DJ Danifox is at the heart of Lisbon's underground and a driving force in batida, the sound of the city's Afro-diasporic underground.
It's a heavy sound with rhythms influenced by kuduro, tarraxo and Lisbon ghetto, the melodies of techno and percussive layers from Africa. Most recently Danifox has offered up Ansiedade, a second album on Príncipe Discos that explores space, hypnotic loops and rich instrumentation while never straying far from the dance floor. His own talk-singing adds a newly introspective layer to the sound that makes it all the more potent.
This week's mix is both a superb batida primer for the newly initiated, but also a compelling overview of where the sound is at right now for long-time fans. In the space of 60 minutes, Danifox explores all avenues from the languid and loose to the pounding and physical. It's a mix that is always on the move as mystic flutes lead into tin-plated percussion, whirring synths melt into balmy late-night chords and broken rhythms become more seductive. As the days are heating up and summer hits full swing, there are few better soundtracks to an afternoon in the sun than this.