
A5 – DJ Narciso x Nuno Beats – Mitsai
A6 – Farucox – Sem Cabeça
B1 – DJ Narciso x Nuno Beats – Texx
B2 – DJ Narciso x Nuno Beats – Valentine’s Day 2K17
B3 – DJ Narciso – ARMADILHA NO T
B4 – Nuno Beats – PrinCIPES
B5 – Nuno Beats – Bué de Bass (acapella)
B6 – DJ Narciso – Bolor
B7 – Farucox – ESFREGA [Ti Lito]

PRESS RELEASE

Long playing second release by the ever busy RS Produções, showcasing an update of the crew’s particularly moody dance beats. Their debut “Bagdad Style” featured only the main core of Narciso and Nuno Beats but RS is expanded with Farucox for this album, adding more oblique ryhthms to the whole.

The crew seems to be happy the bleakest and most stressful days of COVID are past them, celebrating the fact with a self-evident title and the opening prayer by Narciso, redirecting God’s blessings to the whole family of RS DJs and producers.

What we experience on the 13 tracks (including interludes) is a burst of energy. If not exactly extroverted, it communicates a commitment to the purest strain of batida and, for those able to detect hidden feelings, this music might convey some melancholic undertones true to this part of the world.

Beats and off-beats invite your most abstract dance moves and even the album´s most melodic piece is “headless” (Farucox’s spacey afro house “Sem Cabeça”). The slow moving tarraxos are uncompromising but never emotionally detached. “Bolor” by Narciso might be the most demanding moment here, with so many crashing elements that, when reviewing the listening experience, we feel a direct connection to a very unique underground expression of dance music. A good part of its power resides in the dislocation of our senses to a different tuning and the consequent opening up of possibilities. This means access to different territories, vibes and points of view. The idealized way of the world.

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

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DJ Narciso and Nuno Beats first appeared on Lisbon label Príncipe as RS Produções back in 2018, debuting a style that was as wounded as it was playful—think a combination of DJ Lycox’s romantic kizomba and Nídia’s eerie hybrids. Now the crew, who are based out of Rio de Mouro, just outside Lisbon, add third member Farucox for their debut full-length. As usual, Sa​ú​de Em 1º Lugar is a mixture of solo and collaboration tracks that highlight common ground—and the importance of community in the Lisbon batida scene—more than they accentuate the differences.

Together and apart, the trio tinker and dismantle the various styles and sub-genres that make up the Príncipe sound. Farucox shines on the excellent “TABA,” whose staggered thrust sounds more than a little like gqom. His “Sem Cabeça” is another major highlight, skipping forward as Detroit-style synths add a chilly breeze around it. Narciso and Nuno get in on some UK funky action with “Mitsai,” whose unnerving atmosphere and fiberglass percussion underline the uneasiness at the core of the RS Produções sound: this is danceable music, sure, but there’s usually something else lingering underneath.

That duo’s “Valentine Day’s 2K17” is probably the most emo track here—aside from Narciso’s opening prayer on “ORAÇÃO,” where he plaintively wishes the best for the future—and with its bluesy, pitch-bent guitar licks, sounds like little else in the Príncipe catalogue, smoldering and mournful. (Even Narciso’s producer tag, with its nervous laugh, is a little downcast here.) But there’s plenty of light, too. Nuno Beats’ solo track “Tribal” has a spareness and a clarity that reminds me of early Roska, stiff and rolling at the same time. It could’ve ended up clunky, but it feels smooth and intuitive.

From its message of hope to its emotional vulnerability, Sa​ú​de Em 1º Lugar is, if nothing else, charming. The title means something like “health comes first,” a patronizing phrase often used to make light of a bad situation, or alternately to lecture youth for having too much fun. The layers of meaning are reflected across the album, which pulls off genre experimentation with the deceptive depth of its title, rather than overwrought complexity.

Sa​ú​de Em 1º Lugar makes use of simple, often chintzy sounds—the repetitive chirps on “ORAÇÃO,” the synth horns on slow, seductive “Texx”—that lend the LP an approachable quality. It wouldn’t be fair to say it’s naive. Maybe pure of heart is a more precise way to describe the album. Marrying the hectic, stumbling-over-itself rhythm of classic batida with goofy samples and elegant melodies, Sa​ú​de Em 1º Lugar is yet another wrinkle in this scene’s seemingly endless variety of sounds, where close-knit producers come together, adjust the molecules and see what kind of brilliant new compounds they can come up with, each invention coloured by the lived experience of its creators in one of the world’s most vibrant dance music communities.
Resident Advisor, January 2023

A toast to good health after the bleakest days of the pandemic, ‘Saúde Em Primeiro Lugar’(health first) displays the Lisbon scene’s strength in diversity with a balance of relentless forward motion and melancholy vibes that acknowledge it’s still a bit weird out there. Opening with DJ Narciso’s intimate prayer for his pals ‘Oração’, which soon turns into a deep stepper, the expansive 13-track album transcends pure dancefloor pressure to work as a proper long player in its own right.

The album’s flow and emotive cadence benefits from the introduction of Farucox on a trio of highlights, with almost Drexciyan Black Atlantic overtones on ‘Taba’ and the syncopation of tendon-twitch drums to lush pads in ‘Sem Cabeça’, while the supremely weird, slow and offbeat tarraxho tang of ‘Esfrega (Ti Lito)’ shuts it down with a memorable curtain closer. DJ Narciso & Nuno Beats’ production proves no less reliable, also channelling James Stinson – whether knowingly or not – on the outstanding ‘Mitsai’ with its darkside choral motifs and electro-techno hydrodynamics, or in the tense, scaly charge of ‘Semana Chata’.

