Hello Tangueros y Tangueras,

I am back from Buenos Aires where I went shopping for new Tango CDs, so I will introduce some new and old Orchestras over the next few months. Lets start for now with Otros Aires and their new CD 4 (yes it is called just “4”). Most Tangueros will know Otros Aires and lots of you will classify Otros Aires as a Neotango group. Actually, I am not so sure whether I should describe Otros Aires just with the tag “Neotango”. The music is much more than the usual Electrotango, even if the group is playing lots of percussions and samples. Otros Aires was  founded in 2003 by Miguel di Genova (Guitar, Samples), Toni Cupedo (Bass) and Josep Lluis Guart (Keyboards) in Barcelona. One year later, Hugo Sattore (Bandoneon), Pablo Lasala (Piano and Keyboards) and Emmanuel Mayol (Percussion) completed the group. Initially, they used traditional samples from the classical Orchestras and added electronic beats, sequences and rhythms to create new music. Some pieces are tangos, some milongas, some slow valses but sometimes it is difficult to classify. Lot of the tracks are danceable and able to create a new flavour on a dancefloor. Here some samples of general Otros Aires tracks (not only from “4”):

Lets start with a traditional Milonga “Amor que se baila”, which sounds almost like the traditional milonga, but on the second look, it is a mixture of a bandoneon theme almost equal to “Milonga de mis amores” and disturbing electro beats. The video shows two dancers (Gustavo Russo y Alejandra Mantiñan) who actually danced to different music (La Luciernaga). The video has been adjusted to the new sound. Otros Aires uses video as an important part of their life performances.

The second example stands for the initial Otros Aires style. The song “Sin Rumbo” starts like a traditional tango and develops into an electronic and rhythmic oriented tune.

My favourite tunes are “Allerdings” (the German word for “though”) and “Big Man Dancing” (this song is from the new album). Here we can get a glimps of a very rhythmic and driving development of Neotango music. Definitively worth to be considered as a tanda in a modern oriented Milonga.

Your Tango-DJ,

-Ricardo