Música del Tango: Hoy en Día

        Old fashion tango music is still played on radio stations around the world. But the generations growing up now are not the ones listening to it. They are listening to the new genres of tango called tango electrónico and alternative tango. Tango electrónico is a mixture of the traditional tango music and techno music. [1] Where as alternative tango can be any type of music that has a tango rhythm in the background or one could dance the tango to it. This makes for a much broader category.

        I am very interested in the tango electrónico because this is a completely new style of music that people in France, Argentina, and Uruguay created. This makes a lot of sense because these are the cultures that embraced the original tango so closely. There is not that much information on this genre because it is very new and not that popular. One of the most successful tango electrónico bands is Gotan project. The band consists of two Frenchmen, Philippe Cohel Solal and Christoph H. Mueller, and Eduardo Makaroff from Buenos Aires [2]. They pride themselves on the fact that they stick to their roots and folkloric rhythms and have created a new "world music."They were heavily influenced by Astor Piazzolla and the bandoneón which is the traditional sound in the tango. Not only have they created a new genre of music but they continue to add to the mixing of cultures and crossing borders by collaborating with different DJs[3]. Here is a video of one of their most famous songs called "Santa María." You can hear the mixture of the traditional tango with the techno.

      The alternative tango genre is completely different than anything tango. I am still confused as to why it is even considered in the tango genre. I found this when I was researching:

"Music that was not originally conceived as tango music but has all the ingredients for dancing tango to it, is usually referred to as Alternative Tango. Different people interpret this in different ways, depending on how far you are willing to depart from the mantra that tango music must be from the 1940s and from Argentina. What every alternative song should have is a consistent danceable beat and the right tango atmosphere, the rest is up to your imagination. [4]"

       Basically, it is not necessarily about the music but about being able to dance the tango to the music. With every genre and every song it really comes down to your personal interpretation. So if you hear a song and think you could be able to dance the tango to it then it can be considered alternative tango. This website gives a lot of modern day songs that can be categorized as alternative like "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys and "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye. But the list also includes some oldies like "Cheek to Cheek" by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong and of course "Luna" by Mercedes Sosa. Below is a music video to the song Skyscrapers by OK Go. The couple dances the tango in and out of the scene which is very creative along with the changing colors of the background and wardrobe. This is just one of thousands examples of how one can dance the tango to any song that they want to.

     These two new genres show how all music is collaborating now to become something else. It seems that there are no limits to where creativity, music, and dance can go. You do not need a traditional tango song to dance the tango and I think it makes it more fun to dance such a popular ballroom dance style to music that is not from the same time period. It allows the dancers to interpret the dance and music differently and however they want to. Music changes so quickly now a days that you need to come up with ways to keep people interested in your music. Bands like the Gotan project are doing this bey going back to their roots and putting their own spin on it. Who said history could not repeat itself in a new and inventive way?