Príncipe is a record label based in Lisbon, Portugal. It is fully dedicated to releasing 100% real contemporary dance music coming out of Lisbon, its suburbs, projects, and slums. New sounds, forms and structures with their own set of poetics and cultural identity.
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viewing 1 To 22 of 22 items
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12"
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P 029EP
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Darkside Kuduro continuum styles from Lisbon's PML Beatz, racking up the heaviest Angolan-Portuguese gear this side of Nazar on their debut for Príncipe. Lobbed from their respective bases in Lisbon and Luxembourg (one of the countries Portuguese have traditionally sought a better life), the three tracks of Pedra de 800 Kg hustle a strong introduction to siblings Lisandro and Ivan, aka PML Beatz. Drawing on a shared Cape Verdean and Angolan heritage, the duo started producing in their early teens back in 2010, but got distracted, as teenagers are prone to do, before returning to the software circa 2017 with a little help from their former neighbor and mentor, DJ BeBeDeRa -- whose grinding tarraxhos have been issued on 7" by Promesses -- to finally produce this killer trio of club workouts. Hypnotic and hard in a signature Príncipe style that firmly resonates with SA Gqom, strains of syncopated UK bass and mutations seeping out of all corners of the internet, the EP kicks off with a mesmerizing mix of New Beat-esque choral drones with synthetic berimbau-like riffs and flinty rhythm in "No Cubau", before "Manganza" doubles down the darkness with murderous bass drones and distorted drops recalling Durban taxi techno vibes, and "Pedra de 800 Kg" -- so titled after their father's motivational expression "That's easier to lift than a 500 Kg rock" -- recklessly pushes the dance to a steely, up-tempo frenzy.
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2x12"
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P 028LP
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DJ Nigga Fox's most substantial release to date sets a new benchmark for Lisbon's revered underground ghetto dance scene, pulling traces of jazz, acid house, and cinematic sound design into his deeply rugged and exceptional sound with effortless style. Highlighted as one to watch in Lisbon's virulent club scenius since appearing on the Bazzerk compilation which introduced many ravers to Kuduro in 2011, DJ Nigga Fox's productions have become acclaimed for a mix of abstract weirdness and proper dancefloor impact that's hit 'floors hard across the world. Following 2018's Crânio 12" and remix of How To Dress Well, he now returns to the Príncipe powerhouse, home of his first trio of 12"s, with a definitive statement that arguably ranks among this year's strongest, rhythm-driven LPs, bar none. In a way that mirrors UK dance music's transition in the '90s from hardcore jungle to garage and D&B, or in the '00s from grime and dubstep to more "sophisticated" styles of deep house, broken beats, and UK Funky, Nigga Fox's longest release to date appears more layered, plusher and, ultimately "musical" when compared to his earlier work. Using sparing but knowing dabs of noirish jazz keys, live-sounding double bass, and off-kilter synth tones, he binds rippling, colorful flesh to his flexing, bare bones drum torque in a bold way. This inch-tight refinement of Nigga Fox's already distinctive style is characterized by the twisting, unpredictable arrangement of "Sub Zero", where stealthy waves of swinging drums and vintage horror movie tropes are ramped with feral electro scuzz to killer effect, or equally in the freaky tension between lissom jazz chords, jaws-harp buzz and wild acid lines on "Faz A Minha", and likewise the way he meshes roiling drums with complex, asymmetric electronics on "Vicio", or simply forges his own, outstanding form of slow, psychedelic dance-pop replete with his own, Quasimodo-styled vocal in the shocking closer "5 Violinos". By any measure Cartas Na Manga is a singular album-length EP that stands miles out from the crowd. Its only comparisons really lie within Lisbon's club scene, with the likes of DJ Firmeza, Marfox, or Nervoso. As such it's best taken as symptomatic of their collective scenius, and is keenly ready to be mixed with music from all corners of the Black Atlantic. Special "modular" sleeve artwork design by Márcio Matos. Edition of 500.
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12"
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P 027EP
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From the crucible of Lisbon's renowned club scene, DJ Firmeza fulminates four cuts of roiling Batida rhythm and free-spirited vocals. Two highlights revolved around Firmeza's own vocals, toasting not boasting in a stream-of-consciousness flow known locally as "animação". Firmeza's lilting vocal cadence matches the rhythm's cantering syncopation on "Intenso", and "AVAN" sees him scudding melodically over cold, direct drums. On the mesmerizing "RRRRRR" vocals are trapped in psychotic, nanoscopic loops and woven with infectiously offset, technoid bass patterns, before "25" supplies a masterclass in loose-limbed percussion.
