Being a Portugueezer Again

For a second summer, now, I'm living in Lisboa (Lisbon for all the Anglophonists out there) in Portugal, doing research at the national archives. It feels damn good to be back here, although my scene has changed a lot. The majority of my friends from last summer have moved on to elsewhere in Europe or back to the States, with only a couple exceptions. While this is sad in many ways, it will also force me to be more active in finding a new group of friends, which I'm excited for. Got into an apartment in Principe Real, at the top of Bairro Alto, the main going-out area, and I'm in between two parks, so it's a great location and very cheap, by Portuguese or American standards, which means for Europe it's amazing. Also, my landlady, who's also one of my roommates, is an Italian chef who cooks dinner for the apartment most nights, which means lots of great food.
I've been taking it easy so far and trying to get over jetlag, but tomorrow and Wednesday I'll begin research in earnest, since absolutely nothing is going to get done this weekend. It's the Festa de Sao Antonio starting on Thursday, a celebration of Lisbon's adopted patron saint, with tons of food and partying throughout the streets of the city's older neighborhoods. I missed out last year because of a trip to Paris to see friends, so I'm excited this time around. Sleep will not be high on the list of priorities this weekend.
I went to an outdoor concert on the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, right near my apartment, a couple nights ago to see a local band and then also a Spanish rumba band, but I'm getting pumped to see more shows as the summer rolls on.

I've been very neglectful of my inbox lately, having had tons of time taken up by graduation, packing, unpacking, re-packing, traveling, and unpacking once again, so I'm finally getting the chance to listen to some of the tracks I've been getting.

Hitting with heavy synths and thrashing hard, Arizona duo Ghouliez have started to make some waves on the electro scene with their stellar, long-form original work and remixes. Thankfully, they avoid the overly distorted sounds that ruin so many remixes these days, and take the smoother route. Definitely a group to keep an eye on and shake your ass to.

Ghouliez - Blackest Sky [divshare]
Digitalism - Taken Away (Ghouliez remix) [divshare]

Back on the hip hop side of things, Boston-based rapper and producer Father Abraham is being crazy productive. While he may not be the Father Abraham who spawned Judaism, Christianity, and Islam way back when, today he's churning out songs nonstop with samples and his own synths backing the tracks, creating a sound with a healthy dose of MF Doom, or as he's apparently calling himself now, just plain DOOM. Abe just came out with a new album, which you can download here.

Father Abraham - Spacemarch [divshare]

He's also currently working on a project to produce one song every week during 2009, the ambitious and aptly titled 52 Pickup (check it out). My favorite song so far is 'Jacques Cousteau,' if only because deep-sea exploration and rap seem so incongruous. The story of the song is here.

Father Abraham - Jacques Cousteau [divshare]

Just one final note: I had always kind of wondered where Belgian/Portuguese producer Moulinex had gotten his name. Thought perhaps it had something to do with Belgium and their famous moules (mussels). I was surprised yesterday morning to see the brand of the coffeemaker at my hostel: Moulinex.