Gotan Project
Gotan Project Live

THE REVIEW

The Franco-Argentinian group has recently released, under their independent label "Ya Basta!", a thrilling double live album. The product consists of two CDs, one is the recording from the London date of the "La Revancha del Tango tour," and the other is the recording from the Neuchatel (Switzerland) date of the more recent "Lunatico tour."

If, in the studio, the three members of the musical project have managed to blend different genres while still maintaining a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve: a journey where the romantic atmospheres of tango and the aspiration to revisit classics of this genre were the core around which to experiment with ancient and ever-new sounds at the same time, live, they allow themselves even more creative freedom, demonstrating a broader musical awareness as they insert acoustic guitars, obsessive electronic rhythms, and the indispensable bandoneon always present to weave the consistently surprising fabric of their music, with some loop plays and, in one case, even hip-hop phrasings.

Some tracks in the live version are much more captivating than the studio piece, this is certainly the case with 'Vuelvo al Sur,' which turns out to be more sensual and penetrating, and 'Diferente,' with an intriguing intro that breaks out of the very commercial stereotype created around the track after its extreme use in various commercials and musical interludes, bringing it new light. Then there are other great successes like 'La viguela', 'Amor porteño', 'El capitalismo foraneo', 'Notas', 'Una musica brutal', all equally intense and engaging in their seductive melancholy. 'El Norte' then captivates with its musicality marked by Makaroff's acoustic guitar, while the samples add an apt electronic vibe to 'Criminal.'
'Santa Maria (del Buen Ayre)' is present on both CDs but in slightly different versions.
'Triptico' is also on both CDs, and on the 'Lunatico' tour, it was performed in a much more electronic and original version. Additionally, each CD contains an orchestral version of the hit that characterized the success of the studio CD, thus Santa Maria (del Buen Ayre) for 'La Revancha del Tango' and 'Diferente' for the 'Lunatico' album.

The peak is probably reached with the two successive tracks 'Chunga's revenge' and 'Last tango in Paris,' the latter being the Franco-Argentinian trio's personal and exciting reinterpretation of Gato Barbieri's theme, which captivates right from the psychedelic-flavored attack and carries the listener's mind to the last notes of the piano.

Honestly, the only flaw of this double live CD is the fact that there are no images to accompany such a high-caliber live event.

Too many have confined tango in some mottos like "a sad thought that dances," something that many purists and genre enthusiasts decidedly abhor. Before this, before being something that can be defined, trapped between a few words, or in a predetermined iconography, tango is both collision and encounter of bodies, freedom of movement and harmonic and sensual expression both musically and visually. An entire culture of music, dance, and thought. A journey through a world of cultures that met in a melting pot that gave this music a style that is neither European nor South American but both and neither.
But it is undoubtedly Argentinian. Esto es tango (electrónico!)

If you love the Gotan Project, don't miss it. If you don't know them, don't miss it and you'll love them.