Portuguese Underground

Intrigued by the breakthrough of Gala Drop, we decided to take a look at the Portuguese musical underground, discovering a lively scene full of surprises. Below is an account of listenings and impressions that trace a peculiar path through the rock landscape of this new millennium

Portuguese avant-rock: because Lusitanian underground music doesn't owe its relevance solely to more or less well-known figures like Manuel Mota, Carlos Maria Trindade, Nuno Canavarro, Rafael Toral and Osso Exótico/David Maranha, whose influence – more in terms of experimental attitude than actual sound – still lingers here and there in some of the bands and records we're about to discuss.

The Portuguese avant-rock scene has literally exploded over the past four years. The number of acts willing to try their hand at noise, weird music, improvised music and electronics has grown remarkably, with peaks of outstanding quality in some cases. The internet has, as usual, certainly encouraged the exchange of knowledge and the proliferation of new projects, on a common substrate that, as mentioned, could already count on records, ideas and recognized figures known even outside Portugal. More than anything else, though, it was the rise of labels and net labels that fostered the growth of certain new talents, who might otherwise have risked remaining unheard, as Nelson Gomes of Gala Drop confirmed to us in a recent conversation. After all, even there, the majors prove to be anything but open to music that isn't immediately marketable.

Merzbau – named after Kurt Schwitters' famous surrealist/constructivist construction – is an interesting net label specializing in rock-derived sounds (indie-rock, avant-rock), which occasionally dabbles in electronics, and which does praiseworthy work spreading music that would otherwise risk going unheard. This is precisely the starting point for some of the most interesting bands covered in this feature. The other net label worth keeping in mind is called Test Tube, more open to welcoming non-Portuguese acts, and fairly wide-ranging in terms of the sounds it covers. Then there's Ruby Red (an actual label proper) founded by Tiago Miranda of Loosers and Gala Drop, the most international of the bunch, having released records by Michael Yonkers and Valerio Cosi, as well as by interesting local acts such as Tropa Macaca and Fish & Sheep. In short, especially in recent years a network of exchanges and cross-connections has formed, certainly vital to the scene's explosion.

The Portuguese cultural climate, moreover, is well suited to the development of unorthodox sounds, given the confluence of different musical expressions. Of course, the context didn't favor much in particular (in terms of rock and its various contaminations) until 1974, when the Carnation Revolution led to the collapse of António de Oliveira Salazar's dictatorial regime. Until then, the only music allowed to circulate was fado (though Salazar tried to control it too, censoring lyrics with anarchist or socialist content), Brazilian music – but not tropicalismo, being a revolutionary genre – and mainstream English and American rock. By the late '70s, however, the situation improved, and so the likes of Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil began to circulate, along with Brazilian telenovelas, which further strengthened the cultural bond between Portugal and its former colony.

But the tribal sound of Africa also runs through the veins of Portuguese musicians, given the continent's proximity and the extent of the former colonial empire in areas such as Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde. So it's easy to see why the emergence of that magnificent, multicolored creature known as Gala Drop comes as no great surprise.

While these conditions have certainly favored the absorption of exotic cultures, it's also worth noting the essentially urban nature, allowances made, of the music discussed here, which on one hand embraces those influences, and on the other draws on the cultural instances stirred by life in big cities. It's no coincidence that the nerve centers of today's Portuguese scene (if "scene" is the right word) are Lisbon and Porto.

Lisbon (city and region)

Loosers

Loosers are among the best acts in the bunch and among the best known, having recorded for fairly notable labels such as Not Not Fun, Fuck it Tapes, and Italy's own Qbico, and having received a shout-out/review from none other than his majesty Julian Cope on his bible of a website, Head Heritage. The bard of South Glamorgan, ever attentive as usual to the stirrings of the furthest-out underground, described them as a cross between Mars and Dna, placing them firmly within a clearly no-wave-derived area.

Indeed, the no-wave component is quite present in the Loosers' music, which has nonetheless stood out for a rather peculiar evolution. If on the early records (especially "IIII" and "For All The Round Suns") Tiago Miranda's band recalled a slightly less structured Liars, on the following ones structure is almost entirely lost, and the sound takes on psychedelic, free form colorings.

