Brazil’s Tropical Twista recently released the compilation Quintessence, a substantial selection of the bespoke global grooves the label trades in. Absent, however, was any advance notice of the efforts of production partners Nadav Dagon and Ben Landesman. It would have been nice, but we’re happy enough to discover them now. Two tracks tie for first place among the four with which the Haifa duo introduce themselves. The title track starts the EP off right, indicating that percussion is priority one for the pair. An eerie, warbling synth riff juxtaposes effectively with the marvelously nonsensical ramblings, half sung and half spoken, of guest vocalist Shaman Shaman. “Cubia” closes the record, a growling mechanical cumbia supplemented with a macro-sample of Black Power oratory, and some noodling on a Bedouin lyre, adding a dusty gust of dry desert heat. A remix for each track brings some extra perspective – Carla Valenti breaks “Contraa” into smaller, less certain fragments, and fits it all into a gentle house groove, for instance, while Feller’s remix of “Kibutz Jungle” fortifies the track’s low end. There’s a lot to digest in Dos Kanye’s debut, and now we’re curious what they’ll come up with next.
