Narco Tango - Carlos Libedinsky

Once thought by many to be a dying art form, tango shows remarkable resilience as its newest banner is being unfurled by young Argentines who have discovered and embraced the music as their own. Some diehards may find it hard to accept, but the only way that tango can survive as a focal point of Argentine culture is through continuous evolution. If one accepts tango only as it used to be, then it becomes reduced to a mere curiosity and tourist attraction. Innovative,once controversial but now beloved artists like Astor Piazzolla, Osvaldo Berlingieri, and Roberto Goyeneche led the vanguard of a new way of tango expression in the decades following the Golden Era; today artists like Carlos Libedinsky and American Glover Gill take up where they left off.

I first experienced Narcotango when a friend brought me a CD back from a dancing trip to Buenos Aires. When I first played it my first reaction was that the group did quite a good job melding the traditional with the new. I like tango in general, whether it be guardia vieja, orchestral, or nuevo tango. So I had no trouble accepting Libedinsky's marriage of tango and electronic dance club elements.

My favorites here are the slow and sultry Vi Luz y Subi', the trance-inducing Plano Secuencia, the melancholy of the guitar and violin based Otra Luna, the driving and jazzy Un Paso Mas Alla', the unusual take on Gardel's classic Mi Buenos Aires Queri..., the touch of Piazzolla in Trancetango, and the slow-burning Humo that closes tha CD.

I'm going to check out the Gotan Project and the Bajofondo Tango Club mentioned by some reviewers, but in the meantime Narcotango will get lots of play. If you like modern Argentine tango and haven't heard this CD yet, then I recommend that you try it out. I'm certainly glad that I was turned on to it!