Normal Nada the Krakmaxter: Tribal Progressive Heavy Metal (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
From his Team 2023 celebration of this release, our very own Rich Mudge writes,
“I’m admittedly just beginning to dip my toes into the deep pool of music madness that Nyege Nyege Tapes continues to bring to light and have to admit the title bright green background & Normal Nada’s cover art pulled me in right away. What better place to start than with Normal Nada’s full length debut? On first blush this wildly mixed but danceable LP puts me in the headspace of the perfect soundtrack to late night bike rides thru NYC (if I bothered to soundtrack my rides, that is). It’s all forward motion, bright lights & seemingly random changes in direction that are all part of a polyrhythmic universal flow.
Per the press release: ‘His tracks are rooted in Angolan kuduro and tarraxinha structures, but Normal Nada uses this only as a starting point, poetically overlaying and superimposing elements from trap, bass music, heavy metal and ambient sources to tell a story that's personal and unique.’ The strength of these songs is that they have so much of Nada’s personality and history crammed in to brief structures (nothing over 5 minutes). Winding down with the sobering closer ‘Dedicated to the Homeless’ is a humbling return to the real world and a perfect LP closer. Repeated listens reward in multitudes.”
And from the one-sheet:
“Born and raised in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, Normal Nada migrated to Portugal at 13 and was based for many years in Lisbon's San Antonio Dos Cavaleiros housing projects, after previously having lived in the Algarve. Teteu's compositions are a spiked expression of Lisbon's patchwork of batida styles, making a direct link to West Africa's Vioraint musical legacy.
Now based between Guinea-Bissau and Lisbon, his music reflects this outstretched knowledge and energy, with a 360 degree view of the world's complex assemblage of cultures and conflicts […]
His tracks are roofed in Angolan kuduro and tarraxinha structures. but Normal Nada uses this only as a starting point, overlaying and superimposing elements from trap, bass music, […] and ambient sources to tell a story that's personal and unique […]
A gifted visual artist as well a s a composer, known for developing a prilosopnical mytholoav with his drawings. mostly using a ballpoint pen to sketch out elaborate, anime-style projects. Normal Nada is Teteu's most enduring project, and a full nine years after a string of singles on WARP and the game-changing Transmutacao Cerebral ep, (described at the time by Boomkat as ‘Príncipe's ‘maddest release’ he has finallv assembled his Iong-awaited debut album.”