The Cube Guys’ remix of Alex Font’s “Angola” is the latest house track to use the vocal from Cesaria Evora’s song of the same name.
Although Evora started singing professionally in the ’50s, her music was little-known outside her home country of Cape Verde. Until she recorded the album “La Diva Aux Pieds Nus (The Diva with Bare Feet)” in 1988. Her second album “Miss Perfumado” included both “Angola” and “Sodade”, which is perhaps her best-known song.
Back in 2003, Carl Craig used the “Angola” vocal as the centerpiece of a thumping techno track. Craig’s minimal tech remix of Evora’s song helped to cement his reputation as a master remixer.
DJ Magazine gave him the top spot in its list of the “50 Greatest Remixers of All Time”. Wanting to include Craig’s classic production in his own housier sets, Alex Font redid the track in 2010. He replaced Craig’s dark, acid-tinged synths with a rolling house bassline and speeding the beat up to a more dancefloor-friendly tempo.
The Cube Guys’ remix of “Angola” moves the track even deeper into house territory, adding an upbeat bass riff and re-incorporating the sprightly piano and plaintive strings from Evora’s original recording into the mix.
The Cube Guys’ take on “Angola” is a slice of melodic Afro-Latin house that fits perfectly with the vocal’s style. Of all three tracks that sample “Angola”, it’s perhaps the closest to the vibe of Evora’s original song.
Unsurprisingly, given their string of brassy, poppy house tracks like “Jump” and “La Banda,” the Cube Guys home in on the tropical elements of “Angola”.
Save for the vocal, their remix is barely recognizable as being related to either Craig’s pensive production or Alex Font’s brooding original mix.
The strings, piano and vocal in the Cube Guys’ remix bring enough melody into the mix to help this track cross over, while the driving beat makes it work as a club track as well. Even when the beat drops out, the layered finger-snap percussion propels “Angola” forward, keeping things moving until the kick and bassline come back in.
“Angola” is out now on Ben Prok and James Fitch’s Floorplay Music label. It’s available as a digital download from Beatport, Traxsource and iTunes.
Alex Font – Angola
Label: Floorplay Music
Released: September 10, 2012
Catalog-/Label-No: FLOORPLAY033X