But the heavier stuff is only half the equation here. The record’s 2nd half is given to more concentrated downbeat headiness, spanning the groggy slosh of ‘Texx’ to a superb bluesy-Fado guitar meditation ‘Valentine’s Day 2K17’, pitch-bent underwater romance in ‘PrinCIPES’, and even acapella song ‘Bué de Bass’ beside the freakishly screwed raver ‘Bolor’. Seriously brimming with surprises at ever turn, it’s no doubt one of Príncipe’s deadliest releases, marking the start of their 2nd decade with relentless style.
Boomkat, December 2022

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P047 – DJ DANIFOX – Dia Não Mata Dia

Digital
Written and produced by DJ Danifox;
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released June, 2022.

DIGITAL: Order from us

1 – Criança
2 – Long Way Talk (Reprise)
3 – Sanidade
4 – Lost
5 – Solo
6 – No Stage

PRESS RELEASE

Out and about for some time now, under his own name but also as part of the long-standing Tia Maria crew, Danifox refreshes the scene in 2022 with this distinctive EP. In quasi-permanent flirt with the dancefloor, the producer unfolds organic textures, bass and very lively drums to pass along this feeling of spontaneous creativity. “I want to write this song again” is repeated over and over in “SOLO”, supported by suspenseful piano and various types of percussion. The bass appears to tie everything together, just occasionally grounding the groove. “Sanidade” is similar in tone and construction, a brief, odd, 01:51 of loose vocals, brass and beats, a non-formatted structure, weird patterns, oozing style. But the opener “Criança” already gives away all the science at work here. Bouncy yet introspective, Dani’s hands sounding like a virtual band of jamming musicians. A rich and unexpected dance tune.

Up one level in “Long Way Talk (Reprise)”: the organic core, by now clearly a signature, complemented by a discreet bleep, introducing a deep house sub-structure that suddenly vanishes 30 seconds before the end. Still further on, “Lost” is the closest to a peak-time banger. Bleeps and hand drums go wild over a steady beat, the piano still keeping a circumspect tone, never giving the whole entirely away to a carefree dance mode.

A permanent game of body and soul acting out their respective claims over sound, we sense Danifox is fully present, respectful of a natural flow, and upon reaching “No Stage” it’s hard not to take note of the masterful balance between organic and synthetic, happy and sad, timid and confident. There’s definitely a voice here.

Digital only.

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Für »Dia Não Mata Dia« setzt DJ Danifox vorwiegend eine akustische Sound-Palette ein, welche über die komplexen und immer wieder überraschenden Rhythmusstrukturen wunderbar mit den synthetischen Sounds harmonieren. Dazu treiben gefilterte Sprachfragmente den Beat nach vorne und rücken die Stücke für den Dancefloor zurecht. Am effektivsten bringt diese Mischung »Sanidade« zum Ausdruck, das sich rund um ein Gitarrensample entspannt, bevor Bläser mit der Percussion um die Wette eifern und es den Stimmen kaum gelingt, die Gemüter im Zaum zu halten. Die beiden darauffolgenden Tracks stecken die Breite des Spektrums ab: Während »Lost« mit einer nach vorne treibenden 4/4-Kickdrum klar in Richtung Club schielt, wähnt man sich bei »Solo« fast schon in einem Jazzclub, der aber in dieser Form nur in São Tomé, Bissao oder eben Lissabon vorstellbar ist.
Skug, July 2022

Chasing up DJ N Fox’s outstanding ‘Música da Terra’ 12” on the key Portuguese label, ‘Dia Não Mata Dia’ is a decidedly more lowkey and atmospheric session earthed in jazz and fado and feeling like a cool breeze next to his heat-seeking label mates. Vocals lend a more brooding attraction to the tuned percussive slosh and instrumental licks of opener ‘Criança’ and in more glossolalic, textural form on the woozy Wareika Hill-like sway of ‘Sanidade’ and elegiac closer ‘No Stage’, while Danifox’s fingers and keys do the talking between his strolling ace ‘Long Way talk (Reprise)’, and the bleep kuduro highlight of ‘Lost’.
Boomkat, June 2022

Mot complexe que ce crépuscule… et pourtant il s’applique à merveille à notre sujet du jour c’est-à-dire la sortie de Dia Não Mata Dia de l’artiste portugais d’origine angolaise DJ Danifox. Si souvent le crépuscule est associé au moment ou le soleil se couche, il peut également être utilisé à celui, au contraire où il se lève. Et tout ce disque bascule entre ces deux moments pourtant similaires. Un disque qui marque d’une certaine manière un artiste à son aurore, car même si le nom de Danifox vous est familier, car il revient souvent dans les parutions du label lisboète Principe Discos, que ce soit pour des feats, des EP, ou sa participation active au groupe Tia Maria Produções, ce Dia Não Mata Dia est le premier album solo de DJ Danifox. Mais aussi un disque qui est marqué par le coucher du soleil, non pas que Daniel Veiga, de son vrai nom, soit sur le déclin, loin de là, mais puisqu’on est à la fois confronté à une musique de la nuit, une musique des dancefloors, et en même temps il y a dans sa composition quelque chose d’un peu sombre, un peu mélancolique… pour ne pas dire crépusculaire !

En fait, tout cet opus est parcouru de voix qui traînent comme des mantras fantomatiques, il tressaille aux rythmes de beats discrets qui viennent flirter avec le kuduro, il y a des basses qui bruissent en permanence à la surface du disque, un peu comme le clapotis d’une lente pluie d’été… Et… en faite… il y a sur ce disque qui vient de paraître chez Príncipe, à la fois cette impression crépusculaire, mais aussi ce sentiment propre au lusophone, la saudade !
Djolo, June 2022

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P038 – DJ NIGGA FOX – Música Da Terra

Vinyl 12″ / Digital
Written and produced by DJ Nigga Fox;
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released February, 2022.

