Portugal has long been a big contributor to the global bass scene, between Buraka Som Sistema and the various local and international artists they’ve supported through their label Enchufada. A couple years of after they started cranking out their signature sound, we’re starting to see the rise of a new generation of producers and DJs who are inspired by global bass but have also picked up some new elements along the way.
Lima Duarte aka Blastah is part of this cadre of new artists coming out of Lisbon. Blastah seems to have a preference for regional dance, in the most expansive sense of the word regional – his music blends global-bass sounds with elements native to Jersey and Baltimore club. With the help of his Golden Mist label crew, Blastah wants to carve out a new space in Lisbon for music that goes beyond the tropical bass aesthetic, blending colder influences with warm rhythms.
A couple weeks back, we included a spacey twist on “Desafío,” the Daddy Yankee and Don Omar original, in one of our Soundcloud round ups. Blastah promptly released an edit of the track, reworking the melodies into some fragile-as-glass sounds that obliterate whatever you might remember of the original track. If you liked this piece don’t lose track of Blastah – he’s about to release his latest Boris EP, which should provide a fresh perspective on what’s going on nowadays in Portugal’s underground electronic circles.