“Using a string orchestra has helped us develop more fully something that has always been an essential part of our aesthetic and that’s film." And it is certainly no coincidence that the only cover on this second album is a superb reworking of Paris Texas. And I took care of writing the string arrangements, trying to strike the perfect balance – not too light, not too heavy!” And the core trio were more than satisfied with the result. "I took them all back to my place,” he laughs, “to the studios where all the great figures in tango history recorded. And he has been much more closely involved in the elaboration of the arrangements this time round.Īided and abetted by Pablo Agri (whose father ranks amongst the pantheon of tango stars) Beytelmann assembled a group of violinists and ‘cellists in a highly authentic setting: the Studio Ion in downtown Buenos Aires. And from that we built up everything theme by theme," explains Christoph H Mueller, the machine whizzkid of the trio – or rather quartet, as Makaroff, Cohen-Solal and Müller have once again been joined by Gustavo Beytelmann, the pianist who guested on their debut album. But this time round, we composed everything around melody structures and rhythmic frameworks like the legendary tango greats Anibal Troïlo, Osvaldo Pugliese and Carlos Gardel. "On the first album we used covers and samples as a basis.
But they have remained true to the principles of this art in the way they have deconstructed their sound and then built it up again using sampling and musical collage techniques. Ironically, after having launched a vogue for electro-tango all the way to Buenos Aires and back, on their second album Gotan Project venture beyond what could strictly be termed the electro sphere. And, on many fronts, Lunático is a very different beast to La Revancha Del Tango. Faced with follow-up album syndrome – with all its accompanying dangers of repetition and their novelty value having worn thin – the group decided to delve even deeper into tango’s roots while maintaining their original watchwords: revive and renew! “when people ask me what the new album’s like," quips Philippe Cohen-Solal, “I always give the same reply: it’s the same but different!” (Taking this philosophy even further, Gotan Project have decided to push a track called Diferente as the first single release). It was high time for the trio to record a debut album – and this they did in 2001 with La Revancha Del Tango, an acclaimed and commercially successful example of musical cross-over.įive years, several international tours and album sales totalling nearly 1 million later, Gotan Project are back in the news with Album Number Two. Remix requests were soon pouring in from all sides and Gotan project their hot new brand of electro-tango given a prominent place on compilation albums worldwide. Gotan project followed this debut release with two further cutting-edge vinyls: Santa Maria and Triptico. This debut maxi single – basically a fusion of house beats trafficked from a ‘milonga’ riff on Makaroff’s guitar – went on to prove a big hit with hip UK DJ Gilles Peterson and was then picked up on by the likes of Raïner Truby, Thievery Corporation and Peter Kruder. This finally resulted in a catchy reworking of Piazzolla’s Vuelvo Al Sur and a no-less catchy B-side El Capitalismo Foraneo. Instead, the core trio of Makaroff, Cohen-Solal and Müller assembled a group of real musicians to take up the rhythmic challenge, experimenting with various combinations until they hit upon the idea of binding their innovative mix together with dub. "We didn’t want to use a tango sample on a permanent loop, or simply add the sound of a bandoneon over electro backing,” Gotan Project insist.
#GOTAN PROJECT TANGO SANTA MARIA HOW TO#
How were the contemporary mixing techniques of the home studio to be worked into the traditional world of tango? How to approach the classic tango repertoire without falling into simple pastiche and cliché?
This debut burst of electro-tango marked the trio’s first steps on a musical obstacle course strewn with risks and conundrums. Appropriately enough, the trio’s first collective effort was a cover of a Piazzolla classic, Vuelvo Al Sur. The group came into existence in 1997 when the Argentinian guitarist Eduardo Makaroff teamed up with Philippe Cohen-Solal and Christoph H Müller, a pair of trendier music figures more in tune with what was happening on club dancefloors. In short, you have to fire both musicians and their audience with enthusiasm, not bore them to death – but the music you’re playing must never stop being tango!" The legendary accordionist Astor Piazzolla managed to sum up the essence of tango in a nutshell and Gotan Project have applied his words of wisdom ever since their debut. "You have to peel away the monotony tango is wrapped up in, as much on a harmonic, melodic and rhythmic level as on an aesthetic one.
0 kommentar(er)
