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LP
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RUP 008LP
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Octa Push's Língua will be released as limited edition vinyl on Rebel Up Records for the first time since its original release in 2016 on the band's Combatentes home label. Octa Push is a Portuguese duo formed by brothers Leo Leoleo and Mushug that fuses Lusophone music (Angola, Bissau, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tomé) with electronic sounds. Língua is the second full-length album of Octa Push and features guests such as Tó Trips (Dead Combo), Batida, Cachupa Psicadélica, Cátia Sá (Guta Naki), Maria João Grancha, Ary (Blasted Mechanism), João Gomes (Orelha Negra, Fogo Fogo), Braima Galissa, Alex (Terrakota), AF Diaphra, and Gospel Collective, among others. The record, almost entirely in the Portuguese language, is a tribute to the Lusophone music that has been made in the last 40 years. Electronic music meets semba, morna, funaná, Afrohouse, and even Brazilian music. The record opens with the title song "Língua", rhythmically inspired by semba, it features the sharp vocals of Cátia Sá, the hypnotic kora of Braima Galissá, and the guitar of Alex from Terrakota. In "Cueca", Maria João imposes all of her vocal expressiveness on top of a heavy bassline and shows why she's one of the biggest Portuguese jazz references. In the same heavy bass tone, "Trips Makakas" introduces the Portuguese guitar of Tó Trips from Dead Combo into a dense electronic sound. "Gaia Cósmica" has hints of Brazilian grooves, featuring the guitar and deep vocals of Cape Verdean pop legend Cachupa Psicadélica, and also funky keys provided by João Gomes, member of bands like Fogo Fogo, Orelha Negra, and cult band Cool Hipnoise. The rhythm increases in "Fogo", in this funaná inspired song, Kenyan Isaac Anyanga and Cátia Sá provide the vocal hook while Alex Terrakota shows his amazing guitar skills, newcomer AD2 raps about the Cape Verdean island of Fogo. "Xilofone Teteté" is a xylophone driven electronic track, while Mana is the Afrohouse approach by the duo together with kuduro rapper Bruno do Show. In Barbara the rhythmic energy balances with moments of calm and it's where Cátia Sá's vocals shine the most. It also features Batida, Alex Terrakota, and Ary. "LGS-LX" has Nigerian talents Afrologic and Temi collaborating with rapper AF Diaphra. The closing track is a heavenly cover of a song by the Portuguese icon Zeca Afonso and features the Gospel Collective. Includes download.
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CD
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SENSELESS 004CD
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From the opening bars of "Bright Lights," it's clear that Lisbon brothers Bruno and Leo aka Octa Push have redrawn the parameters of their sound. They've developed the elements that defined their breakthrough releases and expanded them to develop a broad, exciting palette of new sonic textures and colors. Their early releases on Soul Jazz, Fabric, Enchufada, and others expertly balanced UK bass and African influences to catch the attention of high-profile fans such as Thom Yorke, SBTRKT, and Gilles Peterson. An undeniable ear for melody and a percussive sensibility drawing on the polyrhythms of African music set them apart from the crowd and on Oito, their debut LP, they've taken those two elements and worked them into 12 compelling tracks that marry the organic and the electronic as well as underground music from Europe and the African continent. The album takes the sub-bass and syncopated rhythms of UK genres like garage as its starting point but once again filters that through a kaleidoscope of influences, mainly stemming from Portugal's unique cultural ties to Africa. Unlike previous work, they've worked to infuse the album with musical references to music like Nigerian Afrobeat or funana from Cape Verde without overtly sounding like the music itself. Re-contextualizing instruments like kalimbas or xylophones and playing with complex rhythms gives their music a richness without them ever sounding like copyists. The album also marks an expansion of their work with vocalists, starting with Alex Klimovitsky from the Portuguese/U.S. group, Youthless. He's now a mainstay of the Octa Push live show, lending his skills as a vocalist, programmer and multi-instrumentalist. Elsewhere, we find Sasha from Berlin's pioneering Jahcoozi, London-based Catarina Moreno, and Braima Galissa -- one of the best kora players in Guine Bissau. The complex melody of that traditional instrument is woven into "Ali Dom," along with Galissa's powerful vocals, conjuring up perhaps the most vivid non-European image on the album.
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12"
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IBR 004EP
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"Lisbon-based Octa Push are the newest recruits on the Iberian label and here they come up with the goods on this very distinctive international flavoured 3-tracker - following their debut vinyl release on Soul Jazz Records' Stepper's Delight 2 compilation. Having blown up the Red Bull Stage at this year's Sonar in Barcelona and wowed people at Fabric and the Glade Festival with their unique flow; which sees them combine the Portuguese and African sound spliced with elements of UK garage, dancehall and techno. Both 'Deixa' with Toni Clean, resident in Portugal and from the Cabo Verde Isles, and 'Baila Mundo,' with the legendary MC Zulu and his distinctive randomized dance hall cadence, show Octa Push as accomplished producers - having already remixed the likes of Buraka Som Sistema, Debruit, Mochipet and DJ Znobia, to name a few - and skilled at using original vocals over their bass line driving funky beats; whilst 'Dubshh' is a marvelous bustling and punchy instrumental rub perfectly illustrating their bass and groove style. All three tunes are sure players and seem destined to bring the Portuguese style to a growing fan base and providing Iberian with yet another non-UK produced bass continuum vibe."
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