Tango [Digipak]

Performer: Various Artists
Producer: Phil Stanton; Chris Moss (Compilation)
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Like its Gypsy cousin flamenco, Argentine-originated tango music has experienced an ongoing evolution in recent years. But where the new flamenco artists have readily welcomed elements of electronica, jazz, dance, and rock into the fold, and the resultant hybrid has produced at least one superstar band in Ojos de Brujo, tango has for the most part been more resistant to radical reinvention -- and not as successful when it does try something new. Even the best known of the new tango groups, France's Gotan Project (who do not appear on this various-artists collection), play it relatively safe and never veer unrecognizably far from the Astor Piazzolla model (he too is MIA here). Most of the contemporary artists on Think Global: Tango are purists -- their love for the tradition is palpable and unflappable and they have no interest in abandoning it. The guitars and bandoneons play by the rules set forth in an earlier century, the romance and sensuality are front and center, and the over-the-top-ness of it all is something to be proud of, not muted. When electronics do come into play, as in the Gotan-influenced Carlos Libedinsky's "Tres Son Multitud" and Tanghetto's "Una Llamada" (One Call), the urban overkill is tempered but much of the inherent charm of tango is lost. While there is often a dark sense of mystery and menace to the tango nuevo tracks that is absent (or at least obscured) in the traditional acoustic tangos, even 34 Pu�aladas' tough, guitar-driven "Una Chueno/Cuando Me Entres a Fallar" and Juan Carlos C�ceres' gravel-mouthed "Cumtango" -- which celebrates tango's African roots -- can't help but emit a comeliness and magnificence that the experimenters lack. ~ Jeff Tamarkin

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25