Saturday 27 June 2015, 8pm
Excited to host the first London showcase for the fantastic Lisbon-based label, Príncipe, who since 2011 have been releasing some of the most exciting dance music to be found anywhere.
“Since 2011, Lisbon's Principe label has been documenting the fertile digital music hybrids prevalent in Angola, where upbeat rhythms like kuduro, batida and kizomba (themselves mutations on Caribbean soca and native semba dances) meet tribal house and grime.” – FACT
Puto Márcio, now living in Loures, a suburb of Lisbon, after a period in his late teens living in Rennes, France, playing football at Stade Rennais and FC Bruz, is the illustrious originator of Tia Maria Produções. After abandoning his first crew 'DJs di puro ritmo' he set up Tia Maria from scratch in 2012, inviting other producers that he was getting to know online and admiring their work, explaining that the game plan for his new venture would be assembling together a collective that shared the same passion and commitment to produce music. The group eventually consolidated on its current line up of him, YudiFox, b.bOý, Télio and Lý-coOx, and released on Príncipe its first 12'' last Summer, called 'Tá Tipo Já Não Vamos Morrer'.
Márcio is an accomplished DJ, usually smoothly starting out with his sick brand of Tarraxos (listen to his sole-produced psych-tearjerker crew anthem 'Tia Maria da Vida', who Rory Gibb on his WIRE magazine review described as 'buzzy saw wave harmonies (which) are stately and sorrowful enough to prick up the hairs on the back of your neck') and progressively evolving to the distinctive Batida style of Lisbon that Tia Maria has been contributing indelibly to shape. Finished 2014 knowing that Tia Maria's 12'' made it to the top spot on the year-end 'Critical Beats' list of Wire magazine and sharing on Príncipe's soundcloud the extraordinary 'Mix Louco' for our listening pleasure, unveiling a bit of what 2015 may bring about in new sound forms from his crew.
Niagara is António Arruda, Alberto Arruda (brothers) and Sara Eckerson, a committed Jack-unit of hands-on hardware tracks production and live sets. Their unique brand of raw house with an improvised and fresh vibe outside the exclusive domain of the dancefloor was all out on their 'Ouro Oeste' 12'' released on Príncipe in 2013 (now sold out). Got Gorilla vs Bear 'feeling the hypnotic, vaguely dubby underground psych-house vibes' of their music and won Animal Collective's Panda Bear as one of their most prominent fan, who invited them to play at his curated Green Ray party at club Lux in Lisbon, alongside other greats as Actress, Ron Morelli or Marcellus Pittman. They are about to see released two new 12'' Eps, "Mustor / Falcão" on londoner From The Depths in late May, and "Ímpar" on Príncipe, early June.
The greater Lisbon area is separated by the Tagus river, North and South. P.D.D.G. (Piquenos Djs Do Guetto) was a crew from the North Side (2008 - 2013), who prodigious youngblood DJ Firmeza was part of. Firmeza was born in Portugal and proudly herald's from the Quinta do Mocho hood, where Lisbon-style Batida originators Nervoso and Marfox are based out too, and is a remarkable DJ, with a unique percussive style to the art of mixing, therefore an acclaimed regular on Príncipe's monthly residency at Musicbox club in Lisbon.
He saw his first music put to wax at the end of 2013 with B.N.M. / P.D.D.G. 's/t' EP on Príncipe, who got elected 'Album of the Month' on SPIN's Control Voltage, a novelty track review on Pitchfork and earned a laudatory review from Resident Advisor amongst others. Firmeza is a lone rider now, producing tracks on his bedroom studio and Príncipe is scheduled to release a 12'' of his own material for a 2015 release. Travelled to the titanic MADinBelgrade Festival last May to unfortunately see his out-of-borders live debut slot get cancelled due to the strenuous weather conditions, but has since played out more and more in our Ol' Continent, from Berlin's Schinkel Pavillon terrace party to a Bienne's geodesic compound in the woods this summer.
