Italoboyz - Portucais

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  • Trapez Ltd. is as guilty as any sublabel in too often emulating its parent, but once in a while they throw caution to the wind and give us something like "Portucais." In the spirit of the label's riskier, more experimental offerings (what sublabels should all be about), "Portucais" proceeds like Und or Nôze on a Chilean musique concrète trip, fine company for precocious Italian-born, London-based duo Italoboyz. Their surprise hit "Viktor Cassanova" hinted at these vistas, but that track was still largely obedient to structure; there's little of that here. Over 12 minutes a snatch of Portuguese (presumably) chatter is stretched, warped, reverberated, and left to ramble naked, beside a clouded sixteenth-note bass thud—the only thing marking this as rhythm music. At the four-minute mark a kick drum enters, then exits, aided by muffled bursts of fizz, crackle and makeshift percussion, and when the voice is looped this could almost be groovy (but that hardly seems the point). Tailor-made for Villalobos, taking "Andruic and Japan" on a more windswept and random wander, "Portucais" is odd, addictive and entirely welcome. "Body and Soul" follows a slightly more familiar path, a winding Cadenza bassline accompanying Casio drums so polite they appear whispered. Gunshots, spurs and yelled "heys!" add hints of spice, but this remains subtle and slippery, like Crowdpleaser's "Rodeo" remix. It's up to Blind Minded to straighten things with their Afrogenic Mix, which ropes in all the elements of the original and pulls the reins until it resembles a tight, regular Trapez track. This works a treat, with standard builds and breaks accompanied by a palette drawn in Italoboyz' own kooky, rusty hues.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Portucais B1 Body & Soul B2 Body & Soul (Blind Minded's "Afrogenic Remix")
RA