- What can you infer from a record cover that features an image of a labrador holding a chunky old cordless phone in its jaws? (An image that, by the way, still features the copyright watermark, as if it were freshly harvested from a Google image search.) Perhaps that its contents are throwaway? The bizarre beats on Lisbon producer Renato's debut EP aren't that. Maybe that their creator doesn't take themselves too seriously? The EP's three tracks feature more than a few sonic pratfalls. If nothing else, we can guess that this is an artist (and a label—the new Padre Himalaya) that sees an idea through to its conclusion.
Because a dog and a phone do indeed feature on Alo Alo, partway through the opening title track, interrupting a hammy American voice: "There's a call for you on line—[Bark! Bark!]." It's not clear how we got there—the track's bumpy house beat seemed pretty unassuming before—and we soon saunter off somewhere else, via some rumpled rave chords and the screech of tires on tarmac. The rest of the EP is equally strange—not self-consciously zany, but surely not serious. "O Marceneiro" is a sparse, unsteady beat tool punctuated by thoughtful bell tones that might've been ripped off a low-res YouTube clip. For some reason, the whole thing is haphazardly dipped in reverb in the second half. On "Ze Do Telhado," seemingly unrelated flute interludes break up a thrumming 4/4. The drums ought to be banging but they sound somehow off, as if Renato stitched techno's limbs onto the wrong stumps and his Frankenstein's monster is walking strangely. Except it's much less gruesome than that sounds—it's pretty fun, actually.
TracklistA1 Alo Alo
B1 Marceneiro
B2 Ze Do Telhado