The bands worth bringing up for albums like "Bully Bones Of Belgie", "Aint No Party Like A Holy Ghost Party" and "Otha Goat Head" are Sun City Girls, the early Gang Gang Dance and Sunburned Hand Of The Man. This seems confirmed by their live shows, described as orgies of pagan ritualism, in the best tradition of rock shamans in the vein of Caroliner Rainbow. The Loosers' music is among the most "Westernized" of the bunch, almost entirely lacking in exotic colorings, except for a fairly marked percussive component on some records, evidently born of a tropicalist sensibility and a particular way of reinterpreting it.

Gala Drop

From the meeting of Tiago Miranda of the Loosers, Nelson Gomes and Afonso Simões of Phoebus and Fish & Sheep (joined by Guilherme Gonçalves of Coclea for live shows) comes the most explosive band of this early 2009.

What else is there to say about Gala Drop that hasn't already been covered in the review? Well, one could add that the record grows with repeated listens. Little by little, the treasure chest of wonders is opened up by growing familiarity with that sound, which reveals itself to be increasingly rich and multi-referential. The metronomic beat of the percussion section certainly acts as a stylistic glue, but at the same time it can mislead the less attentive listener, who might read it as a sign of uniformity or even similarity between the different tracks. Nothing could be further from the truth, at least in this writer's view. Gala Drop's music manages to sum up the many facets of Portuguese culture, shaped as it is by an almost unique variety of historical, social and geopolitical climates.

Just as one cannot fail to hear echoes of Brazilian tropicalismo, the exotic tribalisms typical of the African cultures of the former colonies, and, of course, the obvious contribution of traditional Portuguese folk. All of this grafted onto an expertise in avant-garde music built up thanks to the work of internationally renowned figures such as Rafael Toral, who – and here the circle closes – produced the record.

For a more in-depth look at the music, we refer you to the review.

Coclea

Known in Lisbon's underground scene for his work as a sound engineer at the Zdb Gallery – a modern art gallery located in the center of Bairro Alto, in the old part of the city – Guilherme Gonçalves makes music under the moniker Coclea. So far only one album has been released, the decent "To Those Who Made It Here, We Bid Thee Welcome", a recording of a show held by Coclea right at the Zdb Gallery, which veers toward the rustiest side of Birchville Cat Motel. He has also stood in for Tiago Miranda in some Gala Drop live shows.

Fish & Sheep

Fish & Sheep are Alfonso Simoes (Gala Drop) and Jorge Martins (Frango). Guitar, bass and drums forge a stinging, feral sound that can be compared to some of the fiercest Japanese noise outfits, such as Fushitsusha, Zeni Geva and, above all, Aural Fit. The tracks have a essentially rock form, with a percussive component that's well present and structured – hence the comparisons to Chris Corsano made by some observers – though there's no shortage of the acid contortions typical of the latest generation of harsh noise. A "textural" and full sound, among the most arty and in line with what one hears in the off circuits of Japanese and American noise, thus severing any kind of link with any type of Portuguese roots music.

Fish & Sheep also enjoy a fair amount of international visibility, at least in certain niches, if it's true – and it is – that Thurston Moore and Byron Coley placed "Double Banana" (Ruby Red) at number 57 among the best records of 2006 on Arthur Magazine. Indeed, the album is well worth it.

Imagine a tour de force of white noise, disjointed and manic in its progress, enriched by disturbed frequencies and guitar spasms that smack of rusty metalwork, recalling the deconstructionist flair of Solmania, or of the "worst" Whitehouse. Probably the best noise record to come out of Portugal, at least in recent times.

Frango

Owners of Searching Records – a label whose name carries no less weight than the previously mentioned ones – in the person of Rui Damaso, Frango are among the scene's most active agitators. Formed in 2003 as a trio made up of Damaso himself, Jorge Martins and Vitor Lopes, the band was later scaled down to two members after Jorge Martins decided to move to the United States. Three albums have been released: "Sitting San" in 2005, "Nada Miles" in 2008, and the EP "Whole Hit Bloomer", also from 2005 (in fact this last one, billed as an EP, runs over an hour...) – all three of them more than good.

"Whole Hit Bloomer", in particular, is one of the scene's finest records, coming across as a free-form sabbath steeped in exotic moods. Three long pieces in which the pathologically obsessive repetition of percussive patterns paints a hallucinated atmosphere, as if Pengo's "Nervous Splendor" and No Neck Blues Band's "Letters From The Earth" had found themselves playing in the most mysterious reaches of black Africa. The noise elements, almost entirely improvised, only heighten the obsessiveness of this music, which remains among the darkest and most fascinating in Portuguese avant-rock.

