Luar Domatrix picks 10 Portuguese tracks for an imagined alien club

In an effort to better understand the innovations, futurism and before-its-time aesthetic of late ’90s and early ’00s pop, Luar Domatrix has enjoyed one of the more intriguing label debuts in recent memory. Nova Vida Passada sees the Domestic Exile debutant cast some of that late ’90s spirit into a whirlpool of abstraction.

Seeking to replicate that juxtaposition between the “intimate and lavish” and the “anonymous, intangible, enigmatic and metaphysical”, the album represents a slight deviation from previous Domestic Exile releases: a suite of tracks best heard in an off-world club space some time in the not-too-distant future, it’s still imbued with an experimental bent that’s quintessentially DomEx. Out now on the Glasgow label, Luar Domatrix compiled a playlist of Portuguese music also suited to that imagined extraterrestrial dancefloor.

1. Nuno Canavarro and Carlos Maria Trindade – Blu Terra

Entering the club, the deejay is reminiscing about the lost home – Terra was a fine place.

2. Ondess – Sem Gente 

Rhythm is alive and wishes to travel – don’t try to constrict it. Moody notes are dancing with the repetitive vocal sample.

3. Niagara – Amarelo 

The band is gone, looping inside their heads is the remains of the song, stripped back from unnecessary adornments.

4. Cotrim – Danç

Look there’s Cotrim on stage. His equipment is faulty by nature, treading on thin ice. Sparks and sparks everywhere puncturing small holes on the cold wall. The voltage is high and he is enjoying it.

5. Silvestre – Floresta

The spirit is up, everybody dancing. Synths are climbing our spines as we find each other’s eyes on the dancefloor.

6. Rabu Mazda – Bem Claro 

Squeaking sounds are slipping 360 degrees, the cadence is fast incentivising to keep us going.

7. Normal Nada – Azouse

The meta-percussion is reinventing what once was called Kuduro. Normal nada (nothing normal) has the crowd in his hands.

8. GAM / Colectivo Vandalismo – Vandalismo 

The textures keep getting more crunchy, frequencies bouncing from the walls and reaching our ears with flat bangs, these guys are not fooling around – the bouncer is inside the club breakdancing.

9. Tiago – Untitled 

The Portuguese underground dog makes the club his house, the story tells that he has been seen playing in two places at the same time. Tiago is creeping on us in the most marvellous way – this track could go on for centuries.

10. Tropa Macaca – Ectoplasma

We’ve reached another level now, three quarters of the sound are being filled by our own imagination. Are we all hearing the same thing?

Nova Vida Passada is out now on Domestic Exile | Pre-order here