milonga.co.uk

e-longa del corazón

Let's be honest: there's a lot of "neo-tango" music being produced that's just rubbish, even - especially - in Buenos Aires.

And then there's this!!

You probably haven't heard of Iwan Harlan - I hadn't either, until I met him when we were both teaching at the Taboe Camp in the Netherlands this summer. Apart from being a fantastic guy, Iwan is a composer. He earns his living composing and producing music for tv / theatre / performances / movies and various diverse band projects. His TV credits include BMW, Sprite and Air Berlin. He runs his own studio called sound to vision and when he started dancing tango he also started to compose tango music. As his partner Mustafa Zekirov heard his tango stuff he became an addict too and they integrated this feeling into some songs of their band Turlitawa Shutka.

Now I've heard this music and it's excellent! Don't take my word for it - listen to the sound samples we've added below.

This cd is a great neo-tango CD, more interesting, more creative and much much better to dance to then most of the commerical rubbish we get served up. Essential for anyone interested in neo-tango music.

Note that this CD will not come in a jewel case - although the CD itself is printed up, Iwan has not printed any inserts. It comes in a sleeve which we will send in a special cardboard mailer.

Track list

1. e-longa mp3 sample
2. jewelz
3. bouffon
4. carta del amor
5. conspiration
6. tangosofia
7. rumba
8. parno gras
9. zabrakadabra mp3 sample

1-5 performed and composed by Iwan Harlan
6-9 performed by Turlitawa Shutka / composed by Mustafa Zekirov and Iwan Harlan.

Osvaldo Pugliese - sus éxitos con Roberto Chanel

Reliquias 495374

I'm ashamed of myself - I just checked my Pugliese recommendations page, and this CD isn't realy emphasised :-O
It's not because I'm trying to keep this to myself - I'll go and fix this in a minute.

Here are some fabulous 40s sides of Pugliese with his greatest singer Roberto Chanel. Pugliese has been criticised over the years for his choice of singers but mostly by people who are not very well informed. True, his 60s recordings with Abel Córdoba have not stood the test of time - but have anyone's vocal tangos from the 1960s? D'Arienzo with Jorge Valdéz anyone?

A fairer criticism would be that with the dramatic Alberto Morán, Pugliese began the de-integration of the singer from the orchestra, reversing the whole trend of the 1940s. It's true - although the recordings from this transition period (especially the ones from 1950 with Jorge Vidal) are tremendously exciting.

Before this, back in the 1940s Pugliese had a fantastic cantor de orquesta (orchestra singer) in the body of Roberto Chanel. Tracks such as Yo te bendigo, Corrientes y esmeralda and La abandoné y no sabía make the hairs on my arm stand-up. I can't understand why these tracks aren't better known and more-often played at the milonga.

This is a cd for real connosieurs of tango music, who will also find it interesting to compare the songbook of Chanel with that of Enrique Campos with Tanturi.

Track list

1. Yo te bendigo
2. Fuimos
3. Rondando tu esquina
4. La abandoné y no sabía
5. Corrientes y esmeralda
6. Puenticito de mi río vals
7. Farol
8. Muchachos comienza la ronda
9. Nada más que un corazón
10. Galleguita
11. Sin lágrimas
12. Tu casa ya no esta vals
13. Tiempo
14. Ojos maulas
15. Amigas
16. Consejo de oro
17. Que bien te queda
18. El tango es una historia
19. Escúchame Manón
20. Cabecitas blancas

Rodolfo Biagi - Sus éxitos con Acuña, Lago y Amor

DBN 529111

This disc, the fifth Biagi disc on Reliquias, highlight vocalists Carlos Acuña and Alberto Amor singing in 1943-44, with four tracks of Alberto Lago from 1941-1942 thrown in.

Amor's tracks are the most consistent: Lisón, a very unusual arrangement, Como el hornero, which stands up well to the version of Pedro Láurenz (no mean feat) and in particular Adiós pampa mía, to which Biagi imparts all his rhythmic gifts without ever losing sight of the melody.

But my favourite track here is Yo tengo un puñal, another brilliant Biagi arrangement with delightful interplay amongst the bandoneons. Also strong is A la luz de un candíl, a very famous tango from 1927 (well recorded then by Fresedo and Lomuto, as well as Gardel) that doesn't get played very often at the milonga.

Track list

1. Uno
2. A la luz del candil
3. Barrio reo
4. Lonjazos
5. Yo tengo un puñal
6. Canción de rango
7. Adiós te vas
8. Tu voz
9. Sosiego en la noche
10. A suerte y verdad
11. Soy del 90
12. Sueño de juventud vals
13. Arrebato
14. Te odio
15. Metido
16. No puede ser
17. Lisón
18. Mis amores de ayer
19. Como el hornero
20. Adiós pampa mía

Cantan:

Carlos Acuña (1 al 12); Alberto Lago (13 al 16); Alberto Amor (17 al 20)

Juan D'Arienzo - Tango Bravo canta Alberto Echagüe/Armando Laborde.

DBN 63359

Some great D'Arienzo mostly not covered by Sony-BMG's 15 disc homenage (homage), with tracks selected seemingly at random from 1938-1954. Alberto Echagüe is on fire in Olvídame, Trago amargo and the absolutely killer vals En tu corazón. Armando Laborde is the second vocalist trying to keep up. Desde aquella noche is pretty good, but mostly he is left trailing in Echagüe's wake.

Track list

1. Trago amargo
2. Corrientes y esmeralda
3. La madrugada
4. Mandria
5. El viento me cuenta cosas milonga
6. Este carnaval
7. Con todo mi corazón
8. Olvídame
9. En tu corazón vals
10. Calandria pampa milonga
11. Yuyo brujo (sos taita)
12. Viejo smoking
13. Dios te salve, m'hijo
14. Desde aquella noche
15. Tu boca mintió (no me mires)
16. Si supiera que la extraño
17. Santa madrecita
18. Canzoneta
19. Lenguas de fuego
20. Milonga que peina canas milonga

Cantan:

Alberto Echagüe (1-3,5-10)
dúo Echagüe - Laborde (4)
Armando Laborde (11-20)