Pressed on 140g vinyl
Full colour sleeve - printed on reverse side (inside out)
White innersleeves
Limited to 300 units
Includes digital pre-order of Ritmo Freak.
You get 3 tracks now
(streaming via the free Bandcamp app
and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the
complete album the moment it’s released.
shipping out on or around May 24, 2024
edition of 300
3 remaining
Purchasable with gift card
€22EURor more
Streaming + Download
Pre-order of Ritmo Freak. You get 3 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
Zopelar returns to Tartelet with Ritmo Freak, an electric eight-track album from the beating heart of the Brazilian underground, out May 10.
In a flurry of madcap sampling pitched towards the heat of the night, Pedro Zopelar builds on the premise of his 2022 electro-funk love letter Charme, shifting his approach towards a particular 90s flair and a method with a specific end result.
Ritmo Freak took root in studio experiments for a momentous — and rare — live set at São Paulo festival Não Existe in 2023, where Zopelar was caught up in one of those right-place, right-time moments we carry with us through life. As he explains himself:
“This album is dedicated to freaky club culture. While I was playing at the festival there was a crazy tropical storm outside and the room was packed with the freakiest crowd. I've tried hard to immortalize that feeling on this record."
With the intended energy in mind, Zopelar focused on a particular mode of production centred around 12-bit sampling from his ample record collection. Considering his background as a trained pianist, here his musical instincts are forced to work within the limitations of short, snappy cuts from dusty 12”s. The lo-fi sound sources and the resourceful ways Zopelar works them gives the record an unmistakable old-skool flavour which he applies to forthright house, techno and electro funk rhythms, always taking care to draw out the soul of the music.
The stylistic touchstones flow past thick and fast on Ritmo Freak. From the amped up fierceness of the title track with its gaudy, cut n’ paste, vintage techno flavour to the effervescent electro funk of ‘Gabriellinha’s Boogie’ on to the surreal Balearic inversion of ‘Distraction’, this is a high-velocity, endlessly charming record bursting with the musicality Zopelar has made his name on.
As the driving force behind many warehouse parties in São Paulo, Zopelar has been immersed in club culture for a long time, and his distinctive catalogue of jazz, funk, acid and techno has graced highly respected labels like Apron, Selva Discos and Mother Tongue. Throughout, he’s displayed an affinity for the tangled roots of the groove with an open-eared, big-hearted sound. That’s what comes through on Ritmo Freak — a record as infectious as it is well-informed.
Producer couple Local Suicide's debut LP is filled with moody technodisco and contributions from Lena Platanos, Theus Mago, and more. Bandcamp New & Notable May 26, 2022