Lilí Gardés: Acostumbrarse no es bueno

Electrotango is back with some fresh grooves and a charming singer. Most of the 11 dance tracks we hear on this 34 minute album were written by singer Lilí Gardés and her producer Osi Tejerina (musical director, programming and piano). The melodies are suited to sing along and the grooves invite the dancers to the dance floor. “Abrazame y bailemos” (by Lilí Gardés and Osi Tejerina) is a nice slow waltz with guitar by Nahuel Santos and bandoneon licks by Rubén Slonimsky. “Tormento” (written by Charlo / P. Ruiz) is a radio-compatible off-beat track which should attract also those who don´t care about tango at all. In fact, all of these songs are flavoured with bandoneon licks which bridge to the old tango tradition and are backed by modern grooves for today´s generation - and live by the ambivalence that they please several fractions of the dancers, even the old ones are invited. Nevertheless, “Ay Corazon” will be deleted from my song list as I am distracted by it´s pitchy chorus vocals. As starters I would recommend track #1 “Arrabal” with it´s cheerfully milonga-samba groove, and then track #2 "Acostumbrarse no es bueno" which is a great groove-oriented pop song with bandoneon solo - both are difficult to resist starting dancing.

Artist´s website: www.liligardes.com.ar

Sexteto Visceral: Milonga de mis amores

The Sexteto Visceral, founded in 2011, is out with their third album, "Milonga de mis amores". In addition to the tango-typical instruments (piano, bandoneon, violin, double bass) they also included a cello and a guitar in their sound. Moreover, with Hernán Fernández, who can be heard in four songs, they have an impressive singer on their side.The ensemble aims to play the well-known tango classics in the style of the old orchestras (Rotundo, Pugliese, de Angelis, Troilo, D'Arienzo, di Sarli, Gobbi, Laurenz, Tanturi, Salgan) and thus to give today´s dancers a piece of ‘authenticity’. Francisco Rotundo's "Para florearse" succeeds with great momentum and dynamic passion - and is tonally pretty close to the original. Anibal Troilo's "Barrio de Tango" is performed by Hernán Fernández in interpretive proximity to Roberto Goyeneche (however, it is not a shame that in terms of dynamic elegance, Troilo's orchestra is still slightly ahead). Piazzolla's "Zum" in the Pugliese style is more elegant and pleasing in their interpretation, and also Fresedo's "Vida mia" in the style of Horacio Sálgan is more playful and soft than the original version. – It is a nice idea that the musicians put themselves self in the tradition of the old masters and pass them on to today's audience.
Pianist Francisco Ferrero and guitarist Mauro Paternoster are responsible for the clear arrangements transcribed after the original recordings and adapted to the ensemble's instruments. This leaves the musicians lot of room to unfold their talent. In my view the sound of the new album is much better balanced than their 2014 album "Champagne Tango", which was also recorded under live conditions in the studio.

The ensemble has an easy game with me and manages to lift my mood already while listening to their CD. Now, let's now imagine an atmospheric dance hall with cozy lighting, nice people looking forward to a beautiful evening - and Sexteto Visceral lures the dancers with their music onto the dance floor. I am quite sure that a wonderful evening is guaranteed.

Artist´s website: www.sextetovisceral.com.ar