Some dear friends of mine recently returned from Buenos Aries raving about the tango music they
heard there, so today's Throwback Thursday soundtrack goes out to them. In 1997, Sally Potter was accused of being self-indulgent for casting herself in the lead role of a film about filmmaker who becomes tango partner to a much younger man, but hey, if we can take Woody Allen seriously, we can take Potter seriously too. This film has a strongly artistic visual sensibility (Potter's best known film is Orlando), a nuanced storyline, and a solid soundtrack featuring some great vintage tango music.
You can hear it either in iTunes, or Amazon. Potter throws in some of her own score work too, for which she pulled in some high level collaborators like Fred Frith and Yo Yo Ma, but it's really the elegant 20's, 30's, and 40's era tango tracks by legends like Carlos Gardel, Juan D'Arienzo, and Osvaldo Pugliese that make the soundtrack worthwhile. If you don't know much about this style or era of music, it's the perfect little tango lesson. For more advanced study, proceed directly to the albums below.
More vintage tango:
Tango, The Originals Vol. 1 by Various Artists iTunes Amazon
King of Rhythm by Juan D'Arienzo Amazon
The Best of Carlos Gardel by Carlos Gardel Amazon
La Vie Es Una Milonga by Various Artists iTunes


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