The Gotan Project
La Revancha Del Tango
iYa Basta! Records

This is "Last Tango in Paris"!

La Revancha Del Tango is Paris based The Gotan Project's debut album. Responsible for one of 2000's most memorable jazz-tango-dance hit "Triptico", and contributor on an impressive range of compilations (Glücklich, Buddha Bar, Gilles Peterson's Worldwide, Costes etc.), their first long player now finally is released on their own iYa Basta! Records (XL-Recording in UK).

As the album title indicates tango is the central element in Gotan Projects music. Their unique fusion of sounds features a relaxed blend of tango dance rhythms and acoustic Argentinean instrumentation (like bandonion [a form of accordion], voice or violin). The music is built on a foundation of dub, house and hip hop influenced production, and is presented with heavy contemporary beats. In one and the same time this French trio manage to unite sensual melodies with an urban musical form of expression.

In my ears this experimental tango-electronical mix has an appeal to music lovers of all age groups and ethnicities, and definitely for those who are fond of Astor Piazzolas fantastic tunes. On La Revancha Del Tango the guys in Gotan Project bring the lovely atmosphere of the old tangomaster into a new setting - and the sound picture fits right into today's modern club music. In fact Piazzola's own "Vuelvo al Sur" is one of the tracks on the record, but of course transformed into the Gotan sound that represents the rest of the melodies.

For those of you who wonder where the name Gotan came from, it's a kind of Argentinean backward slang (for example "project" would be "jectpro"). For the groupmembers Gotan is their way of saying tango - and yes, from my point of view these gays definitely can express tango in their own special way.

Copyright © 2002 Thomas H. Molden