A heavyweight's importance has waned. Once titans of a martial, albeit poetic, art: mountainous men have been scaled. No longer confined by four corners and three ropes, the feared reputations of these legends are consolidated to one unfortunate act of near-cannibalism. Engulfed by convenient grills and Eastern European civil society, their hands hang unwrapped. The main attraction no longer weighs north of 200 lbs.
To a still developing DJ, however, the release of a track by a heavyweight producer is an event. Aspirations are ever-present. But to hear the creation of a person so relatable jab through the speakers and pummel eardrums is inspiring. Rightly so, influence is quickly heard. Whether it takes the form of derivative beats or tribute tracks, the homage spreads like the results of a title bout. Such is the case with Casa de Mãe mainstays LiloCox and MaboOku; institutions unto themselves. The imaginative nature of a jointly released track last week is akin a judge's decision: the audience has gotten more than their money's worth.
The album length "WuOh" inflames surprise. It is immediately clear that what follows is different. The base rhythm - a single drum marking eight beats - is Angolan in origin, but its label is not kuduro. What follows is semba. Wood blocks mark the odd-beats alongside an non-descript element charged with creating the ambient noise. The steady sound of a scraper contributes the third and final rhythmic element before the first tag - which belongs to LiloCox - and a crash cymbal begin the song proper. Herein lies the second marvel: the CDM style is malleable. Translation between similar styles is expected. After all, CDM seeks to use traditional dance styles to create contemporary hip movements more so than standardize a genre. As the vocal sample - indistinguishable from a brief shout - and marimba begin to carry the melody, the cause for alarm is CDM's proclivity to churn out music of such high quality regardless of style. "WuOh," makes utilitarian use of a mere six elements. Boredom is avoided by adding and removing individual systematically. The track's full length is used to develop a pop structure, but each section is sufficiently different from the previous to suspect looping. In short...woah.
- John Noggle
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