It says:
There has been a noticeable revitalisation of the club scene in Portugal, not to mention parallel upshifts in the country’s rock and pop over the last few years. Several waves of African influence have helped cement Angolan kuduro as a dynamic creative force, in both the mainstream via popular acts such as (the now dormant) Buraka Som Sistema a decade ago to the more recent and relatively underground batida scene, centred round the incredibly vital Príncipe Discos label – a focal point for the kuduro/kizomba/tarraxinha/grime/house/techno hybrid sound which was incubated in Lisbon’s poorer districts before emanating outwards toward the rest of the country.
There are numerous reasons for all of this, according to Portuguese music promoter Joaquim Durães, such as a reawakened sense of national cultural pride – but he adds that the country’s liberalisation of drug laws in 2001 has played its role as well. Now less likely to find themselves in “sketchy” and “stressful” situations, musicians (well, the ones who seek chemical and herbal solutions to..
Read the full review here: The Guardian
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