Weird Baile: Collected Rips 2004-2024 review – a hallucinatory trip to baile funk’s outer limits
(TraTraTrax) Two decades of work from producers JLZ, VHOOR, Mu540 and DJ RaMeMes strips the Brazilian genre to its essential parts until it chimes with grime and drill Originating in 1980s Brazil, baile funk began as a bass-heavy blend of syncopated folk rhythms and hip-hop-influenced sampling, and has since developed into regional styles ranging from the hyperpop freneticism of D.Silvestre to DJ K’s eerie and…
Key points
- Weird Baile compiles two decades of lo-fi productions by JLZ, VHOOR, Mu540 and DJ RaMeMes.
- The album strips baile funk to vocals, bass and rhythm, blending Brazilian and British dance music.
- Tracks reference grime, drill and dubstep, including Skepta and JME's 2006 Rhythm & Gash Freestyle beat.
Weird Baile, a project by producers JLZ, VHOOR, Mu540 and DJ RaMeMes, has released Collected Rips 2004-2024, a compilation of two decades of lo-fi productions. The album, reviewed by the Guardian, presents their signature style as a blend of Brazilian and British dancefloors.
Baile funk originated in 1980s Brazil as a bass-heavy mix of syncopated folk rhythms and hip-hop-influenced sampling. It has since developed into regional styles such as D.Silvestre's hyperpop freneticism, DJ K's bruxaria and MC Lan's house-sampling sound. The producers began sharing baile funk edits on SoundCloud and launched Weird Baile in 2017.
The Weird Baile sound
The Weird Baile signature is sparse, harsh and artfully arranged, reducing baile funk to vocals, bass and rhythm. Opener Aquecimento Do Ih Caraca uses industrial sub-bass, chopped-up shouted vocals and percussive beatboxing to create two minutes of menacing intensity.
The group's abrasive energy aligns with grime instrumentals. On Grime Do Weird Baile, they combine the vocalisations from Skepta and JME's 2006 Rhythm & Gash Freestyle beat with clattering electronic percussion and Portuguese lyrics.
as outlandish as it is alluring, sends baile funk into a hallucinatory zone
— Soumik Datta
UK influences and deconstruction
The connection to UK bass continues with the skittering drill bass of PPRT and the cavernous, dubstep-influenced sounds of CaFaGesTeh. The ambient opening of Pique da Oakley references dubstep producer Mala's 2007 track Changes.
Rather than replicate these motifs, Weird Baile disrupts and deconstructs them. Grime Do Weird Baile turns Skepta and JME's aggression into a bouncing dancefloor number, while Beat Derruba Gringo slows and unsettles a trance synth melody into an ominous assault. The compilation is described as outlandish and alluring, sending baile funk into a hallucinatory zone.
