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Some labels exist simply to release music. Others feel more like a living archive, a dancefloor philosophy, and a community rolled into one. Beauty and the Beat sits firmly in that second category.
The London label, founded by Cyril Cornet, Jeremy Gilbert and Cedric Lassonde, was born from a very specific need: to make music available on vinyl when it previously was not. No hard agenda, no cynical market positioning, no chase for trends. Just a work of love, shaped by music they wanted to play at their parties and preserve in the best possible sound.
That same spirit runs through BATB 009, the label’s first ever double record release. This time Beauty and the Beat connects London with São Luis, the reggae capital of Brazil in the state of Maranhão, through the music of Loopcinico.
Loopcinico, made up of Luiz Claudio, Beto Ehong and Lobo Siribeira, create a sound that is difficult to box in, which is usually a good sign. Their music balances live percussion, electronic sound programming, poetry, vocals and the rhythmic language of Maranhão. It is rooted in local tradition, touched by Jamaican influence, shaped by Yoruba religious heritage, and charged with a deeply physical sense of movement.
For this release, Beauty and the Beat selected four tracks from Loopcinico’s 2013 CD album on the Pará-based label Na Music. In true BATB style, the package also includes three remixes from close collaborators Vidock and Leonidas. The Curimbóbatá Axé Mix and Maquiô Vidock Mix have already been tested on the Beauty and the Beat dancefloor and have also found their way into the hands of Hunee.
So yes, this one has legs. Big ones.
But to understand why this release makes so much sense, you have to look at the records that shaped the Beauty and the Beat sound in the first place. This Track Talk moves through ten pieces of music that help explain the label’s deep musical DNA: Brazilian resistance songs, Afro-psychedelic house, cosmic zouk, Algerian longing, soca-not-soca, dream pop, trance, deep house and the new Loopcinico remix that brings it all back to the present.
Before diving into the tracks, it is important to understand the environment they come from.
Beauty and the Beat is not just a label connected to a party. The label and the party share the same core idea. The party was created by friends who had spent years around the London and New York dance scenes and wanted something different: a place where people could dance all night to a wide range of music on an excellent analogue sound system, without losing the warmth of a great house party.
That detail matters.
This is not club culture reduced to branding. It is dance music culture as a social, musical and physical experience. A proper system. A carefully curated room. Records played because they mean something. People dancing because the selection pulls them into a bigger story.
The label extends that same philosophy onto wax. Find the music. Clear it properly. Invite friends from the community to remix it. Make sure it sounds as good as possible. Then let it live on the dancefloor.
BATB 009 feels like a perfect example of that approach.
The new release connects Beauty and the Beat to São Luis in Maranhão, a city described here as the reggae capital of Brazil. Cyril discovered the depth of the local music on a visit there, encountering a musical world shaped by Jamaican influence, traditional rhythms and Yoruba religious heritage.
Maranhão also has its own important place in Brazil’s syncretic religious traditions. While Candomblé is linked to the Nordeste region and Umbanda developed around Rio, Maranhão gave birth to Tambor De Mina. That cultural background gives the Loopcinico material a depth that goes beyond genre.
This is music built from rhythm, memory, poetry and electronics. It sounds ancient and futuristic at the same time, which is exactly the sort of contradiction that makes dance music exciting.
Loopcinico’s work does not feel like an easy fusion project. It feels more alive than that. The percussion breathes, the programming pulses, the vocals carry weight, and the whole thing sits somewhere between ritual, club pressure and psychedelic storytelling.
For Dirty Disco, that is always the sweet spot: music that can move a room while still giving your head something to chew on.
This is a Brazilian song from the mid -70s about the shared oppression of the indigenous peoples of that country, the formerly-enslaved people of Africa descent, and the workers from all backgrounds (including European). The music is incredibly stirring; and while the lyrics are a lament for the suffering of the people, the song overall is an inspiring evocation of the possibility of solidarity in there face of shared oppression.
To a certain extent the whole concept of Beauty and the Beat is based on recognising certain resonances between strands of music that are often thought of as very separate from each other but which have a deep affinity, mostly as part of a broad tradition of what I call ‘afropsychedelic’ music. When this record was first released it felt like some perfect confirmation of this entire thesis, because this is Joe Claussell, the greatest exponent of Afro-centric spiritual house, remixing a track from the early 70s by the German guitar-based acid-rock band, Ash Ra Tempel. It’s amazing that it exists and it’s amazing how good it sounds.
Prince is up there as one of the artists we revere and play the most, and we would generally never go anywhere near a remix of his… except for this beauty that is. ATON’s East Coast Love Affair 2023 remix of the posthumously released original version of “17 Days” (featuring Prince alone on his piano) is an absolute monster of a tune, boasting a subtle yet infectious groove that just keeps on building and breaking and building again, taking absolutely no prisoner. Such an incredible joy to dance to.
Sitting prominently amongst various other Caribbean sounds, zouk has always been a defining part BATB’s signature sound, with Kassav being probably the band that came to define our musical ethos the most. Featuring an all star cast of Guadeloupe’s most forward thinking musicians at the time, this electro funk cosmic zouk monster ufo from 1984 is one of the best examples.
