- Very little of Noite E Dia sounds "right" in any traditional sense, and nor does it mean to. But every piece arranged by Lisbon artist DJ Nigga Fox—from the fiercely off-grid percussion to the noodling synths to the disembodied alien voices—feels right. The four tracks are so bizarre and delirious they're almost intimidating, and yet they're exuberant in a way that could liberate dance floors.
Nigga Fox called his first EP O Meu Estilo (meaning "my style"), but it's on Noite E Dia that he truly solidifies a sound of his own. The record's more straightforward cut is "De Leve," a mischievous bit of slow-bouncing tarraxinha with a synth line that catcalls anyone within earshot. It doesn't jar your senses quite like "Tio Kiala" or "Um Ano," but it has that same sloppy way with drum programming, like the producer's copy of Fruity Loops had its quantize function removed.
Percussion is the most dominant element here, but it's not always the most distinctive. Underneath "Um Ano"'s deluge of clattering hand drums is a seismic sub frequency that sways to the uncanny groove. "Apocalipsiii" has a solid kick pattern to anchor its greased-up rhythms, so Nigga Fox can let loose his basslines and froggy FX however he pleases. No matter how out of control and unhinged each arrangement gets, though, there's always something to keep them from going completely off the rails.
Noite E Dia comes to a head on the B1, "Tio Kiala." It's a forceful kuduro track with macho shouts and a frenzied drum section. "Tio Kiala" might've just been another fine example of powerful Portuguese club music, but Nigga Fox subverts genre and tradition in a singular fashion. He constantly drops in fresh percussion and zippy synth phrases, and flips from one bonkers pattern to another every bar or so, as if he's showing off just how many new things can be done with this familiar style. Once "Tio Kiala" loops its final beat, you get the sense that Nigga Fox has only just begun to show us what can be done with his sound.
TracklistA1 Um Ano
A2 Apocalipsiii
B1 Tio Kiala
B2 De Leve