VINYL/DIGITAL: Order from us

A1 – Madeso
A2 – Gás Natural
A3 – Sanzaleiro feat. DJ Firmeza
A4 – Sasuke

PRESS RELEASE

We are instantly dropped into the record. A rush of adrenaline and it’s up to us to figure out where exactly do we stand. The insistent “strings” loop unsettles even the percussion, loose and propulsive. A brief pause signals the return for part 2 with some daring brass stabs adding an extra voice. One gets the feeling that the producer stands quietly amidst the storm, observing its effects. Nigga Fox has been flexing his muscles, keeping the production fit and – as always – very personal. At the same time, it’s casual, effortless, revealing a steady hand and ideas that just seem to be extracted from the air.

With DJ Firmeza in “Sanzaleiro” it’s a game of contrast, dissonance, driving force and constant pushing of limits. Here, brass stabs communicate how epic this journey is. Layers are deployed where common sense would dictate none extra should exist, and so again we find ourselves looking for a handle. Once found, we can participate in this displacement of the atmosphere. It ends just as “Sasuke” begins. Its main motive suggests tranquility, but elements gradually appear from all corners: an erratic bassline, broken beat, organ keys pressed down, voices from the yard. No agenda but the sonic agenda, the natural flow of this producer’s unmatchable sense of composition.

Retreating a little bit to “Gás Natural”, there’s a break at around 01:21 we feel could go on forever and take a life of its own. This reinforces the notion that a typical Nigga Fox track could in fact be more than one. Gateways, portals are there. They show glimpses of different realities or, if you’re pragmatic, just call them options.

Vinyl 12″ (red vinyl); individually hand-painted sleeve, 500 copies available for the world.

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Música Da Terra segna il ritorno di Dj Nigga Fox. A tre anni da Cartas Na Manga, questo EP propone quattro tracce per una ventina di minuti di musica inedita. Dopo un decennio di attività – gli esordi risalgono al 2013 con O Meu Estilo – il produttore di stanza a Lisbona è a tutti gli effetti il nome di punta della scena lusitana che dalla batida arriva fino al kuduro. L’EP vede anche una collaborazione con Dj Firmeza, sempre dal roster Príncipe, che prende la forma di un ipercinetico banger (Sanzaleiro) dai bassi pompatissimi sotto ottoni ossessivi e poliritmi parossistici; Sasuke mena con un broken beat quasi sorprendente per le abitudini del Nostro, con un basso sintetico da Roland 303 che contribuisce alla lisergica costruzione della struttura. In apertura c’è Madeso, di nuovo con fiati sintetici frammentati che sembrano portare a un millimetro dalla follia (o forse è l’estasi). Chiude il poker l’episodio più giocoso del lotto: Gás Natural fa anche tirare il fiato, per qualche minuto vagamente più misterico con una melodia quasi al confine con l’IDM. Ma è solo una suggestione, presto stravolta ancora per quello che è un lavoro che conferma Dj Nigga Fox quale vero e proprio ambasciatore più danzereccio e viscerale della scena batida/kuduro della diaspora angolana.
Sentireascoltare, February 2022

‘Música Da Terra’ marks just over 10 years since DJ Nigga Fox came to our attention on the ‘African Digital Dance’ compilation, and this latest EP on Príncipe sees him cement his status as one of the most trailblazing producers on the contemporary Kuduro scene. The sounds on the EP, as ever, are pleasingly far away from convention. The tracks are percussive and rhythmically-led but never predictable, and the syncopated beats achieve a real groove when teamed with psychedelic, experimental production sensibilities and so many different musical style influences. A standout moment is ‘Sanzaleiro’ – a hazy, thumping jam with fellow Príncipe teammate DJ Firmeza, and as a whole the EP takes daring twists and turns that will delight even the most seasoned listener of the Príncipe catalogue.
Bleep, February 2022

Le moins que l’on puisse dire c’est que DJ Nigga Fox ne s’embarrasse pas de pincettes, il nous plonge d’emblée dans un grand bain de batida, de tarraxo et de kuduro, où les beats se croisent et s’entrechoquent d’une manière presque erratique, voir désagréable, où le ressac incessant des synthés et des basses vient nous taper sur un coin du crâne jusqu’à nous en faire perdre la raison ! Et à peine Nigga Fox nous offre une petite respiration entre deux parties du morceau, que voilà déjà le presque dérangeant rythme de « Madeso » qui se remet en marche dans une grande danse aux abords du chaos et de la dissonance.

Oui, « Madeso » est dérangeant et il nous pré-dispose à un EP qui s’annonce déjà comme une tempête électronique qui va souffler dans les clubs de Lisbonne comme ceux de Luanda, et balaiera nos terres musicales, avec un son, celui de la Música da Terra ! À noter également que DJ Firmeza viendra s’inviter sur le disque pour un feat sur le titre « Sanzaleiro ».
Djolo, February 2022

Deploying four immediately upfront, naturally experimental workouts, ‘Música Da Terra’ marks just over 10 years since DJ Nigga Fox came to our attention on the ‘African Digital Dance’ compilation, and solidly affirms his role as the leader of Lisbon’s new school. Balancing a cosmic jazzy depth akin to Jamal Moss or Ron Trent’s deep house with more urgent, syncopated ghetto grooves, his music is the pinnacle of contemporary Kuduro, if you ask us. The lad’s catalogue practically charts the sound’s development from grimy and hardcore to more sensual, textured and rhythmelodically psychedelic in a way that places him like Kuduro’s answer to Dego or A Guy Called Gerald, and especially on this EP.

Including an instant standout jam with fellow Príncipe don DJ Firmeza in the muscular bass churn, bolshy brass and groggy pads of ‘Sanzaleiro’, Nigga Fox absolutely bosses it on his three solo works. There’s the adrenalizing scorcher ‘Madeso’ at the front, with its shards of marching horns sliced up into swingeing heads-down swagger, but also laid with a mental breakdown, while ‘Gás Natural’ cools off for a hot minute with its exquisite, chill breeze melody and in-the-pocket log drums leading somewhere deliciously darker, and ‘Sasuke’ simply slays with jaw-dropping twist of cosmic acid broken beat soul, lathering hazy organs, 303 and nimblest drums into the tightest, inimitable step.
Boomkat, February 2022

In 1973, director George A. Romero made an educational film about elder abuse in America. The project was financed by the Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania, who either ignored his horror bonafides or were completely unaware of them. Like Romero’s masterful Night of the Living Dead, his church-funded The Amusement Park leverages supernatural terror as a metaphor for social ills. The film depicts old age as a ruthless carnival where the elderly are subjected to routine violence or cruel neglect—all in a maddening, circular timeline mimicking fairground rides.