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2LP
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P 026LP
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Hot out of Lisbon's ghetto sprawl, 19 year-old Puto Tito breaks through on Príncipe with tracks produced when he was barely into his teens, all salvaged from an old Soundcloud account and newly remastered for the dance. The sound of Carregando A Vida Atrás Das Costas is patently influenced by Tito's Angolan heritage, and faithfully employs the popular slow Tarraxho and tougher Kuduro rhythm styles. Yet, like the best of Príncipe's releases, it's the way he injects a playful, weirdo character and uncompromising, psychedelic vision to his tracks that sets Tito's music apart from the crowd, whilst being very much connected to it. With a direct fervor and naturally experimental quality to his productions, the album scales from drowsy, red-eyed, to brightly-colored downbeats on one hand, while charging into jagged and nagging up-tempo styles on the other hand. But whichever way he goes, it's always with an off-the-cuff flair and rhythm-lead dynamic that works the dance to its best. The present double LP highlights the full spectrum of Puto Tito's early remit, diving in with the dark-side drone and rasping rhythm of "Noite Magica," to swerve from the celebratory, drop-top cruise of "Mestre Das Artes" through to wickedly screwed Tarraxho in "Malucao" and the deadpan drag of "1 2 3," while he can hardly suppress his brilliant, weirdo tendencies in the zig-zagging arps of "C L Prod", the heat-warped funk of "OIHo JoOnAe," and the heat-sick, syrupy pressure of "Locura Tutal." Tito's arguably and understandably naif approach speaks to an ideal of dance music as punkish, fresh and direct, rather than overworked and generic. It's an approach that, in the past, has yielded some of the finest underground music, from the UK's early '90s hardcore and jungle, to South Africa's Gqom scene, Chicago footwork and the Singeli sound of Dar-Es-Salaam. More specifically, it's possible to place Puto Tito in the same dare-to-be-different, bedroom producer category of grimy Kuduro, Batida and Afrohouse as young heroes Nídia or P.Adrix, as Carregando A Vida Atrás Das Costas vividly demonstrates.
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LP
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P 025LP
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RS Produções are the next, thrilling young unit to emerge from Lisbon's fertile club scene via Príncipe. Produced by core members DJ Narciso and Nuno Beats, Bagdad Style supplies a crisply rugged, bittersweet taste of the crew's hyperlocal sound, spanning electro-compatible Batida bangers alongside wonky, slower semi-tarraxos and deep, wave-y house mutations. If you were snagged by Príncipe's P. Adrix, DJ Lilocox, and Niagara releases already in 2018, this one's unmissable, too. Formed in 2014 as a close group of pals from Rinchoa, Rio de Mouro, on the edges of Lisbon, RS Produções grew wings when, in 2016, a then 17-year-old Narciso knuckled down and relaunched RS as a proper crew with DJs, producers and an MC in the same model as pivotal Lisbon posse, Piquenos DJs Do Guetto. The crew have since become regular fixtures at Príncipe's famous monthly residency in Lisbon's Musicbox club, and their debut showcase is certain to send them spinning around the globe. The EP is fronted by two unmissable Batida heaters from DJ Narciso in the bare bones electro percussion of "Caipirinha" and the kinked metallic cargaa of "Constipacao do Poco", before the slinky interplay of dissonant organ riffs and flighty pipes in "Guerreiro" highlights a wicked taste for sour, battery-tang lixx that comes to inform the rest of the EP, courtesy of Nuno Beats' slower tarraxo styles in "Lingrinhas" and the super wave-y spesh, "Futuro", while Nuno & Narciso come together with ruder, up-tempo torque in the hypnotic electro-house swang of "Aberturu" and the sensuous deep Kuduro contours of "Hino RS", which should leave listeners in no doubt as to the duo's breadth and quality of club music. Artwork/hand-painted sleeves by Márcio Matos. Edition of 500.
