180° The Remixes

Mulele Matondo's most recent record with Kongo Dia Ntotila was released earlier this year. Entitled 360°, it was a truly joyous offering from the London-based collective, assembled from Congolese and British performers, with Matondo at the helm. It melded Cameroonian makossa and Zambian kalindula to great effect, and they have been touring extensively ever since. This album, however, is a remix project that renders more as an afterthought, rather than a considered companion to its predecessor.

The ten tracks featured here are all ambitious, though some resonate more than others. Ancient Lights' remix is stripped back and tentative, Youth's remix of ‘Mbongo’ simply has too much going on. Its cacophonous mix of dub horns, acid house bass lines and seben guitar lines is overbearing. Elsewhere, Snow Leopards' two-step remix of ‘Faux Boss’ removes the warmth from Matondo's vocal, in favour of synthetic, reverb-laden interjections. The album's final flourish, however, is a rewarding listen: Scottish producer Howie B's alternative mix of ‘Kongo’ allows the brass section to shine resplendent; Matondo's vocal is cavernous, soaring across the regimented grooves of the rhythm section. When the source material is this good, a more delicate and deliberated approach often achieves greater results.