This weeks alternative tanda focuses on 3 trip-hop songs. I have edited "Glory Box" and "2 Wicky" to shorten them. Portishead's "Glory Box" is one of my absolutely favorite non-tango songs to dance to. It is very tango in feeling and subject matter. The second one is the french version of "Only You," whcih I think makes it even better than the english version. Hooverphonic's "2 Wicky" is a little less well known, but great for dancing and fits well with the first two.

• More Alternative Tangos

This weeks tanda is a collection of tangos by Francisco Lomuto. Francisco Lomuto career lasted from 1922 to 1950 and he created more than 950 recordings.

More about:

• More Francisco Lomuto Tandas
• More information about Francisco Lomuto

This weeks tanda is a collection of electronic tangos by Bajofondo Tango Club. Bajofondo is one of the most consistently good electronic tango groups. This is a downtempo set of very beautiful songs. The first song, "Centroja," has been shortened to make it better for dancing. We recently did a class demo to "Forma" which can be viewed below.

More about:

• More Electronic Tango Tandas

 Demo to Forma:

This weeks tanda is a collection of milongas by Francisco Canaro. These three milongas are very spirited. Somtimes you might start with a slower tempo milonga and then build, but in this set I start out right away with a fast milonga. So, if people don't like fast milongas, they will know not to dance this tanda.

More about:

• More Canaro Milonga Tandas

This weeks alternative tanda is a collection of modern classical pieces excellent for dancing tango. The first is a band called Apocalyptica, who covers lots of Metallica songs. This version of "Nothing Else Matters" has been popular for years as an alternative tango. The second song is from an Italian movie soundtrack called "Cuore Sacro." It is a beautiful song and I love dancing to it. The third song is from the Mr. and Mrs. Smith Soundtrack and is very bold and a great way to end this tanda. One thing that ties all of these songs together is that they all start soft and slow and then build and build to really wonderful crescendos.

Note: I first heard "Cuore Sacro" in a performance video of Robin Thomas and Kayla Mares.

More about:

• More Alternative Tandas

Here is a collection of Ricardo Tanturi tandas. My favorite tandas are highlighted.

This is a fun and playful tanda by Ricardo Tanturi with Alberto Castillo singing.

More about:

• More Ricardo Tanturi Tandas
  

This weeks alternative tango is a collection of songs by Astor Piazzolla. What amazes me about Piazzolla is how he can put so many emotions into the same piece of music.

This version of "Libertango" is a remix by Hi Perspective and is nice because it has a bit slower and has more of a beat than other versions. The only negative to it is that it has a very fast fade out at the end of the song.

"Cite Tango" is so light and playful and then it becomes soft and romantic. It feels like being at an amusement park.  You are having fun all day, but then it gets late and you start to get tired. You realize that the fun is over and that you must go home.

This version of "Tanguedia III" is from Tango Zero Hour, one of my favorite Piazzolla albums. This song is very aggressive, almost violent. You have to be bold and precise dancing to it. I also like to use lots of changes of directions (alterations). I have edited the song to remove the 22 second intro.

If you wanted to keep this tanda under 10 minutes, you could use Gotan Projects edit of "Cite Tango" which is 3.56 and then start Tanguedia III at the 1.34 mark.

More about:

• More Piazzolla Tandas
• www.piazzolla.org

This is a very popular vals tanda by Edgardo Donato. This tanda always gets people onto the dance floor and leaves them very happy.

More about:

• Edgardo Donato Bio
• More Vals Tandas
  

Alternative Tanda of the Week 2012-05-14

Tanda of the Week 2012-05-14

Alternative Tanda of the Week 2012-05-08

Tanda of the Week 2012-05-07

Alternative Tanda of the Week 2012-05-02

View All Blog Archives