"Nada Miles", on the other hand, veers toward a post-atomic nightmare of free-noise. Remember Skaters? On this record Frango match them for hallucinatory intensity. Ritualistic, liquid, hideously psychedelic sounds, disfigured at their core, like spontaneous abortions of the worst kraut suggestions. In short, for discerning palates.

Pcf Moya

Barreiro is an area of the Lisbon region that was heavily industrialized under the fascist regime, but was then gradually left to decay. It's from here that Rui Damaso hails, guitarist of Frango and the man behind the Pcf Moya project. Perhaps it's down to the less-than-cheerful setting, but Damaso's is a sad, contemplative guitar music, entirely coiled in on itself. To describe it, some observers have brought up names like Ben Chasny, Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, James Blackshaw, but Damaso himself has denied these influences, claiming he lacks the instrumental technique of those musicians, while acknowledging similarities with the more meditative side of Fahey.

The guitarist he's most closely aligned with, however, is undoubtedly Loren Mazzacane Connors, whose desolate soundscapes seem to form the backbone of Damaso's musical diet. Listening to the excellent "Untitled/God Slot EP" (2006, Merzbau), the similarities come through fully. Here, ecstatic stretches of translucent, Velvet-tinged blues melodies distill into gentle impressionist watercolors that, with the addition of a small dose of electronics in the form of loops and frequency phasing, crystallize into an even more hypnotic shape. On "Mouth For Sore Sight" (2006, Test Tube) it's electronics, or rather ambient, that take center stage. The sound stretches out to an almost unbelievable degree, constantly crumbling into circular loops that recall Basinski's "The Garden Of Brokenness". Not bad at all, and this fellow is definitely one to watch in the future.

The albums in question can be freely downloaded from the labels' websites.

Barcos

Barcos is the personal project of Vitor Lopes of Frango. "Psicologia Negra" (Merzbau, 2005) is an EP of manipulated tapes that spew post-industrial noise in the vein of the likes of Omit, Irr App. (ext.) and Illusion Of Safety, across three isolationist pieces that convey unease and alienation. To say the least.

Lobster

Self-proclaimed "Power Rangers of noise-rock" (...), Lobster are a duo — guitar and drums — playing brutal, uncompromising hardcore-noise. "Fast Seafood" offers no escape: the six tracks are well structured, proof of a band capable of building harmonically interesting, incisive pieces. Here and there the pace is so relentless it almost tips into death-metal, while in other moments the rhythmic stop and go enriches the structures with math-noise shades reminiscent of Lightning Bolt.

Caveira

Another explosive duo is Caveira, purveyors of a psychedelic, abrasive and hallucinatory noise-rock. Caveira's sound drags Comets On Fire and The Heads into the realm of improvisation, keeping intact that coarsely psychedelic (and hallucinatory) streak, while deconstructing its rhythms.

Oporto (city and district)

DOPO

Formed in Oporto in 2001, DOPO are, alongside Loosers, Gala Drop and Frango, one of the best bands on the Portuguese scene. Theirs is a kind of droned psych-folk in which improvisation plays a key role, and where various types of sound come into play, generated by traditional instruments, like vintage accordions, or more or less unusual ones, like bowls and toy contraptions.

The band's very first record, the result of a series of fairly spartan home recordings, is called "Last Blues, To Be Read Someday", an EP released in December 2005 by Test Tube. The sound is dirty, halting, uncertain, and yet fairly indefinable, unwinding across long tracks built on a minimal melodic core, over which psychedelic improvisations and flourishes are grafted.

The second record in chronological order is called "For The Entrance Of The Sun", again released by Test Tube in 2007. Here the sound becomes more polished, even though improvisation still reigns. Tracks like "All The Mountains Are Dancing, Are Dancing" and "Time Floats By The Windows" are whirlwinds of acidic psychedelia, circular trance and tribal echoes, recalling the acoustic minimalism of Pauline Oliveros, to whom DOPO owe no small debt. Another act DOPO bring to mind is Shadow Ring.

"Crossino Birds", released by Foxglove in November 2007, ramps up the noise and improvisational elements, to the point that more than once you feel catapulted into the morphine-laced coils of "Lightouse", the sixth album by Graham Lambkin's band.

