Artist: OITO//OITO
Title: Raiz
Label: OITO//OITO Discos
Cat #: OOD 001
Format: Ep 12′
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 20th June 2022
The music of Oito//Oito has always looked to build upon the synergies that connect the music of yesterday with the process of creation in the current era, and how the evolution of contemporary music pushes onwards upon the foundations set by those who came before. Oito//Oito consists of DJs and producers Dupplo and Señor Pelota, who for the past 20 years have been lighting up floors all over their native Portugal and across the continent, with their passion for the eclectic and the bold endearing dance floors to their sonic mission. Their primary inspiration comes from the searing creativity that the Acid House movement was drenched within, when budding producers crafted sounds like no other and tapped into a social hive mind of escapism and togetherness. Alongside this, they continuously look to their home nation’s music heritage as inspiration, with the samples used in their music serving as the key melodic motifs within their heavy hitting edits. These sources of inspiration really shine through in the music they mix and the tracks they create, which consists of original productions and edits that brilliantly capture the visceralness and vitality of eras gone by, with a contemporary twist injected into the mix that adds enormously to the feel good factor. Their debut single, simply titled ’01’, was released in 2019, which featured two club edits of rare Portuguese cuts from the 1980s. Their second effort, ‘Timeless Movement’, continues to use older Portuguese references as the main anchors, and the result is an EP that effortlessly glides across the dancefloor, pointing to differing times in history as we consolidate our energies within the contemporary, eager and willing to let ourselves go all night. With a foundation like this, Oito/Oito have the means to kick on and keep releasing incredible, timeless-leaning gems, and on that note…
‘Raiz’, the first release on the Oito//Oito Discos label, draws the musical focus towards the sound archives of Michel Giacometti, a French ethnomusicologist who dedicated his life to studying the oral traditions of Portugal which had become either lost or forgotten, with his collections still exhibited today in the Museum of Portuguese Music in Estoril. As with their previous releases, the duo carefully manage the source material and interweave it with their Acid House undertones, with both the original cuts ‘Ceifeiras’ and ‘A Poda’ doing a beautiful job at merging the powerful vocals with driving bass lines and rhythms. The opener in particular has a deep mysticism to it, the vocals leading the line as razor sharp pads craft a pulse alongside a steady but powerful drum structure. ‘A Poda’ takes things in a trippy-er direction, with the vocals stretched out in that prog house style that keeps the mind ticking over and the body left to its own devices. The breakdowns in this track are very effective, and really portray the soul of the original vocal performance and allow for the listener to connect with the wider feeling being conveyed. On the flip, the duo asked producers Switchdance and Terra Chã to put their spin on ‘Ceifeiras’, and the results only add to the atmosphere. Swtichdance takes things down into murky depths, with a low slung beat expertly interspersed with driving bass notes, as sweeping chordal lines meander up above, giving a whole new angle to the original and winning over our hearts. Terra’s version injects some swing into proceedings, with looping chordal stabs pulsating through the middle along with some beautiful melodic additions that exalt and inspire in equal measure.
Balanced, referential, blissful, dynamic. All this, and more, feature heavily on the first edition of Oito//Oito Discos, so why not come along and meander through time and space – its worth the trip…
