Neon Colonialismo

It's ten years since musical free radical Batida, aka Pedro Coquenão, exploded into my dance floor set with his Batida album, featuring kuduro and kizomba rhythms samples from 1970s Angolan tracks, rocket-fuelled with EDM. Neon Colonialismo is the name of his radio show for Worldwide FM and also of this first release under his own name since 2014.

It's a more laidback outing, its silky, refined electronic production takes you on a Lusotronic ride through the Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) music world, from Portugal to Cape Verde, from Brazil to Angola, co-starring a host of iconic guests whose presence tell the story of the music since colonial times. Artists like diva Mayra Andrade, multilingual citizen: Cuban-born, Cape Verdean heritage, Lisbon resident, personifying the musical universe in which Batida is immersed. Together they create the gorgeous Atlantic sonic trade wind that is ‘Bom Bom’. Or check the hypnotic, visceral ‘Eléctrico’ featuring St Lucia-born DJ and producer Branko, whose credits include Damon Albarn and Benji B remixes and playing live at 2018's Eurovision extravaganza in Lisbon. Other tracks include ‘Farramenta’ featuring Nástio Mosquito, an Angolan multidisciplinary whizzkid whose work has featured at the Tate Modern. ‘Tem Dor (Africa De Itamaracá)’, may be the best track of all, filled with the beauteous nostalgia of saudade, featuring an old school/new school Brazilian pairing: Lia de Itamaracá and DJ Dolores.