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12"
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P 007LP
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2015 release. Maboku and Lilocox make up CDM, an offshoot of PDDG (Piquenos DJs Do Guetto). It's a production team already developed in the days of Príncipe's now legendary monthly residency at the Musicbox club in downtown Lisbon. Their back-to-back DJ sets, strongly built around their own productions, bridge any gap between straight jungle kuduro and a personal interpretation of house. However, it's all the things in between that never fail to impress. Watch for the unheard. The EP starts off with the traditional slow jam referred to as "Tarraxo". Suggestive moaning gives way to the heavy, heavy sound of percussion. You have to feel it especially after the break, when an all-powerful reverb increases the punch. Godamn! "CDM A Comandar" showcases the classic batida and marimba dialogue. It's synthetic Africa deliciously shot through the heads of both producers into our receiving hands and feet; "Viemos Do Congo" unveils a bit more of Africa with tribal drums and a tense harmonica-like melodic hook that ends only too soon. Killer jungle groove; Lilocox is left alone for "To Ligado", a relentless piece of batida with his trademark deep bottom-end. This goes on like a juggernaut; "Laranjas" ("Oranges", go figure) is Maboku's party tune, horn stabs picking up and not letting go. Pure Cargaa for the dancefloor; "No Momento" sounds like the ultimate avant-garde batida. Fat bass drum, crashing hi-hats and hanging bells, all commanded by Lilocox's otherwordly rhythmic sense; Another slow jam at the end: "Grito Das Crianças" plays percussion against percussion, it follows a jacking path before adding melancholy with some lamenting horns. Someone needs to party but feels too introspective to get the gas really going. Catch all the breaks if you can.
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12"
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P 011LP
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2015 release. Maybe it was the fact he used to be part of a dance crew with his younger brother, he can't really tell, but the raw percussive nature of his music reveals Firmeza has a finely tuned understanding of body movements. That became more and more obvious since he first learned the ways of FL Studio via DJ Nervoso and his other -- older -- brother. That was it for DJ Firmeza, then 11 years old, born in Portugal but of Angolan descent. This EP is dedicated to his recently departed father, a light only overshadowed by God -- it is not uncommon for Firmeza to shed some tears in those special moments during a performance when things seem too good to be true. Clocking in at over six minutes, title-track "Alma Do Meu Pai" is a game-changer, three-times longer than the average batida track, a deep running hypnotic percussion grid showcasing all the rhythmic flow Firmeza inherited and perfected from his admiration of classic DJ Nervoso beats; "Somos Melão Doce" introduces plucked synthetic strings that sound totally alien in this context but with a precise emotive agenda. It's no chance; "Os PDDG" namechecks Firmeza's ground-breaking crew he shared with Liofox (co-authoring this track), Dadifox, Maboku, and Lilocox (both now active as CDM). The tempo is comparatively relaxed, percussion drops are stars in their own right, lending an avant-garde edge to this most tribal dance; In "Start Go", assertive chants dance around each other, in and out of sync, securing a safe path for the heavy duty percussion workout; By the time we reach "Coelho 2025", it's more than evident we are locked in Firmeza's own intricate web of rhythm; forget notions of kuduro or Afro-house, this is really something else, a pulsating heart linked to stomping feet in a most elegant way; "Suposto" adds flute and clipped guitar as atmosphere enhancers, balancing the usual genius percussion work. Bouncy and intuitive.
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12"
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P 001LP
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2013 release. "Marfox has a way with weird, modal scales and unsettling harmonies -- something that many bass-music producers overly reliant on minor thirds and sevenths could learn a thing or two from. To the untutored listener, hearing DJ Marfox for the first time might cause the same initial frisson as juke, or at least that was the case for me. You wonder: what the hell is this stuff? How can it sound so familiar to the club music I know, and yet so alien?" --Philip Sherburne for SPIN.