‘Ya Rayah’ is one of those songs that has shaped the French collective psyche, for my generation at least, embodying the so called (and so elusive) black blanc beur zeitgeist of summer 1998, of those golden few months following Zidane’s headers against Brazil when the collective mood seemed to be one of unity, diversity was celebrated and the nation as a whole desired a progressive, multicultural future. The lyrics are actually about the exiled longing for the homeland (Algeria that is), but after Taha and Steve Hillage turned this into a worldwide hit, its appeal became universal, and a BATB anthem along the way.
This is just one of those records. I think I bought it went it came out but didn’t even get around to playing it for a few years. It’s the only really interesting track that this band or this producer has ever made, as far as I have been able to ascertain. It came out on a label that always does nice stuff, but nothing quite like this. And yet…it’s a stone-cold classic, an absolutely perfect track that somehow creates a unique synthesis of dream pop, trance and deep house; it’s almost sui generis and I never get tired of playing it.
A peak time monster psychedelic house born of the collaboration between Spanish producer John Talabot and Swedish producer axel Boman. One of the most subtle, progressive crescendo delivering an epic “suspended” instant. JT’s music is featured regularly at Beauty and the Beat but that track particularly has set the scene for some of the most monumental collective moments.
Soca not soca from the expat Trinidadian community in Toronto. Infectious drums and synths, lyrics that takes you along while dancing a sweating. Such an uplifting piece of music.
A slow tempo song celebrating joy and resilience. The core of the lyrics goes “Let the world take it upon itself to separate and divide everything that is good in life.” Rather than a pessimistic statement, it is a call to be optimistic and resist the negativity of the outside world, focusing instead on celebrating life and holding onto good moments. Again, it contains an epic break leading to the most liberating moment.
Featured on our next release. One of the 3 remixes included. Vidock has taken the original track to a peak time psychedelic house number. Already played by the likes of Hunee, this is promising to be getting out of the BATB circle in no time! As quoted in the very respected webzine BAN BAN TON TON : “Vidock’s remix also rearranges the number around a 4-to-the-floor. Giving the song more space to breathe while introducing uplifting piano and soaring, romantic orchestration. I’m absolutely, 100% certain that every track on the EP will go on to become an anthem at the imprint’s legendary shindigs.
BATB 009 is not just an interesting reissue or remix package. It is a release that tells a bigger story about how music moves.
It moves through cities. São Luis, London, Toronto, Paris, New York and beyond. It moves through communities. It moves through religious traditions, sound systems, record collections and late-night parties. It moves through DJs who hear connections where others hear borders.
That is what makes Beauty and the Beat such a compelling label. Their releases do not feel extracted from culture. They feel connected to lived musical environments: parties, friendships, dancers, systems, histories and obsessive listening.
Loopcinico’s music fits that world because it has its own internal gravity. The combination of live percussion, electronic programming and Maranhão rhythmic language gives the tracks a pulse that is both specific and open. You do not need to know every cultural reference to feel the force of it, but the more you understand, the deeper it becomes.
For me, that is exactly where the best music sits. It works immediately in the body, but it rewards you when you dig deeper.
Beauty and the Beat’s connection with Loopcinico feels natural because both operate outside narrow genre thinking.
This is not about taking Brazilian music and making it club-friendly for convenience. It is about recognizing a shared energy between rhythm, ritual, psychedelia, electronics and dancefloor release. The same energy that runs through Clara Nunes, Joe Claussell, Prince, zouk, Rachid Taha, John Talabot and now Loopcinico.
That is why BATB 009 feels bigger than one release. It is a reminder that dance music is at its most powerful when it stays curious. When it listens beyond its own scene. When it treats records as cultural objects, not just DJ tools. And when it understands that a good party can still be a place of discovery.
Beauty and the Beat have built a world around that idea. Loopcinico now steps into that world with music that feels raw, rhythmic, poetic and fully alive.
And honestly, that is the kind of connection we need more of.
Beauty and the Beat is a London label and party founded by Cyril Cornet, Jeremy Gilbert and Cedric Lassonde. The label was created to release music on vinyl that was previously unavailable in that format, with a strong focus on careful curation, community and sound quality.
Loopcinico is a group from Brazil made up of Luiz Claudio, Beto Ehong and Lobo Siribeira. Their music combines live percussion, electronic programming, vocals and poetry inspired by the rhythms of Maranhão.
BATB 009 is the first double record release on the Beauty and the Beat label. It features four tracks from Loopcinico’s 2013 CD album, originally released on the Pará-based label Na Music, plus three remixes from Vidock and Leonidas.
The Beauty and the Beat sound is wide-ranging, warm and deeply curated. It connects Brazilian music, zouk, reggae, psychedelic house, spiritual dance music, dream pop, soca influences and other global rhythms through a strong dancefloor sensibility.
Maranhão is central to the release because Loopcinico’s music is rooted in the rhythms, traditions and cultural depth of that region. São Luis, in Maranhão, is described as the reggae capital of Brazil and carries influences from Jamaica, local traditions and Yoruba religious heritage.
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DJ | MUSIC CURATOR & SELECTOR | PODCAST MAKER | BLOGGER Professional online interpreneur. Coffee practitioner. Electronic music culture maven. Total music guru. Infuriatingly humble problem solver. Food & sports fanatic.
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