II by Gaztween

Gaztween are Miguel Tenreiro and Tito Romão, two producers from Porto whose music orbits the kind of downtempo dub that seems made for late-night listening, when the city's gone quiet and you're left with just the hum of electronics. They've played at Ferro, Maracujália, and even made it up to Malmö. Somewhere along the way they developed a sound that sits between the organic drift of Brazilian MPB and the more structured constructions of European electronic music. Their second album, II, was recorded across three intimate spaces—Mr Beans, Miguel's room, and Tito's basement—and it shows a duo less interested in polish than in possibility.

The record explores themes the Gaztween describe as "intimate bonding between humans and robots". But what comes through more clearly is a kind of meditative drift, tracks that move slowly and deliberately through textured electronic landscapes punctuated by acoustic instrumentation. There's flute and cello alongside their usual arsenal of electronics and computers. The track "Egydio" marks the first time they recorded these two acoustic elements and integrated them into a composition together, though still filtered through the duo's particular lens of electronic processing.

In fact, II might be best understood not as a statement but as documentation of a process—two friends meeting regularly to experiment, drawing from influences as varied as Saint Germain, the orchestral arrangements of 1970s Brazilian music, and the textural experiments of someone like Sam Gendel.

Jazzego is a record label from Porto founded by André Carvalho, Hugo Oliveira (Minus & MRDolly) and Rui Martins.

Jazzego is a made-up term which plays with the portuguese word “jazigo” that means tomb. Therefore, intends to bury the music industry ego’s and be the place to lay dead genre boundaries. This mix of influences is the compelling sound of the Jazzego Record Label.

Jazz, but not really.