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This weeks alternative tanda is an electronic tango set by Bajofondo Tango Club and Gotan Project. These are 3 very fun tangos to dance to. One suggestion for dancers would be to take it slow and calm when dancing to these songs. I often see people running around way too fast, especially to "Pa' Bailar."
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This weeks tanda is an upbeat collection of songs by Francisco Canaro. This is a mixed set, in that two are instrumentals and two are with Roberto Maida singing. All the songs are playful and fun and have an older Guardia Vieja feel.
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This weeks alternative tanda focuses on pop waltzes (vals). "Hijo de la Luna" is a classic alternative tango song and has a great waltz rhythm for dancing. Sting's "Until" is one of my favorite waltzes to dance to. It is such a beautiful song and has a classic waltz rhythm. "Will You Remember" is a sweet and pretty waltz. Also, a note for DJs, I have trimmed the intro off of "Will You Remember" so that it does not take so long to get to the waltz rhythm.
Click here for more Alternative Vals Tandas
| Song | Orchestra / Band |
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| Feeling Good | Michael Buble | |||
| Fallin' | Alicia Keys | |||
| Satisfied | Prince | |||
| Listen to this tanda | ||||
| Do I Move You | Nina Simone | |||
| Tell Me More and More and Then Some | Nina Simone | |||
| In the Dark | Nina Simone | |||
| Cheek to Cheek | Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong | |||
| I Put a Spell On You | Nina Simone | |||
| I Want Some Sugar in my Bowl | Nina Simone | |||
| Listen to this tanda | ||||
| Come On Over (Turn Me On) | Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan | |||
| The Truth | Handsome Boy Modeling School | |||
| Hell is Around the Corner | Tricky | |||
| Listen to this Tanda | ||||
| Glory Box | Portishead | |||
| Only You (French Version) | Portishead | |||
| 2 Wicky | Hooverphonic | |||
| Listen to this Tanda | ||||
| Bloodstream (edited at 3:53) | Stateless | |||
| Until the Morning | Thievery Corporation | |||
| Talk Show Host | Radiohead | |||
| Teardrop | Massive Attack | |||
| Angel (radio edit) | Massive Attack | |||
| Heat Miser | Massive Attack | |||
| Cuore Sacro | Andrea Guerra | |||
| Bloodstream (edited) | Stateless | |||
| 2 Wicky | Hooverphonic | |||
| I would normally leave "Smells Like Teen Spirit" out.. unless I have already used "Cuore Sacro" in another tanda. | ||||
| Nothing Else Matters | Apolyptica | |||
| Smells Like Teen Spirit | Mandragora Tango Orchestra | |||
| Cuore Sacro | Andrea Guerra | |||
| Assassin's Tango | John Powell (Mr & Mrs Smith Soundtrack) | |||
| Listen to this tanda | ||||
| Red Right Hand | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | |||
| Little Drop of Poison | Tom Waits | |||
| Temptation | Tom Waits | |||
| Tango Til They're Sore | Tom Waits | |||
| Stormy Monday Blues | Bobby "Blue" Bland | |||
| 3 O'Clock in the Morning Blues | Ike & Tina Turner | |||
| The Thrill is Gone | B.B. King | |||
| Very low energy and a bit depressing.. but good for dancing. | ||||
| Mad World (Alternative Version) | Michael Andrews | |||
| My Life | Dido | |||
| Love Came Here | Lhasa de Sela | |||
| Another very low energy tanda, but can follow it with a waltz or milonga. Any of these songs can bee put together for a tanda. | ||||
| 9 Crimes | Damien Rice | |||
| Hallelujah | K.D. Lang | |||
| Smells Like Teen Spirit | Tori Amos | |||
| (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction | Cat Power | |||
| Everybody Hurts | R.E.M. | |||
| Fever | Elvis Presley | |||
|
Tango Til They're Sore |
Holly Cole | |||
| Temptation | Diana Krall | |||
| Kind of a jazz/swing/blues set. I would use the first 3, unless I had already used "Feeling Good," in which case I would use one of the last two. | ||||
| It's A Man's World | Patricia Kaas | |||
| Temptation | Diana Krall | |||
| Feeling Good | Michael Buble | |||
| I Put A Spell On You | Nina Simone | |||
| Blue Angel | Squirrel Nut Zippers | |||
| Not my favorite set, but for a strickly long alternative milonga, I might play it. | ||||
