Review
Gathered from unreleased FruityLoops hard drives dating back to 2007, the second volume of archival tracks from Lisbon collective DJs Di Guetto captures the raw, formative days of the city's batida movement. Where their 2023 predecessor compiled highlights from their seminal self-released debut, this installment operates as an essential piece of historical excavation. Yet despite representing the foundational stages of pioneers like DJ Marfox and DJ Nervoso, critics register a legacy that remains remarkably forward-facing.
For Resident Advisor, this archival look is "more speculative than it is retrospective," with the publication declaring that "every track still sounds like the future". The record's tension lies in its hyper-kinetic design, which Philip Sherburne describes as full of "choppy sounds, tightly wound syncopations" and "disorienting bursts of texture" coming from all sides. For Sherburne, the resulting tracks are "sexy but unsettling," carrying an "unmistakable whiff of danger" that evokes "the burnt electrical smell of an overheating CPU".