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12"
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P 009LP
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2015 release. "Very little of Noite E Dia sounds 'right' in any traditional sense, and nor does it mean to. But every piece arranged by Lisbon artist DJ Nigga Fox -- from the fiercely off-grid percussion to the noodling synths to the disembodied alien voices -- feels right. The four tracks are so bizarre and delirious they're almost intimidating, and yet they're exuberant in a way that could liberate dance floors." --Resident Advisor
"Fundamentally, with every Príncipe release inflating the cacophony, Noite E Dia is individually and undeniably assured." --Tiny Mix Tapes
"It begins with a swell, then a crash, and a lingering cacophony of hand drums. The first 10 seconds of DJ N?? Fox's 'Um Ano' is so disorienting, it takes a few more seconds to lock into its ominous bounce. The Portuguese producer pieces the rest of this four-minute jaunt together in much the same fashion. He floods the mix with confounding shards of noise, but after the dust settles, it's clear that what first appeared to be shrapnel had a precise trajectory." --NPR Music
"DJ Nigga Fox summed up the situation when he titled his debut EP O Meu Estilo, or 'My Style', and with his new EP for Lisbon's Príncipe label, he proves once again that he's in a league of his own. [On 'Um Ano'] the vocals are just a monosyllabic 'Oh,' looped into stuttering patterns. They don't need to say anything; the beat says everything it needs to, even if you don't know what to call it." --Pitchfork
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LP
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P 024LP
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2019 repress. Apologia is a set of unique psychedelic killers from Niagara, mounting a sterling debut album for Lisbon's Príncipe five years after their first 12", Ouro Oeste (2013). Trust that they have lost none of the weirdness that's endeared them to freaks around the world ever since they emerged. If anything they're stranger, spaced-out and more porous to wild influence on the 13 tracks of Apologia. Outlining Niagara's definitive description of contemporary exotica, Apologia limns a frayed, buzzing sort of "Fourth World PLUS" sound, where the "PLUS" refers to their embrace of noise as an agent of chaos. But it's not necessarily malefic chaos, and should be taken as a smart acknowledgement of the overlooked yet crucial role that roughness of grain and construction play in contrast with so many clinically smooth and even anodyne efforts from the same, imagined arena of worldly music for a new age. In allowing for the entropy of time and the inevitable infidelity of attrition to enter their soundsphere, Niagara's organic machine music keenly reflects a natural world order without the need for algorithmic process. Their world is a fertile interplay of acoustic and electronic sources rendering hazy, fata morgana-like glimpses of musical possibility, practically triangulating the visions of like minds such as Jamal Moss/Hieroglyphic Being and Dolo Percussion with the explorative precedents of Portugal's Telectu to realize a fine expression of anachronistic modernism. Most of the tracks loosely work around three-minute timeframes, lending a zig-zagging mosaic quality to the track list in between its longer parts. Richly colorful spiritual jazz arps and raw machine grooves spring from opener "França", triggering a cascade of ideas that bends between acidic kosmiche in "6:30" to the heat-sick boogie gliss of "40" and the stark emptiness of "Senhora Do Cabo", to give up the gorgeous, extended flute and acid meditation "Siena", and mess with Vangelis-style synth majesty on "Via Garibaldi", before spending their coolest energies in the drowsy Afro-Latin swagger of "Cabo Verde". It's hard to ignore the fact that Alberto, António and Sara aka Niagara have distilled their sound to imperfection on Apologia, resulting one of 2018's most crucial lo-fi electronic albums. Artwork/hand-painted sleeves by Márcio Matos, edition of 500.
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LP
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P 010LP
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2015 release. "Niagara borrow mutant disco's tropes and proceed to bend them to their own wishes. The electric bass [on 'Abacaxi Limão'] stubbornly digs in its heels while everything else threatens to fly apart like a tool shed in a tornado." --Pitchfork
"The jammy nature gives it both a feeling of momentum and immediacy, which is almost non existent in house music. Who knew house music could be this raw, this urgent, this amazing?" --Cyclic Defrost
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12"
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P 002LP
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2013 release. "Heavy trippin', all-analogue acid house aces from Portugal's Photonz duo. Powered by a snaking square bass line, layers of classic, UK-sounding bleeps, explosive FX and possessed vocal stabs seethe and syncopate in a slab of pure dancefloor turmoil. Lock this in at the right moment and heads will be gone; trust us! Flipside the tempo is pushed up for 'Chunk Hiss'. Lysergic seagulls shit from above while pensive synths build tension, precipitating a mighty, Tom-powered house groove losing its mind to tweaking, wavy synthlines. Imagine being on the Atlantic coast at dawn, chewing your face off and dancing a hole in the sand, listening to this. Class." --Boomkat
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12"
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P 006LP
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2014 release. Features DJ Télio, DJ Lycox, DJ B.Boy, and Puto Márcio.
