The greater Lisbon area is separated by the Tagus river, North and South. BNM (Blacksea Não Maya) are from the South side and PDDG (Piquenos Djs Do Guetto) from the North Side. This EP is the expression of work being done for the past couple of years through a monthly club night that put these crews playing together in downtown Lisbon.
Both BNM and PDDG have been producing a lot and we were blessed to have been able to meet them and help spur their enthusiasm for song structure as well as providing them with an outlet for rhythmic experimentation (you wouldn't believe the quantity and quality of rhythm tracks they produce for their own DJ sets). You will hear their names as signatures within the tracks, as an identifier for outsiders. They are familiar to us now.
DJs Kolt, Perigoso and Noronha are not only part of the same crew, there is actually family blood running in some of the guys from BNM. Home turf is Bairro da Jamaica, one of those neighbourhoods that look like they were bombed and shakily rebuilt (more accurately, never actually fully built). It is at the heart of urban disorder that BNM forged an identity, picking up signals from the rich musical background all African descendents carry in their blood and translating them through their hearts and minds.
"Afrooloove" is a sentimental take on afro house. Percussion is both King and Queen, the clipped bassline is strangely calm, doing its work regardless of all the surrounding elements, and everything melts together beautifully as the song evolves;
"Decalée" cruises at a different, faster pace. Rhythmic intensity is manifest on different levels, almost as if everything is running parallel and magically fits together. Halfway between kuduro and house, this one bangs hard and still manages to soften a few hearts;
"Dia Da Moka" is all about the interplay between a vocal hook and a twisted accordion melody. The rhythm track is somewhat subjugated but on close inspection it's as rich as all the best music DJ Perigoso has shown us: a bubbly bassline (sounding like a muffled tabla) and a sort of stuttering synthetic snare hitting every moving target;
In "Africa Congo" you can hear, if you like, the same pulsing bass drum as in countless Basic Channel / Chain Reaction productions, but that's because the bass drum is The Mother. Similarities end right there, and the fact this song is titled "Africa Congo" doesn't mean it fits within preconceived notions of what current African music is supposed to be. Noronha is showing all this talent comes from being a free agent, insulated from the outside world just enough so the rich patterns you hear sound like no other.
Side B is taken up by PDDG, a crew formed out of admiration for their elders DJs Di Guetto (The P on PDDG stands for Piqueno, meaning Little), now veterans who released the influential "Dj's Di Guetto Vol. 1" compilation back in 2006. Those were Marfox, Nervoso, N.K. and others. Their example was followed by really young kids mostly living in Quinta do Mocho, not far from the tail end of Lisbon airport's main runway. Firmeza, Maboku and Lilocox represent the crew for this EP.
"Dedicado Projecto Princepe" is DJ Firmeza's hommage to the club night bearing the label's name. Our mutual respect comes full circle here in this raw, primal bouncer. Firmeza mastered a complex web of rhythmic breaks and shouts that translate a barely contained energy, they seem to indicate a very real physical effort being made to keep up with the
track and evoke the muscle needed to dance through the whole night;
"Remeche As Coisas" uses the recurrent vibes motive these producers always manage to recycle in a fresh way. Overall it's an abstract, broken beat, start-stop and wonderfully "disintegrated" affair, showcasing the rhythmic urgency always at the centre of this music;
Maboku comes out as the charmer in the crew. His "Instrumental P" matches flute with all kinds of percussion drops, extremely soulful ambience, a tense but love-drenched groove that transcends all ideas of afro house or even plain house;
You can hear some of the same strong points in "O Vento uma Verdadeira Amizade" ("The Wind A True Friendship"), a collaboration between Maboku, Firmeza and Lilocox. Different worlds collide here. Deep, sexy house, traditional African melodies (a very evocative Funaná accordion), epic horns calling to a love battle, military snares lined up for the call, and the softest of basslines sounding like a moody soundtrack to a chilling scene in a movie. We believe this is yet to be named.
We hope you will listen to this music outside of any set of rules and enjoy it for what is is: beautiful, intuitive, handcrafted, heartfelt.
