Surco Records
B0000564-02
Tangoclub continues where The Gotan Project's La Revancha de Tango left off. It marries the erotic danger of tango with Club and House grooves, hard-hitting synth ambiance and that hip cosmopolitan flair which only the best of disc jockeys, mixers and underground resamplers can generate. Whether it's seductive violin, cool piano, growling bandoneon or sultry vocals, the tunes always remain anchored by phat beats, synth extravaganzas and a Matrix-derived vibe of ultra-hip meets broodingly dark: Neo and a black latex-clad emotional vampire called Persephone chill on a futuristic dance floor under the strobe lights before a jealous Trinity rudely interrupts the tryst-in-motion.


As with most Techno-derivatives, the thematic locale of Uruguay and Argentina can't disguise what essentially is a synthetic, hard and very edgy genre - nothing warm and fuzzy about it. Unless your mind was numbed from plenty of cigarette smoke, drinks or harder stuff, you'd likely not want to just listen to such fare but rather, use it to exercise, inject some energy into otherwise lame chores or spin it for exorcising the workweek's demons on the dance floor. With a total of 16 tracks that mostly hover in the 5-6 min. neighborhood, this compilation offers a very generous underground slice of the -- waayyy -- south-of-the-border club scene of El Sur. Don't shave for a few days, or, if you're the lady in the party, spike your hair and wear a midriff that exposes the pierced navel and little tattoo snake in the small of your back. Add high heels, Japanese-cut jacket for the gent, and you're off to a hot uptown night.