DJ Nigga Fox (aka Rogério Brandão) may not have had Romero on the mind while composing his new track “Madeso,” but it feels like careening through a haunted funhouse. Appearing on his upcoming EP Música da Terra, the latest single from Lisbon dance label Príncipe Discos is propulsive and cyclical. Brandão drives the rhythm with an artillery of drum effects and a bent, pulsing tone that sounds like an accordion gone haywire. Tracing its urgent melody, you almost feel trapped inside the synthetic instrument, riding its violently undulating bellows like a rickety roller coaster.

Like Romero’s carnival of dread or New Jersey’s notorious Action Park, “Madeso” brings an element of danger into the sphere of play. Its polyrhythms demand vigorous dance, but cataloging each texture and contour of the percussion would drive you mad. Horn patches bleat like goats, and warbled loops sound like sampled and stretched hiccups. Within “Madeso,” nothing is as it appears—and this frenzied delirium is part of the fun.
Pitchfork, January 2022

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PD001 – TIA MARIA PRODUÇÕES – Angústia Nos Corações Da Tia

Digital
Written and produced by DJ B.Boy, DJ Danifox, DJ Lycox, DJ Poco and Puto Márcio;
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released November, 2021.

DIGITAL: Order from us

1 – TKKN
2 – Ele É Bom
3 – Favela Maluca
4 – Bend Down

PRESS RELEASE

Tia Maria Produções was set to premiere as a full group performing at Le Guess Who? festival, in Utrecht, last weekend. It turned out not to be so as the Dutch government announced a new partial lockdown starting on Saturday, which left the festival with no choice but to cancel their show. Devastated but not broken, the collective of Lisbon-based Bboy, Danifox, Poco and Márcio came together virtually with Paris bound Lycox and decided to commit to creating a new EP within the same time frame they would otherwise have spent on the road for the LGW event. A sort of artistic > therapeutic residency of circa 48 hours. For themselves, and for the multiple fans that were planning to attend the special occasion and started pouring their hurt via DM to the group. ‘Angústia nos corações da tia’ is firm and forward, beaming and sharing an admirable regenerative strength that friendship and imagination never fail to deliver.

Digital only.

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P041 – PT MUSIK – Não Sou Perfeito

Vinyl 7″ / Digital
Written and produced by PT Musik;
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released October, 2021.

VINYL/DIGITAL: Order from us

A1 – Aplausos
B1 – Its Mine
B2 – Tudo Acabou

PRESS RELEASE

PT Musik is by now a long-standing alias of (former) Puto Tito, whose outstanding early teens productions still sound vibrant (“Carregando A Vida Atrás Das Costas” sits proudly as number 26 in our catalogue).

And a jump into Space. Ample vistas. Extremely romantic, synthetic, beautiful, fully-formed instrumental songs that, although short in duration, have the powerful effect of lingering in our mind. You want this groove to last forever but that is not his way. These are short statements that work within a kizomba frame to fish us out of the bad bad sea of aching and leave us under a spell pretty much forever. Equally short is the only semblance of lyric, a simple, impossibly sexy “então…”, charged with intention and possibilities.

In “Tudo acabou”, longing becomes epic, and the producer’s signature fades out into silence. That is the last thing we hear on this record. Yes yes, only 10 minutes. But the effect is that of a recurring dream. It becomes a part of who you are.

Vinyl 7″; individually hand-painted sleeve, 300 copies available for the world.

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Difícil apartar estas três canções umas das outras. O outrora Puto Tito (autor do inexcedível “Carregando A Vida Atrás Das Costas”, Príncipe númnero 26) concentra muito fogo interior no seu formato 1/2 kizomba 1/2 tarraxo. Breves melodias que rolam e se insinuam, deixando sequências plantadas na cabeça bem depois do som terminar. Para além das tradicionais e já clássicas IDs de produtor, a única voz deixa no ar um “então…” muito sugestivo de qualquer coisa doce que virá. Dois minutos intensos, empoderados pelas claps sintéticas, e depois “Tudo Acabou”, esperando sempre mais romance.
Flur, October 2021

PT Musik’s 3 track 7” is another story. The laid back synths and wide open ocean ambience are a sexier and smoother vibe altogether. Formerly known as Puto Tito whose early teenage productions include Carregando A Vida Atrás Das Costas, a minimalist batida hommage, is recognizably richer but still identifiable. The three tracks totalling 10 minutes, available digitally, roll by like a waking dream.
Pan African Music, October 2021

Marking the vital Lisbon label’s 10th anniversary year, ’Não Sou Perfeito’ is one of the sweetest treats in its decade long (and ongoing) reign, exemplifying the rich soul at the heart of its sound. The artist’s name change signifies a clear advance in his already emotive style of composition, as showcased in his teenaged productions on the ‘Carregando A Vida Atrás Das Costas’ set. The style of spare, grimy, chamber-like melodies in his formative early work is now found embellished with warmer pads and more nuanced rhythmic inflections to express a heightened grasp of slow jam romance that blends his native Atlantic coast breeze with a decidedly Californian G-funk lean to gorgeous effect. It’s a west coast thing, baby.