"All are created by young producers and DJs from deprived areas, who use cheap and cracked software to craft lo-fi, intoxicatingly unfamiliar dance music. Both in lovelorn mood and title (which translates to 'It's Like We Won't Die Anymore'), Tia Maria Produções' remarkable debut EP recalls another crew of unabashedly romantic young prodigies, Bow's Ruff Sqwad. But it's the melodies that really linger; Puto Márcio's buzzy saw wave harmonies on 'Tia Maria Da Vida' are stately and sorrowful enough to prick up the hairs on the back of your neck." --Wire
"For the most part, the vibe here is rather melancholy. In '7 Maravilhas (Damas Da Cor Do Pecado),' DJ Télio piles on the layers of bell-tones and smudged chords, softening the impact of that unmistakable lilting beat. 'O Tempo Da Vida' translates roughly as 'life's time.' Its throbbing minor key chords suggest that Lycox takes a rather dim view of existence. B.Boy and Márcio's 'Hino Da Noite' is the most elegant of the lot, sporting a light-footed groove that bends and flexes in marvelously subtle ways. But Lycox's 'Underground' tops it in expressive urgency, its blaring horns and marimbas reaching almost Ruff Sqwad levels of sorrowful intensity. Márcio's crew anthem 'Tia Maria Da Vida.' At first the track sounds totally broken, its congas and MIDI wind instruments slouching disjointedly. Somewhere around the minute mark, though, things snap thrillingly into focus. Just when you think you've got the Príncipe lot pegged, they show you how wrong you were." --Resident Advisor
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LP
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P 023LP
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Paz & Amor, or "peace and love", is the solo début of deep, hypnotic Batida grooves by DJ Lilocox. A longtime core member of Lisbon's Príncipe label, Lilocox is one third of the PDDG (Piquenos DJs Do Guetto) crew beside DJs Firmeza and Maboku, and accounts for half of CDM (Casa Da Mãe), also with Maboku. In solo mode Lilocox alloys sensuous atmospheres with rolling percussion in a widely appealing style that resonates with the slickness of the Sonhos & Pesadelos LP (P 020LP) by his near namesake, DJ Lycox, but personalized by more spacious production values and a rugged vision of dancefloor romance and energy. With the CDM project on hold for now, DJ Lilocox presents a more mature sound now characterized by his focus on rhythmelodic cadence and synthetic sensuality. Between the album's lusting highlight in the Ron Trent-esque Afrohouse of "Fronteiras", to the starker, gqom-like tension of "Ritmo & Melodias", Lilocox plays to the 'floor's timeless needs in a ruggedly forward manner, deftly shifting his weight from a pendulous footing of "Vozes Ricas" to the woodblock knocks and drones of "Paz & Amor" and the snake-hipped swinge of "Samba" with the dancer's balance and emotions always a priority. After the scorching début EP from P. Adrix (2018), the first solo DJ Lilocox record perfectly demonstrates his depth and diversity whilst maintaining Príncipe's rarely paralleled and flawless reputation for the freshest, timelessly effective dance music. Edition of 500.
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12"
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P 012LP
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2015 release. Kolt, Noronha, and Perigoso return to Príncipe with a whole EP. Blacksea Nao Maya (BNM) are based to the south of Lisbon, across the river Tejo. The crew started as a family affair with Kolt and his uncle DJ Joker around 2008. Noronha (Kolt's brother) and Perigoso joined a year later. While Joker since then pursued other avenues in life, all three remaining members committed themselves to the game they had chosen when still dancing to the deejays they admired: be the best deejays and producers they could be. The record opens with "Batidongoo", an earlier track by Kolt and Noronha. Tense, spanking percussion and electronic tones, sounds like slower funaná crossed with the rudiments of kuduro; we think this one opens new ground; Next up, DJ Perigoso drops "Macobayou", a fast, futuristic batida track with plenty of drums to hang on to (or lose yourself to); "Assabakuse" keeps the pace and adds emotion in the form of clipped guitar, the actual ruler of melody in here. It becomes irresistible in no time; Side B begins by spreading pure love. "We Send This" does sound like a gift to us listeners. Closer to house in tempo, this one reflects classic African music, sure, but also a synthetic, modern type of R&B sound in its layers of ambience. Short, direct, beautiful; "Perseguição" (translates as "Chase") soundtracks a run through the jungle, over fallen trees, branches, around big rocks and in sight of wild animals. What a ride; "Comandante Em Chefe" has an undulating melodic hook occupying the whole duration of the song. Again, like slowed-down funaná accordion and it rises clearly above the usual complex percussive layers. It later gains even more artificial tones and echoes. Alien rumba for ballroom dance matinées.
