- Staying true to Cadenza Records' balance of fraternal favorites and new faces, this season's five-release blitz showcases three artists new to the catalog and two with Cadenza priors. Argenis Brito falls into the latter camp, with his Micro Mundo double-pack from 2007. Hailing from Venezuela, Brito's musical backstory goes all the way back to singing in an internationally successful boy-group, through to fronting Uwe Schmidt's Señor Coconut band, and eventually finds him relocating to Berlin and forging working relationships with the likes of Luciano.
There's no question that Brito's sound fits neatly with the Cadenza aesthetic, bopping with latex bass lines and busied with curious twitters of melody. The title track's shimmying drums and effervescent sprays of keyboard take the label's trademarks perhaps too far, chipper to the point of kitsch. Thankfully, "Mind Body Soul" is a more driving track, covering deeper territory in a sweaty, organic house workout. Nonchalant yet big, it's terrifically satisfying. However, "Lolipop" is my pick for the record's most engaging track. With a buzzing, angular synth melody suggesting furiously plucked strings, this is one of those humid Cadenza tracks that teem with claustrophobia-inducing rhythms and sub-rhythms built out of what must be 64th notes.
Finishing out the record's quartet, the sultry "Unreality" centers around low keys, but bubbles with chiming mini-melodies and, of course, layer upon layer of other various and sundry instrument voices. Its quirky funk helps bring the set full-circle, tying the determined physicality of the previous two cuts to the jolly stepping of the opening track. Still, over time I've caught myself favoring the record's mid-section. Their pleasures are more obvious, sure, but so is their urgency.
Tracklist A1 Imminent
A2 Mind Body Soul
B1 Lolipop
B2 Unreality