‘Apalusos’ is the outstanding A-side, drizzling syrupy G-funk-alike soul leads on a lilting kizomba rhythm and deliciously woozy chords bound to soundtrack embraced bodies and loved-up eyes scanning the dance. ‘Its Mine’ follows to dial up the forlorn ‘80s FM synth soul with an instrumental flair worthy of a Sade vocal (perhaps that’s her not replying to the ansafone motifs?), and ’Tudo Acabou’ bring this brief daydream of an EP to its closing strokes with a come-to-bed sashay of dry iced synth haze and slow-motion hip work.
Boomkat, November 2021

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P037 – DJ LYCOX – Lycoxera

Vinyl EP / Digital
Written and produced by DJ Lycox;
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released October, 2021.

VINYL/DIGITAL: Order from us

A1 – Eu Mbora Dou Bue Show
A2 – Rapaz Sinistro
A3 – Southside
B1 – Yoga
B2 – Wildin
B3 – Momentos Únicos

PRESS RELEASE

The highly prolific Lycox doesn’t hide his confidence: the vocal mantra in “Eu Mbora Dou Bue Show” declares his artistry to be at its peak. A reinforced kick in the beat signals a return to the club, and we all know what that means at the end of 2021. The first proper club night feels like AN OCCASION.

“Rapaz Sinistro” is just full-on beat science, firm on the floor, as “Southside” blurs the line between city and jungle, a true walk on the wild side. Very cinematic trash can-turning party vibe.
The flipside begins deep underground with an afro killer tune: “Yoga” is the only track here under 3 minutes and the duration certainly fits its sense of urgency. In contrast, “Wildin” stretches over the 5-minute line, always left of centre, an introspective afrohouse banger. Heads down in profound dancing. Then, a hugely classic Lycox melodic excursion making use of the traditional “latas” batida percussion. It picks you up and carries you off into the deep and wide horizon.

Vinyl 12″; individually hand-painted sleeve, 500 copies available for the world.

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Um prometido disco de bangers de DJ Lycox, após as kizombas espaciais em “Kizas Do Ly”, e a apresentação é do próprio: “Já sabes como eu sou, eu mbora dou bué show”. Abertura viva para um EP de seis faixas de clube em linha afrohouse particular, ainda com a batida de lata a ser estrela onde em mãos menores podiam existir só beats quadrados. Pontuações inusitadas em faixas como “Rapaz Sinistro” e “Yoga” reforçam uma assinatura que o underground já vai conhecendo de produções avulsas de Lycox. Ciência de composição bem apurada, neste Portugal independente até de nós, num curso de evolução e apuro que mantém o produtor (de momento baseado em Inglaterra) numa vanguarda da dança. E o toque romântico de Lycox, em partes iguais escola antiga e nova escola, sai bem aparente em “Momentos Únicos”, faixa de resolução de emoções que pode pender para qualquer dos lados da balança.
Flur, October 2021

As part of Tia Maria Produções and with his solo shots, DJ Lycox has been a vital player on Lisbon’s finest label since 2014. The ‘Lycoxera’ session leads on from the beatdown kizomba tempo of his ‘Kizas do Ly’ (2020) EP with a return to the quicker meter of his sought-after debut album ’Sonhos & Pesadelos’ (2017), giving the club what it needs as feet return to the ‘floor in late 2021 to dance their worries away.

Cherry-picked by the label from Lycox’s prolific studio output, the EP’s six tracks surely represent a clarion call to the rave, but finely balance a sense of urgency with more tentative, melancholic pathos that smartly reads the room. From its nervy but insistent opening vocal declaration of back to business on the ‘Eu Mbora Dou Bue Show’, thru the breezy lilt of his keys and quizzical top lines in ‘Momentos Unicos’ Lycox coaxes rather than demands, with deeply persuasive results.

The intricate beat science of ‘Rapaz Sinistro’ is bound to snag bodies in its swingeing syncopation of log drums and plucked bass motifs echoing Amapiano styles, while the haughty jack of ’Southside’ follows with immersive soundsphere of water sounds, trumpeting elephants and eagle squawks that transport the city to a jungle mindset. ‘Yoga’ is a standout 3 minutes of deep Afrohouse pressure, eazing tensely infectious drums with coolly poised chords, and ‘Wildin’ is the most concentrated, deeply technoid example of DJ Lycox’s urgent but furtive appeal on what is set to be a definitive solo EP.
Boomkat, November 2021

With just two solo records under his belt, DJ Lycox has become one of the darlings of the Princípe roster. Last year’s Kizas do Ly was a real head-turner, throwing a light on kizomba, a leisurely, romantic style of music that highlighted a new potential for elegance and melody in the Lisbon club sound. A year later he returns with LYCOXERA, a six-track EP that expands his sound by combining the delicacy of the kizomba work woth the rowdy rhythms of his 2017 EP. Then Lycox adds the swagger and low-end heft of Afro house, hinting towards a new style altogether that hints at only new paths for Princípe to go down. One listen to “Yoga” and you’ll know what I mean—there’s a certain thrust and spaciousness to the groove, allowing Lycox’s signature tumbling melodies to ride the groove in a very different way.. The opener “Eu Mbora Dou Bue Show” has a string-led stagger (and rambling vocal) that looks to gqom, while “Rapaz Sinistro” is a delightfully funky array of percussive sounds all plunking out their own path, like an ensemble of mallet players each playing a different rhythm. “Southside” and “Momentos Únicos” have a touch of older Lycox to them, and the former’s zany bounce and punch-drunk breakdown—it sounds like the track is stumbling around confused—mirrors the anything-goes glee of the earliest Príncipe records. The most promising track is “Wildin,” whose dark textures and fussy but fantastic use of reverb and delay—so that some synths sound like water droplets falling to the ground—borrow tropes from techno, both Afro and otherwise. Lycox’s discography has always been a synthesis of the influences around him, whether that was UK club music, Lisbon or Paris, and with LYCOXERA he takes on the sounds of the wider diaspora for an EP that’s both fearsome and exquisite.
Resident Advisor, November 2021

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P042 – DJ NIGGA FOX – Live Nigginha Fox

Cassette/Digital
Written and produced by DJ Nigga Fox;
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released April, 2021.