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P 020LP
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2017 release. It is now possible to see a big picture. This means there is a timeline with enough years and developments since this sound emerged on its own. Lycox is of course part of a newer generation that keeps adding to the transmission, but he is already inspiring a younger set of producers. Sonhos & Pesadelos helps materialize a multiverse of bold, shiny chrome architecture, staying true to the original kuduro backbone while Lycox organizes new forms, song structures and even artificial life. If you can't call it "raw" it's only because this is mental space translated into sound. The physicality of the music is but one element in Lycox's ambitious take on dance music, although we should really say pop music, such is the melodic and harmonic forces at work. "Solteiro" could be just an ambient beauty but the abnormally long four-minute mark reveals layers of masterful song crafting well outside what some might still be tempted to classify as "ethnic". Not a classic seaside romance. Features PuTo NeLo, Puto WilsoN, and MIX-BwÉ.
"His ear for odd melodies suits his bright palette, which maintains pop intrigue while remaining unconventional, intriguing and occasionally confusing." --Resident Advisor
"He might have the sharpest ear for melody of all the Príncipe crew, too, often prioritising catchy tunes over complex drumwork, but that doesn't mean it's not tough - the midsection is full of heavy bass and drums, peaking with 'Quarteto Fantástico', a track as bug-eyed and disorienting anything we've heard from DJ Marfox or DJ Nigga Fox." --The Wire
"'Solteiro' is an uncharacteristically gentle and pulsating tune that feels -- more than anything -- romantic in its rhythm. Truth be told, it's quite beautiful. And it follows lots and lots and lots of heretofore phenomenal music from the label." --Tiny Mix Tapes
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LP
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P 014LP
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2016 release. DJ Marfox's Chapa Quente on Príncipe. MixMag listed Chapa Quente as their 2016 April Dubstep/Grime Album Of The Month, giving it a 9/10 rating.
"Lead single '2685' is a euphoric interweaving of 1990's techno, dangerously speeding flute melodies and an artillery of drums firing like automatic weapons. Needless to say, it's unique." --The Wire
"Few songs feel more like being catapulted through the air at tremendous velocity." --Pitchfork on "2685"
"Yet this is the miracle of Marfox. His ability to shift time and space is unsurpassed. We knew he was one to watch in 2011, yet now it's 2016 and I wouldn't dare my eyes or ears away for a minute. Something important is happening." --Cyclic Defrost
"DJ Marfox returns to his city's Principe Discos label with Chapa Quente, a scorching six-track affair that demonstrates just how multifaceted this music can get. But it's his uptempo cuts like 'Cobra Preta' that make Marfox such a vital artist, one whose potential has only begun to be revealed." --Vinyl Me, Please
"Chapa Quente might be modestly sized, but it's a very satisfying piece of work. Selfishly, I almost hope that the EP doesn't continue Marfox's rise to global prominence. How good is this? I don't want to hear a million producers reproducing it till the inspiration is completely sucked dry." --4ZZZFM
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P 016LP
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2016 release. DJ Nervoso's self-titled release on Príncipe.
"It's incredible how Nervoso and many of his compatriots seem to be able to make challenging fascinating and unexpected dance music from the simplest of ingredients." --Cyclic Defrost
"He's barely bothered to process his hits, there's a minimum happening at any point, and somehow the result is hard, knocking dance music that could wake the dead. If you're getting sick of fussy production and tracks built from tricks more than ideas, Nervoso is the antidote." --The Ransom Note
"Much of batida's appeal is its hyped energy, but some of the deepest grooves here draw from the slower, sexier pace of tarraxinha. It's inspiring to hear how a keen sense of syncopation can do so much with so little." --Resident Advisor
"Much of the album operates in this modular style of propulsive, lucid minimalism. Nervoso generates drama by varnishing and stripping layers of syncopation and texture from his tracks, revealing works that have been sheared to the bone, sinew and rhythm replacing melody and flesh. These are virulent, mutant dance tracks." --Tiny Mix Tapes
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LP
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P 017LP
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2016 release. Niagara started 2016 firmly committed to their own Ascender label, having released a first 12" late in 2015. A string of stellar CDRs guaranteed their relevant (and private) output became available outside their studio. The consistency is such that it was no effort selecting four additional tracks to assemble a third EP on Príncipe. Opener "Asa" is strong on keys, suggests a cool jazz walkabout where the machines and other instruments seem to be jamming together without interference. This broadens the horizon of whoever thought they are a house band; As countless other dance tracks, "IV" is built around a steady kickdrum, supporting a succession of vibes hitting left and right, obeying only the illogical architecture of Niagara's sonic world; "Amarelo" is the longest track in the set. Very physical and expansive beats, a funky guitar groove, deep bass tones and it ends just like that. A cascading drum machine holds its own, then comes a wandering flute and passing waves as jets in the sky. Trippy and brilliant, "Laranja" changes coordinates and points to a fresh destination.
