Fabriclive 49: Buraka Som Sistema

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Remember kuduro? No? You're not alone: although it remains popular in certain club outposts in Africa and Portugal, the Angolan techno subgenre never did catch on deeply or persistently in the rest of Europe, the U.K., or the United States. Kuduro incorporates elements of soca, hip-hop, rara, and dancehall reggae to produce something that frankly sounds mainly like a rather stiff, chilly electronic version of soca. For its contribution to the Fabriclive series, the Portuguese DJ team Buraka Som Sistema decided to put together a generously packed continuous mix of traditional and progressive kuduro tracks of their own and by such favorite artists as DJ Malvado and DJ Znobia; they also give a kuduro treatment to contributions by artists as far afield as Sizzla (on the album-opening Gone Too Far) and Major Lazer (Bruk Out). Most tracks are two minutes long or shorter, and they segue so seamlessly (and some of the tracks are samey enough) that several may go past before you realize it, but that's not all bad; on standout selections such as DJ Riot's reggae-flavored Mermaid Dub and the Kraftwerk-at-Carnival bleepfest of Mastiksoul's Run for Cover, all the genre's disparate elements come together beautifully. (One or two others demonstrate how awkwardly house and rap tend to go together.) The ultimate result is a quirky but enjoyable party album with a faintly exotic touch. ~ Rick Anderson, Rovi