CASSETTE: Order from us

A – Live Nigginha Fox
B – Live Nigginha Fox

PRESS RELEASE

Enough months now for life to feel different. Some previous patterns are collapsing, while people are clinging to others. Live gigs were all but terminated but Nigga Fox was feeling countercyclical. By Summer 2020 he began morphing his set into a nonstop organic entity rather independent from the actual existence of a dancefloor. He actually performed it live on two most rare occasions in Lisbon before year’s end – an outdoor Príncipe showcase at the garden of Galeria Quadrum and an evening show at Lux Frágil. His trademark mid-track twists are now given extra space and you can easily listen to these 34 minutes as one track “in the Nigga Fox style” or as a live workout. Sounds bounce around slowly but surely, a spinal groove stretches throughout the whole length, beatless and also beat-wise. It’s 2021, post-future, and there’s pleasure to be had.

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Following from his crackshot debut album ‘Cartas Na Manga’ (2019), and going on in the nutty vein of his standout 2017 session ’15 Barras’ – one of the most inventive producers in all of electronic music here opens new paths into a sort of Angolan-Portuguese rhythmic psychedelia that simply sounds like nothing else. OK, it may be compatible with strains of Amapiano and rootsy US deep house, but there’s an effortless bendiness and irresistible lilt to the styles on ‘Live Nigginha Fox’ that are unique to the hyperlocal, Lisbon-based scenius that he’s been instrumental in building and expanding for the past decade.

Switching on with a gulf stream of breezy G-funk leads and grubbing subs, the groove takes hold and does not let go for over half an hour, furling syncopated breaks with scudding stabs and dub chords in a lissom parry that slinks between the beats in a way that recalls a melted parallel to South African Amapiano and the furthest reaches of Ron Trent’s sumptuous, rhythm-lead sound designs. Most crucially, there’s no tricks or stunts, just a mean sense of concentrated, heads-down and eyes-shut minimalism for the dancers to properly get into.
Boomkat, April 2021

“Live Nigginha Fox” assoberba como experiência vinda de um dos músicos mais irrequietos do catálogo da Príncipe – vale a pena lembrar que também foi dele que veio “15 Barras” -, tanto dentro como fora de estúdio, ou seja, na pista. Num ano de quase-ausência das cabines, esta cassete tem 35 minutos de algo que DJ Nigga Fox tem experimentado ao longo dos últimos 2/3 anos, levar a sua música para um formato “ao vivo”, desapegado do formato DJ e livre na conjetura live set. “Live Nigginha Fox” ouve-se como um espaço de criação activa, orgânico e com uma narrativa fluente. Não é como se estivéssemos lá, mas a liberdade rompante que se sente ao longo da cassete é uma porta de entrada para a cabeça de um dos produtores mais criativos da actualidade.
Flur, April 2021

Os padrões colapsantes dos ritmos de Nigga Fox continuam tão fascinantes como sempre e escutá-los assim, de forma concentrada, sem o abandono físico a que uma pista convida, equivale a ver um jogo clássico de Asteroids, com peças que se vão cruzando no espaço sónico antes de coliderem e se fragmentarem noutros elementos, numa hipnótica e constantemente renovada aventura de polirritmias. Uma suite electrónica para o clube que se abre na nossa cabeça quando se carrega no play. Pesado. Fundo. E viciante.
Rimas e Batidas, April 2021

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P039 – NIAGARA – Pais & Filhos

Vinyl LP / Digital
Written and produced by Niagara;
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Digital release: May, 2020;
Physical release: December, 2020.

VINYL/DIGITAL: Order from us

A1 – 21:44
A2 – Herdeiros
A3 – Tília
A4 – Ano-B

B1 – 46 x 92m
B2 – Ano-C
B3 – Ano-A

PRESS RELEASE (May 1, 2020)

As a sort of introductory discharge, “21:44” announces yet another path in Niagara’s sonic journey. No two records sound alike, as the trio clearly differentiates creative processes and moods. As often before, the tracks arise from countless hours of live jams where those processes are implemented.

The old school ancestral vibe in “Tília” sends the listener back to “Forbidden Planet” territory, not only because of the vintage sci fi feel but also conducive to the kind of psychological turmoil the 1956 movie explores.

“Ano-A”, “Ano-B” and “Ano-C” stem from the same root and all use acoustic percussion to add more organic life to the liquid nature of the music. The resulting sound is simultaneously pregnant with possibilities and fully conscious of a carefully designed map, leaving us adrift in the ebb and flow.

History is dotted with examples of “spontaneous music”, and Niagara themselves promote and incorporate an artificial reality capable of self regenerating and plotting unfamiliar courses. There’s something going on.

Vinyl LP; individually hand-painted sleeve, 350 copies available for the world.

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É verdade que o espírito inquisitivo e verdadeiramente exploratório de Alberto e António Arruda e de Sara Eckerson não lhes permite o “luxo” da imobilidade instigando-os a percorrerem vastos territórios musicais em busca de estímulos que lhes alimentem as ideias e as realizações musicais abundantes que lhes têm expandido a discografia a um ritmo assinalável (cinco álbuns e dezena e meia de EPs desde que se estrearam em 2011, com mais de metade dos títulos concentrados nos últimos 4 anos).

Neste novo álbum, não há um “centro” evidente. Nas notas de lançamento, explica-se que as “faixas resultam de horas infindas de improvisos ao vivo” em que o grupo implementa diferentes processos criativos esperando assim obter igualmente diferentes resultados musicais. Pode concluir-se que a nossa surpresa ao escutar uma nova guinada no caminho dos Niagara seja tão genuinamente franca quanto a dos próprios membros que, claramente, não estabelecem planos que lhes guiem os passos antes de encetarem cada uma das suas jornadas.