"The trio's house music remains deeply eccentric, though, its sonorities bright and its rhythms ramshackle. Their third EP for the label, São João Baptista, a scrawl of clapped-out drums and spidery guitars, highlights their idiosyncrasies. Sonically, the trio have found new ways to make the analogue and the electronic sit well together; stylistically, their mutant-funk tendencies are given freer rein." --Resident Advisor
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12"
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P 013LP
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2015 release. Elusive underground metakuduro legend from the Lisbon suburban area, Normal Nada, aka Qraqmaxter CiclOFF, aka Erre Mente -- every past moniker is like a shed skin he kissed goodbye -- is a special kind of cosmogonical pirate exploring chemical balanced regimes of wake. Sleep and the seductive dimensions between both.
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CD
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P 015CD
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2016 release. Mambos Levis D'Outro Mundo features DJ Nunex, DJ Famifox, DJ CiroFox, DJ Lycox, DJ Danifox, Deejay Ary, DJ TL, DJ Lilocox, DJ Marfox, DJ Firmeza, K30, Niagara, Nídia Minaj, DJ Nigga Fox, DJ Dadifox, Babaz Fox, DJ Bebedera, DJ Maboku, DJ Safari, Puto Anderson, Puto Márcio, DJ Ninoo, DJ Wayne, Puto Adriano, DJ Nervoso, DJ Adifox, and Blacksea Não Maya.
"As to strategy, we learned in the struggle; some people think that we adopted a foreign method, or something like this. Our principle is that each people have to create its own struggle. Naturally, we have something to learn from the experience that can be adapted to the real situation of the country. But we bettered our struggle in the culture of our people, in the realities of our country, historical, economical, cultural, etc, and we developed the struggle, supported by our people which is the first and main condition: the support of the people." Amílcar Cabral, interview to Cameron Duodu/Radio-Ghana at Accra, 1973
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LP
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P 022LP
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2019 repress, now in standard printed sleeve. Príncipe kick off 2018 in a big way with the remarkable début by P. (as in "Producer") Adrix; a 22-year-old artist originally from Lisbon, now based in Manchester, who is equally adept at crafting full tilt, teched-out bangers as effervescent electronic soul music. His first release, Album Desconhecido is a supreme example of the innovative scenius in Angolan-Portuguese music, ratcheting the thrilling dynamics of Lisbon's ghetto bass sound with deadly edits and pressure highly compatible with the UK's jump-up jungle, drill, or soca grime vibes. Building on ground-breaking work forwarded by producer/DJs Marfox, Nervoso, Nídia, and Lycox in recent years, Album Desconhecido is jaw-droppingly fresh, even by Príncipe's up-to-the-second standards. And like Lycox, who hails from Angola and Lisbon via France, it's fair to say that P. Adrix's relative detachment from Lisbon has also led him to break the kuduro mold in scintillating new ways, effectively mapping out and recombining a glowing flux of ideas circulating the Black Atlantic diaspora. Delivered in nine short, sharp stings between the seasick drill of "Zelda Shyt" and the laser-guided trance lixx of "Viva La Raça", Adrix trades in a mix of virulent, adrenalized energy and soulful rollage that sets fire to any 'floor across the breadth of Album Desconhecido. It's clear and present in the turbulent, rug-pulling subs and febrile polyrhythms of "Bola De Cristal", and to blinding degrees in the high-wire tension and bone-freezing edits of "6.6.6", whereas the zipping flutes of "Ovni" bind roots and future with breathtaking, needlepoint incision, leaving "Sonhos" to provide a dead sweet, even romantic contrast with the melancholic meditation of "Tejo" for fine measure. After encountering Album Desconhecido, there can be little doubt that Adrix is making some of the most exciting dance music in the world right now -- a boldly expressive and immediately effective sound that drives listeners to a rare but timeless sort of rave ecstasy -- thrillingly synthetic and infused with an unmistakable lust for the dance. In the right hands, it's dangerous stuff. You've been warned! - RIYL: Nídia, DJ Marfox, Arca, Sounds of Sisso (NNT 005LP).
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