Casa Nossa is the latest cassette from Portuguese artist Pedro “”Branches” Rios (whose previous tape, Ninguém É Como Tu” , was named one of the best of 2012 by Impose), in which he conjures up a series of dreamy spaces to occupy using fluttering, meditative New-Age synth drones and ecstatic vocoder chants. Casa Nossa is Branches at his most serene; the only darkness to be found here lies in the two-part ode to a Japanese fruit, “Yuzu”, which brings to mind star-gazing through a telescope with dilated pupils.
The more expansive “Yuzu #2” (appearing in the video below) features some fittingly Fripp-like, e-bowed guitar flourishes. Meanwhile, the title track is a sticky-sweet loop of sunny yé-yé pop, though the approach is more Göttsching than Gainsbourg. This is wallpaper music of the highest order — you can trust Branches to take you through each room with the care of a gracious host.
Casa Nossa is out this week (limited to 50 copies) via Mouca.