Afastados do por eles já bem mapeado terreno da pista de dança, os Niagara propõem aqui uma cartografia mais emocional, ensaiando, logo num primeiro momento, um intrigante cruzamento entre um plano melódico quase new-age e o que soa a uma implosão rítmica que nos dá uma camada de propulsão fragmentada, altamente abstracta. O momento seguinte funciona, de certa maneira, como o inverso, com a percussão que soa orgânica e tradicional (no sentido Giacometti do termo…) a assumir a dianteira e a traduzir movimento, enquanto em segundo plano e em contraponto há um drone em loop que parece traduzir imobilidade. “Tília”, sugerem os próprios Niagara nas notas de lançamento, “remete os ouvintes para o território de Forbidden Planet, não apenas por causa do tom sci-fi vintage, mas também porque se enreda no mesmo tumulto psicológico que o filme de 1956 explora”. De facto, o filme de culto de Fred M. Wilcox, em parte baseado no clássico drama The Tempest de William Shakespeare, teve no pioneiro score electrónico a cargo de Louis e Bebe Barron, o perfeito equivalente “musical”: um conjunto de pulsares e ruídos de absoluta novidade analógica que há quase 65 anos traduziam uma ideia de incerto futuro que então se começava a impor na geração dos baby boomers.

O tríptico “Ano-B”, “Ano-C” e “Ano-A” (por esta ordem, mas entrecortado ainda por um tema de título “46 x 92m”), esclarecem-nos ainda as já referidas notas, “florescem da mesma raiz e usam todos percussão acústica para acrescentarem uma vida mais orgânica à natureza líquida da música”. São três passagens de crescente abstracção em que os elementos percussivos são usados para pintarem a difusa paisagem em que rapidamente somos mergulhados, uma espécie de música exótica para o século XXII, plena de mistério e de ecos de estranhas formas de vida. Como se acabássemos de chegar a um planeta distante e ousássemos os primeiros passos fora da cápsula em terreno perfeitamente desconhecido.

“46 x 92m”, o tal tema que interrompe o fluxo do já mencionado “tríptico”, é um exercício de “quarto-mundismo” que nos sugere uma actualização de algumas ideias que se produziam no Japão digital dos anos 80, quando o DX-7 da Yamaha tanto servia para traduzir novas ideias de espaço como para evocar orquestras de gamelão. É uma vívida tela de tropicalismo pintada em cores de VHS que apetece deixar em repeat do nascer ao por do sol.

“Há algo a acontecer”, dizem-nos, em jeito de conclusão, os Niagara. Há, de facto. E não temos que perceber exactamente o que é para nos deixarmos ainda assim arrebatar.
Rimas E Batidas, May 2020

On ‘Pais & Filhos’, or Parents & Sons, Niagara speak to their influences in a canny, impressionistic way on one of the sweetest Príncipe bits in memory. ’21:44’ sounds like scratchy echoes of ‘SAW VolII’ and the iridescent synth plumes of ‘Tília’ seem to riff of some kind of subaquatic Atlantic Drexicyan mystery, whilst the sloshing rhtyms and golden pads of ‘Any-B’ diffract that 20,000 leagues vibe into Niagara’s lushest run of music across the frothed FM synth voices to Hassellian dream sequences and gorgeous scenes of lilting, rhythmelodic exotica.
Boomkat, May 2020

Ali atrás no mês de Maio de 2020, “Pais & Filhos” saía em formato digital, mantendo a rolar um fluxo editorial em plena incerteza da Primeira Vaga. Agora em vinil, o álbum reapresenta-se ao mundo, também com nova arte de Márcio Matos, e o que escutamos chega-se mais ao núcleo do imponderável estilístico que são os Niagara. Ou seja, cada disco do trio baseado em Loures oferece, desde logo, a surpresa do som, e funciona de facto como documento da fase de exploração em que se encontram. A trilogia de faixas “Ano-A”, “Ano-B” e “Ano-C”, por exemplo, encontra um ponto confortável entre dub, ambientalismo e gravações de campo, ajudando a definir a música como matéria orgânica capaz de se alterar a si mesma. Em torno dessa base evoluem quatro outras faixas, outras tantas sensibilidades que tão naturalmente se focam em tons que nos parecem saídos de um arquivo histórico selecto como descobrem vias que ainda por catalogar. No meio, Niagara ainda únicos.
Flur, December 2020

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P036 – TIA MARIA PRODUÇÕES – Lei Da Tia Maria

Vinyl 12″ EP / Digital
Written and produced by DJ Danifox, DJ Lycox, Puto Márcio, DJ B.Boy;
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva, Artwork by Márcio Matos;
Released November, 2020;

VINYL/DIGITAL: Order from us

A1. Danifox – Xupetilson
A2. Dj Bboy – Kuribotas
A3. Dj Lycox – 11h na Lisa

B1. Danifox – Aguenta
B2. Danifox & Dj Lycox – Mete o Bass
B3. Puto Márcio – Coisas da Vida

PRESS RELEASE

Danifox says “Aguenta” and crew founder Puto Márcio concludes with “Coisas Da Vida”. These may be words of advice in any circumstance but right now they fit the current assault on our daily lives. Tia Maria are back with a new EP.

Once the most international crew on the label (Lycox in France; Danifox residing in the UK but now back to PT), also a sign of recent times – there was a lot of young emigration from Portugal over the course of the 2010s. File swapping has become ever more the norm between producers who sign their names on collaborative tracks. But shit happens anyway and via WhatsApp it’s irrelevant if you live next door or 1000 miles away: standout track “Xupetilson” speaks about this fellow hot-tempered DJ who couldn’t resist throwing bad vibes around, so Danifox sings “you’re coming to bite me but you’re not a dog.”

