- Deep house for thoughtful DJs.
- For the last few years, Arnaldo has been releasing exclusively through his own label, Naturist Recordings, giving him the space to hone his exquisite, stripped-down deep house. On Naturist, he's played around with the boundaries between what supposedly can and can't be played in a club—see the promo text for his Naturist club nights and the wonderfully titled Warning! One Track On This Extended Player Contains No Kick Drum EP. There are plenty of kick drums on the Buena Onda EP, but these are still tracks for the dance floor's quieter moments, and for DJs who want to take things in a more thoughtful direction.
"Unknown Nude" is a tender deep house stunner that ranks among Arnaldo's best tracks. It's also extremely simple. There's a touch of Steve Reich in the bold, shimmering synth lead that modulates slowly back and forth between two chords. An underwater loop and vocal sample make up the rest of the composition, but as so often with Arnaldo, there's something organic and mesmerizing about how it's put together. A similarly minimalist approach is taken on the trippier "1:17pm. They Stole My Partner" and the sleek, meandering "Post Rotation," a track that will make you dance, but probably drowsily and with your eyes closed. "Man From The Mountains" is more obviously sentimental, with mournful chords and moody sub-110 BPM tempo. Buena Onda is an EP that undresses deep house beautifully, leaving only the bare essentials.
TracklistA1 Unknown Nude
A2 Man From The Mountains
B1 Post Rotation
B2 1:17pm. They Stole My Partner