Plaza Francia can be seen as the legitimate successors of Gotan Project, with Argentine Eduardo
Makaroff (guitars) and Swiss-born Christoph H. Müller (e-piano, synthesizer and
programming) as composers and producers, and French actress-singer Catherine
Ringer of the 80th avantgard-rock-pop project Les Rita Mitsouko as interpret of their songs.
Gotan Project (featuring Katalan singer Cristina Vilallonga) left a
deep impact with their influential 2001 electro tango release ”La Revancha del
Tango”. When they split it seemed difficult to fill this gap. Then in 2014, Müller
& Makaroff published their new songs as a beautiful mélange of tango,
French pop songs and diverse other ingredients. Surprisingly, the Gotan Project ‘relicts’ Müller &
Makaroff had no big problem to underline that they are still highly relevant
for the contemporary tango music scene. Their songs are fascinating and
grooving, have good progressions and catchy melodies.
The trio was
supported by additional musicians, i.e., Gilberto Pereyra and Facundo Torres (bandoneon),
Romain Lécuyer (double bass), Gustavo Beytelmann (piano), Earl Harvin (drums), a
string quartet and a brass section (arranged by tango composer-pianist Gustavo Beytelmann), and others.
Müller & Makaroff clearly left their former electro tango approach and
present their new tracks as contemporary tango-chansons with elegant acoustic
arrangements.
Catherine Ringer sings
with her characteristic ‘low register’ voice which fits perfectly to these modern
tangos. For me, the main melodic line of the “Cada vez” chorus is not really suited for her vocal range and this
is the only minus among so many plusses which makes this album attractive and a
warrantor of pleasure, i.e., the grooving La mano encima (the only track with sequencer bass) or the wonderful elegiac “Cenizas” with its melodic progression alternatingly headed by brass section
and strings and bandoneon in the chorus (my personal highlight of the album).
With a winking eye
the lyrics of this “New Tango Song Book” were reproduced with guitar chords in
the CD booklet; obviously to facilitate that the younger generation of
musicians can learn them more easily. Several are indeed essential and will
surely find their way to the international dance floors.
