Tango 3.0

I have been a huge fan of Gotan Project for a good while. I loved "La Revancha del Tango" and liked "Lunático" as well. However, I am somewhat disappointed by this latest release Tango 3.0.

There are some good moments, but most of it feels confused and uninspired. The single "La Gloria" is reasonably good, but it feels like rehash of the sound from "Lunático". "Peligro" is a good track as well with some of that great Gotan accordion and vocals.

Some parts are just terrible. Some of the songs just sound jumbled together. Panamerica sounds like they took tracks from a bad Sting song and mixed it with some Gotan music.

The song "Rayuela" is so bad I deleted the file from my PC so I never accidentally hear it again. The chorus of children counting is annoying to the extreme and destroys a song that starts off well. Honestly, it's so bad that it nearly ruins the album. "Tu Misterio" is another potentially good song ruined by awful vocals and some out of place whistling.

I would still recommend this to diehard Gotan fans. There is enough here to make it worth checking out. I would suggest that you listen to and select individual tracks instead of purchasing the entire album. If you are looking to hear Gotan Project for the first time, listen to "La Revancha del Tango" or "Lunático" first. They are both substantially better albums.

I have been listening to this album many times and I can understand the mixed reviews. Many people are disappointed with the new Gotan Project album. In my opinion most of them were awaiting for something new and innovating, because the band was very innovative from its beginnings. Lunatico set the bar quite high. However, I see Tango 3.0 as a consolidation of their work. They know what they do and this album is really well-crafted. You will not discover any new sound (in the end it is tango, everyone knows how tango sounds). Furthermore, some of the songs in Tango 3.0 remember us to their previous records "La revancha del tango" and "Lunatico".

Nevertheless, it is Gotan Project so if you are a fan you will not be disappointed. They rely less on electronic beats and more on musical instruments and vocals. This album is the least "electrotango" of their discography. Some people mentioned that the worst of the album are the vocals. I disagree and even Rayuela is an interesting experiment, for sure not the best song of the album (mine are El Mensajero and Erase una vez) but not as bad as it has been described.
Most of the songs are quiet and good to hear while having a good conversation or enjoying a good wine. I had the opportunity to listen them live and I am pretty confident that a Tango 3.0 concert will be an amazing experience.

If you are new to Gotan Project you should start with La revancha del tango. If you are the owner of a lounge restaurant / bar you must definitely buy this CD for your collection. If you like tango you should also buy it. Finally, if you are a Gotan Project fan, you should support them by buying this album. Tango 3.0 is well worth $13.00

The Paris-based core trio of Philippe Cohen Solal (DJ), Christophe H Mueller (programmer) and Eduardo Makaroff (guitarist) started making traditional Argentinian tango new by finding in its lustiness a correlative with deep, soulful house-music vibes.
With "La Revancha Del Tango" (Tango's Revenge) (2001), their sensual electronica takes on Argentina's famed urban folk sound won widespread acclaim, sold over a million copies and created a revolution in World Music department.
Tango music was given a modern DJ makeover, could have been music for cocktail lounges, car adverts and the sort of chill-out compilation albums.
After a while, their fans begun to get weary of hearing their favourite riffs sampled in jingles and TV commercials and started to be eagerly awaiting a follow up.
"Inspiración/Espiración" (2004) was a collection of 12 remixes by Gotan's French producer/DJ Phillipe Cohen Solal. Using old tango vinyls, new hip-hop 12 inches, poetry readings, jazz samples and also tapes from the first disc, Cohen Solal has mixed an album with the familiar trippy percussion and plangent bandoneón (button accordion) phrases, but with even less reverence for either tango or electronica.
But fans had to wait until mid-2005 to see Philippe and his two aides pulling off something really new and unusual or, indeed, making something like the impact of their dashing debut.
In 2006 Gotan - back-slang for "Tango"- released "Lunático", named after a horse owned by tango legend Carlos Gardel.
Syncopated tango rhythms rub shoulders with subtle house beats, groovy bass lines, sinewy violins and spacey piano, steel guitar and 1970s disco beats and a mock cabaret sound.
There is an authenticity to these pieces which is hard to fake. Cool, groovy and rarely overstated, equally at home either after a night at Pacha, or over a leisurely meal with friends.
Languid clubby tango-tinged grooves for hedonistic clubbers worldwide, with a more tightly managed acoustic sound and more depth and emotion.
With"Tango 3.0", the Paris-based trio step back on the dance floor.
Augmented by skilled instrumentalists, this latest offering showcases how vivacious tango rhythms and tasteful chillout beats mix into a sumptuous whole that - combined with striking, "weeping bandoneón theme embellished by stock cinematic sound effects such as a filtered voice or crowd roar", strings, clarinet, harmonica and guests - lead the listeners into a melancholic, moody reverie.
The root material is the same and the dance themes remain strong and rather relevant, as they were in "La Revancha".
"It can work. It did work. But it feels stodgily clinical here, especially when the last part of the equation sounds suspiciously like an announcement for a holiday show promo of Buenos Aires.
Still, there is something to be admired in the great attention to detail with which Gotan fashion their dubscapes, and the balance struck between dense and airy tonalities is effective. Yet the essential problem is that the constituent parts in the creative process are too often mechanically bolted together and that the programming, above all the basslines, lacks real dynamism". -Kevin Le Gendre
Purists will often say that is better to leave old traditions as they are, untouched by novel ideas. Fortunately, that is not always the case, and music has several examples of re-visited musical styles.
Gotan is probably one of the clearest examples of this, where electronic grooves have been mixed with more traditional interpretations of tango, electronica and jazz, with some outstanding results.
Best tracks: "Tango Square", "La Gloria", "Panamericana" and "Peligo", shocasing the beautiful vocals by Villalonga.
Lunático
Mar Dulce

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