A tip, for a banging outernational album this year, would be Batida and UM – the Angolan-born, Potuguese-based producer presents a collection of unreleased mixes, lost versions and remastered tracks on one album. The word “um” has double meaning for Batida in a very personal way – meaning the number one in Portuguese, and as in “hmm”, an Angolan sound to start many words in Umbundo, the main language spoken in Huambo – the city where artist Pedro Coquenão (aka Batida) was born.

Batida’s output is always a distinctly modern and vibrant project, with its feet firmly rooted in the past – combining samples from old 1960s and 1970s Angolan tracks and modern electronic dance music. Whereas nearly all of kuduro (Angolan electronic music) has no links with its country’s musical heritage, it is deeply engrained in Batida’s music. For example, the WTM favourite of this collection is Batida’s remix of long lost 1960s Angolan track, Drás Firmino’s Ufeko Disole (also known as Ufeko Ndisole):

The UM collection also includes remixes from Italian producer and DJ, Clap! Clap! and fellow Lisbon electronic artists, such as rising talents DJ Marfox and Octa Push:

Batida always goes back to his roots in his artwork, concept and music, as well as with the inclusion of Angolan producer DJ Satelite – a pioneer of kuduro and Afro house – on remix duty:

Instrumental versions are also a welcome inclusion, such as for Tribalismo:

UM includes new tracks Do The Right Thing!, featuring Portuguese trio Spaceboys:

For more, got to Soundway.