Search - Gotan Project :: Lunático

The soundtrack to the end of the world

Thomas A. Faulhaber | San Francisco, CA USA | 04/13/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've always thought that, late on the night the world ends, we'll be in a dark milonga watching the dancers dance and listening to the weary yet romantic sound of the tango. On that night, they'll definitely be playing some cuts from this album and I think that the last song of the night, before existence simply ceases, will be Gotan Project's version of Ry Cooder's "Paris, Texas" (from the Wim Wenders movie).



After loving "La Revancha del Tango," but getting a little tired of it over the years, I expected to be disappointed by "Lunatico." It's just the opposite. I just listen to it more and more. If you like the tango sound and you like to listen to artists explore new space with it, this album is definitely for you."

Adventurous.

jazz4thenight | Florida | 08/05/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Despite being indebted to the stroppy sound of tango, Gotan Project's first album, "La Revancha del Tango" (Revenge of the Tango), had no problem making friends. It cropped up on the last episode of 'Sex and the City' and in an advert for UPS and sold more than 1m copies. If that ubiquity came at a price, perhaps it was passion. In a hybrid of chill-out electronics and tango, something had to give.

"Lunatico" is a good follow-up, in that it pushes a more organic line, with live drumming and percussion.

"Almor Porteño" is one of the highlights of the acoustic approach: Calexico's John Convertino is so lazy and sultry on drums, it's a miracle he makes it to the end of the song on the same day as the others. And the bandoneon and guitars melt together so effectively, you wonder whether to run out and get a cloth.

"Domingo" dances well between old and new musics, but elsewhere the disc can feel like a dream about tango.

Ping-pong delays carry sounds up to the sky; the strings dance around in a big nightie of reverb; voices are filtered to sound like gramophones.

It is grainy and dubby at times (Tango Cancion), but often these effects are like an airbag. It would be nice to hear the scrape of resin on a violin bow up close, or the sudden gasp of the bandoneon - tango's musical stabs to the heart.

But that's not so easy to chill to."