The main trait of DOPO is their ability to forge a highly evocative, noise-based music in which every single sonic element dissolves into the psychedelic magma, losing any reference to the instrument that generated it. In this sense, only the pagan rites of Pengo, GHQ and a few others manage the same feat. This year saw the release of "Blue Lands" (Test Tube), the band's fourth album, even more stretched-out and spectral than its predecessors, with a listless moaning that recalls the worst nightmares of Pocahaunted.

If you're a fanatic for psychedelic highs, weird sounds and rock improvisation, then DOPO are definitely for you.

Pensão Listopad

Pensão Listopad are a half-Portuguese, half-Polish band, formed between Oporto and Wrocław by João Sousa, Kamil Radek and Katarzyna Wrona. Their music draws heavily on a certain strand of post-rock with broad acoustic shadings, in the vein of acts like Clogs, Balmorhea and Tape. There's also a fado and Eastern European folk component running through the Pensão Listopad sound. Though structured and linear, the music of this interesting Portuguese outfit often opens up into free-form passages that make it unpredictable, while still remaining extremely enjoyable. Only one album to their name so far, "Concerto Dentrum" from 2008, but the groundwork suggests some singular developments to come.

Tropa Macaca

After repeated listens, it's still not entirely clear how to get a handle on Tropa Macaca, a duo from Santo Tirso made up of Andre Abel and Joana da Conceicao — certainly one of the most original acts in this scene, hard to pin down but also one of the thorniest. The two albums heard so far contain long, convoluted suites in which percussive elements, looped insistently, dominate the overall economy of this music. Some have ventured comparisons with Thomas Brinkmann, and the sound does indeed lean on minimalist figures and post-industrial abstractions, even though the band denies any influence from Teutonic-school minimal techno. It's also possible to place them alongside latter-day Black Dice, but even more stripped-down and acidic, or a retiring, pseudo-techno-phase Growing. If American noise seems to have taken the path of rhythm, then it has to be said that Tropa Macaca got there in a far more convincing way. What's really interesting, though, is their ability to play with every kind of sound so as to bring out its percussive side, even if, on close listening, the texture proves more complex than it first appears.

"Marfim" (2007, Ruby Red) does indeed bring to mind the minimal techno of Richie Hawtin, or at least the digital convulsions of electronic terrorists like Lesser and Kid606, although Tropa Macaca's noise aims for trance rather than stun-shock. Even more austere is "Fiteiras Suadas" (2008, Qbico), which sounds like a continuation of Remko Scha's icy algorithmic solutions.

In short, Tropa Macaca's is music to hurt yourself with.

Aquaparque

Andrè Abel of Tropa Macaca played in the now-defunct Dance Damage, and above all formed, with Pedro Mangina, another fairly hypnotic duo called Aquaparque. Nothing to do with Tropa Macaca, let it be clear. Aquaparque's music is, in fact, easy listening, and ends up trivializing that of the latest Animal Collective (already trivial enough on its own) and of Black Dice. "É isso aí" (2009, self-released) is a concentrate of clichés from dancefloor-friendly world psychedelia. Easily skippable.

Other cities

Osso (Leiria)

Osso was born in Leiria, a city halfway between Oporto and Lisbon, the brainchild of Carlos Nascimento, already a member of Panda Suicide, Stares Collective and the Ghoak project.

Osso's music gravitates in a kind of limbo where post-industrial sounds, harsh noise and Robedoor-style unhealthy drones all blend together. Only one album has been released so far, the unsettling, psychotic EP "Solto", on the net label Merzbau.

Out Level (Coimbra)

Luis Antero is a field recordings enthusiast currently working on a series of sound narratives volumes. "Espaço" is the result of a radio performance by Antero himself, using a laptop and little else, while "Water Recordings" (2008, Bypass) consists of field recordings taped near the Alva and Alvoco rivers, in central Portugal, and presented without any manipulation.

An Octopus In The Bathtub (Viseau)

Ricardo Ramos started making music in the mid-90s, in a series of unlikely hardcore outfits such as FunnyBunny & Gibberish. Those experiences later fed into the Puny project, which veered towards a less feral sound, in the wake of bands like Pavement and Dinosaur Jr., up until An Octopus In The Bathtub, where Ramos changed course entirely. Here the sound turns experimental, cryptic, improvised, drawing on industrial music and electronica.

"Two Thousand And Four" (2008, Merzbau), whose sessions featured Afonso Simoes of Fish 6 Sheep and Gala Drop, is a concentrate of amorphous sounds, resting on noise-minimalist structures that are decidedly odd and convoluted.

(09-04-2009)

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