Speaking of dogs, they’re out and about when “Mete O Bass” comes to the fore, Dani and Lycox laying heavy metal on the dancefloor; B.Boy keeps the pace with a no-brainer intense beat track (“Kuribotas”), while Danifox, again solo on “Aguenta”, works around a dark, urban, rainy soundscape, going off on a jealousy trip with samples of “you showed contempt, you didn’t nurture, so now deal with it”. And Lycox seems to drive around town at night, calling Lisboa by the well-spread nickname Lisa, just out to dance or going from party to party

This law of Tia Maria represents the core of batida styles, bowing out with the usual heart-breaking grooves of Puto Márcio. When life is sad, make it beautiful.

Vinyl 12″ EP; individually hand-painted sleeve, 500 copies available for the world.

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“Xupetilson”, um dos raros temas vocalizados na Príncipe, assinala um bife entre DJs amplificado pelas redes. Tudo bem, a canção serve para exorcizar o peso. A voz de Danifox em tom cândido mostra boas intenções e convoca a união da Tia Maria. Este house progride com riqueza harmónica numa simplicidade desarmante pontuada pelos breaks expressivos a meio do ritmo. Não tão regenerativo em “Aguenta”, uma malha de neura e ressentimento, com o barulho da chuva a mandar a dica de que alguém se portou mal e, portanto, fica à porta. Dani + Lycox fabricam bomba em “Mete O Bass” e B.Boy segue perto com “Kuribotas”, um kuduro em tempo de house directo para a pista. Ainda há o instrumental motivacional e de sorriso na face que é “11h na Lisa” (DJ Lycox), a transbordar esperança em qualquer coisa que acontecerá depois de estacionar o carro. No final, Puto Márcio e “Coisas Da Vida” puxa em dois sentidos, de novo a esperança pelo bom que virá mas também a melancolia pelo bom que já foi. Talvez já o tenhamos escrito a propósito de outras edições na Príncipe, mas: Música Moderna Portuguesa.
Flur, December 2020

Six years since their formative 2014 debut, on ‘Lei Da Tia Maria’ the group rally around a need for vocals and rude grooves that keep heads up above the madness of the world in 2020 and beyond. Like their first record, all tracks were written and sent over messaging apps from respective bases in Portugal, France and UK, and each testifies to the enduringly positive links between the young Angolan-Portuguese diaspora who have emigrated from Portugal during the 2010’s.

The crew’s 2nd volley channels their concerns and hopes into resolutely upfront dance music primed for better times. On EP standout ‘Xupetsilon’ Danifox shrugs off snide DJ politics, crooning what translates to “you’re coming to bite me but you’re not a dog” over deep blue chords and pendulous batida drums, while conjuring bleaker, rainy scapes that suit the mood of his lyrics about jealousy and and contempt in ‘Aguenta’, but lets the music do the talking with remarkable results nodding to Drill and bittersweet computer music tones alongside co-producer DJ Lycox on another big one, ‘Mete o Bass.’

Lycox also supplies a romantic kiss to his home city, Lisbon, or “Lisa” as it’s affectionately known, in the lissom shuffle of ‘11h na Lisa’, which shares a svelte lilt with Puto Márcio’s slower, melodic chops in ‘Coisas da Vida’, and DJ B.Boy keeps the vibe tilting up with ‘Kuribotas’, a scudding Kuduro zinger with direct, incendiary effect comparable to P. Adrix bits. Always killer, right?
Boomkat, December 2020

The daily aggressions that we suffer are sometimes difficult to deal with, especially at a time when we remain confined to our own problems and those of our immediate surroundings. Tia Maria, a certified dream team, has the recipe to expunge our pain and take a little musical respite in a good dose of dirty batida and hot-tempered DJs, ones who can’t resist sumberging themselves in the bad vibes. A prime example of this happened when Lisbonian Danifox, now based in Leeds, England, returned to his native land where he saw the local electronic effervescence of Lisbon’s immigrant neighbourhoods, which went on to influence the already flagship track “Xupetilson”: “you’re coming to bite me but you’re not a dog” or on “Aguenta,” “you showed contempt, you didn’t nurture, so now deal with it.“

Officially, Danifox has only a year’s experience in the game, but that hasn’t stopped him from finding his place alongside the other early geniuses of the Tia Maria Crew, Puto Márcio, DJ B.Boy and DJ Lycox (based in France). With their kuduro and baile funk rhythms propelled into a dark, urban soundscape shared remotely between producers on WhatsApp files, the DJs continue the tradition of exchanging records outside mainstream circuits, and embody the batida spirit of the early days.
Pan-African Music, December 2020

Le crew à la fois très international, mais aussi complètement lusophone Tia Maria Produções est de retour avec un nouvel album qui fait resonner une loi amère et piquante, une loi douce et dansante, une loi qui, si vous jouez trop avec, finira par vous clouer les doigts avec des attaques synthétiques, vous crucifier à sa pochette avec un beat bien senti, la loi de Tia Maria, mieux, la Lei Da Tia Maria !

Sur ce nouvel EP, on retrouve DJ Danifox, et son acolyte Lycox, mais aussi DJ B.Boy et l’un des piliers du groupe, Puto Márcio, qui tous quatre alignent des beats qui martèlent leurs cadences à la vitesse du battement cardiaque d’un athlète à l’entraînement, ou d’un obèse après une marche un peu vive. Ils laissent couler des synthés en cascades dans un bassin de basses bouillonnantes. Oui, on retrouve sur cet EP la force du batida, cette tempête lascive et électronique, celte douceur lusophone un peu sèche, ce grand tournoiement doucereux qui vient enrober un cœur sauvage et brutal, bien dissimulé par les effets et les machines !

Oui, derrière ces atours électroniques parfois un peu rudes, on retrouve sur ce Lei Da Tia Maria de Tia Maria Produções, qui vient de paraître sur le label lisboète Príncipe, tout ce qui fait le sel de la musique lusophone que l’on aime, de la bossa à la batida, en passant par la morna, le kuduro et la tarraxinha… cette douceur, cette beauté, encerclée par la tempête.
Djolo, December 2020

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