Chances are that while you probably haven’t heard of the Bajofondo Tango Club you’ll almost certainly have heard their music. As well as providing the backing for a couple of adverts members of the electronic tango collective from Buenas Aires has been involved in the soundtracks for Babel, Brokeback Mountain and The Motorcycle Diaries.

The group takes traditional tango from Argentina and Uruguay and repackage it with a modern electronic twist; trip hop is a label often attached to their work but one that fails to convey the depth of what that involves. They dabble with drum n bass, make use of hip hop Mcs and employ at least two sets of turntables when performing live. The lap top is as an integral part of their set-up as the accordion.

Even front man Gustavo Santaolalla struggles to define their music, “We’ve been playing this for the last forty-five years - we still don’t know what it is but we are in no rush to find out. It’s a little bit of everything and a bit of everything that we’ve ever heard,” he explained to a packed and jubilant Roundhouse.

Bajofondo excel at a moody, delicate, atmospheric music and their albums have become required reading for anyone interested in composing for movies. Experience has taught me this is rarely a sound that translates well to the stage but it is also a lesson the group have clearly learned for themselves. The pensive, atmospheric numbers were still present but the tone was faster and more energetic than on their recordings.

Driving accordion riffs were used to force the music forward and fast flowing raps to draw the audience in. The pounding beats and dirty sounds of techno and electro were employed to produce a building sense of euphoria which culminated with almost half the audience dancing on stage with the band.

The line up included a double bass, violin, bandoneon, keyboard, electric guitar and of course the turntables, lap tops and accordion. It was all backed by perfectly cut and timed images of Buenas Aires at the time when tango once ruled supreme.

The group are almost constantly compared to Gotan Project, the other purveyors of designer tango, but Bajofondo are darker, dig deeper into the roots of tango and inject a greater amount of soul into their live shows. As 2007 draws to a close they should be up there amongst the best as a contender for live act of the year.

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/bajofondomardulce

http://www.roundhouse.org.uk

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