Sandunguera

a review by tim fisher of
release format Sandunguera by Tito Heron, the Cubanaires (CD Album)

text

As with whatever sub-category of house is currently flavour of the month, the latin-house explosion is resulting in hundreds of identical, identically derivative records flooding clubs as producers knock out tracks in their haste to cash in.

Fortunately, there are as many producers for whom retaining the soul of the original source tracks is a goal over and above getting their track out before clubs and clubbers move on to the next biggest thing.

Tito Heron and the Cubanaires are such producers. The man behind West London's excellent Soleal night, Dado Valentic's second release under the Tito moniker is an excellent reworking of Los Van Van's classic Cuban hit 'Por Encima Del Nivel'.

With its super clean bassline, understated filtering and live piano the track is a perfect example of why latin influences are the current way forward in house music. The original trumpets and male vocal are dropped in and out of the mix, adding to the overall exuberance of the track, and the temptation to slap a boring bogo trill over the 4-4 kick is resisted with some genuinelly interesting percussion.

On the flip, the Live Mix drops the 4-4 kick drum and accentuates the live instrumentation with an added violin, while the Voodoodub Mix strips it all back for the dancefloor. Posted by tim fisher at 00:00, 21 May 2001