- Salviatek, a label based in Montevideo, Uruguay, is one of experimental club music's most exciting new prospects. Its third release, Brazilian producer Superficie's six-track Hélices EP, shows why it's so hotly tipped. On the EP's title track, Superficie pairs the hand drum rhythms of Brazilian baile funk with sci-fi sound design, creating an exciting combination of acoustic and digital. "Dengue Drums" offers a whiff of grime and Jersey club, though they're more like rhythmic inflections than outright references. It's tough to ascribe these tracks to a certain time or space—not just because they draw from different regional sounds, but also because of the clash between organic and synthetic textures. It's like they're from this world, but also not.
By prioritizing innovation, some so-called experimental club producers have forgotten that many of us are here to dance, but Hélices will light up a dance floor. Superficie walks a razor's edge between abstraction and approachability, reeling things back in with rhythms that dancers will find tough to resist. And he doesn't go off the deep end when he does get weird—like on "Febre Do Vale," an unassuming drum track that whips up a wicked, slow groove without much fanfare. The remixes are full of fresh ideas, too. San Francisco producer foozool is psychedelic on her rework of "Dengue Drums," adding synth flourishes that skip up and down the scale in restless Middle Eastern glissandos. "Hélices" gets a psychotic remix from umurmurum that switches tempo twice as it slouches towards total breakdown, spiralling into incomprehensible chaos in its final moments.
Tracklist01. Febre Do Vale
02. Cerol
03. Dengue Drums
04. Hélice
05. Hélice (umurmurum Remix)
06. Dengue Drums (foozool Remix)