| Slippery Sidewalks | Bajofondo Tango Club with Nelly Furtado | |||
| Bust Your Windows | Jazmine Sullivan | |||
| Siempre Me Quedara (short) | Bebe | |||
| This is a set with the feel of Argentine Folk music. I would normally leave the last one off. The middle two are technically milongas, but I think the classic folk music feel is what ties it all together. | ||||
| Luna | Mercedes Sosa | |||
| Lo Hermoso Que Fue | Pedro Aznar | |||
| El Violin de Becho | Alfredo Zitarosa | |||
| La Cumparsita | Silvana DeLuigi | |||
| Both of these songs are very long, so I would probably just play the two of them and then go to something else. | ||||
| Fairly Right | Bajofondo Tango Club with Elvis Costello | |||
| I Want You | Elvis Costello | |||
| Listen to this tanda | ||||
| Hearts A Mess | Gotye | |||
| Somebody That I Used to Know | Gotye | |||
| Boy with a Coin | Iron & Wine | |||
| Boy with a Coin | Iron & Wine | |||
| Cornflake Girl | Tori Amos | |||
| Tango in Harlem | Touch and Go | |||
| White Lilies | Peder | |||
| Black Coffee | St. Germaine | |||
| Fever | Peggy Lee | |||
| Petite Fleur | Chris Barber | |||
| This tanda has a middle eastern feel. These are pretty popular with Alternative DJs, but are not my cup-o-tea. | ||||
| Chaloupée | René Aubry | |||
| Time 4 Time | Nigel Kennedy, Kroke | |||
| Meger | Candan Ercetin | |||
| Usual Happiness | Kroke | |||
| Song | Orchestra / Band |
Cantor/Singer | Year | Type |
| Listen to this tanda. | ||||
| La Valse d'Amélie | Yann Tiersen | Vals | ||
| Les Jours Tristes (inst) | Yann Tiersen | Vals | ||
| Padam Padam | Edith Piaf | Vals | ||
| Listen to this tanda | ||||
| Hijo de la Luna | Mecano | Vals | ||
| Until | Sting | Vals | ||
| Will You Remember? | The Cranberries | Vals | ||
| Tout le Monde | Bruni | Vals | ||
| Preservons l'Amour (edited) | Mouron | Vals | ||
| Analia | Cuarteto Almargro | Vals | ||
| Fuck Was I | Jenny Owen Youngs | Vals | ||
| Buonanotte Fiorellino | Francesco de Gregori | |||
| French Accordian | Quadro Nuevo | Vals | ||
| Where Do You Go To My Lovely | Peter Sarstedt | Vals | ||
| La Valse de L'Amour | Edith Piaf | Vals | ||
| Padam Padam | Edith Piaf | Vals | ||
| Simply a Waltz | Edith Piaf | Vals | ||
| Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien | Edith Piaf | Vals | ||
| Androgyne | Quartango | Vals | ||
| To Tango Tis Nefelis | Haris Alexiou | Vals | ||
| Pearl | Cirque du Soleil | Vals | ||
| Sólo por Miedo | María Salgado | Vals | ||
| Tango for Evora | Loreena McKennitt | Vals | ||
| Pearl | Cirque du Soleil | Vals | ||
| Di Goldene Pave | Chava Albertstein | Vals | ||
| Di Krenitise (The Well) (edited) | Chava Albertstein & Klezmatics | Vals | ||
| Ershter Vals | Klezroym | Vals | ||
| Yumenji's Theme | In the Mood for Love | Vals | ||
| My Tender and Affectionate Beast | Evgeni Doga / Kolibri | Vals | ||
| Waltz of the Butterfly | Seitkaliyev with St. Petersburg | Vals | ||
| Waltz 2 From Jazz Suite | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | |||
| Palomita Blanca | Hugo Diaz | |||
| Guitarra Mia | Hugo Diaz | |||
| Amores de Estudiantes | Hugo Diaz | |||
| Ilusion de Mi Vida | Los Indios Tacunau | |||
| Romance de Barrio | Los Indios Tacunau | |||
| Luna de Arrabal | Los Indios Tacunau | |||
| Marlene | 17 Hippies | |||
| Ungarn-Walzer | 17 Hippies | |||
| Gelb Zwo Drei | 17 Hippies | |||
| Ein Letzter Tanz | 17 Hippies | |||
| Ershter Tants | 17 Hippies | |||
| Le Waltz | 17 Hippies | |||
| De Cara a La Pared | Lhasa | |||
| El Desierto | Lhasa | |||
| Ta-Bakiera | Kayah | |||
| Ghir Enta | Souad Massi | |||
| Dance Me to the End of Love | Leonard Cohen | |||
| Take this Waltz | Leonard Cohen | |||
| Here are some crazy but fun waltzes. They are only for that late night crowd or practica with dancers that are very adventurous. | ||||
| Das Grobe Erwachen (...und jetzt...) | Annett Louisan | |||
| Buonanotte Fiorellino | From Album Ninne Nanne | |||
| La Valse A Mile Temps | Jacques Brel | |||
| It's Oh So Quiet | Bjork | |||
This week's tanda is one of my favorite tandas to dance to by Osvaldo Pugliese. It has everything that makes Pugliese great. These songs are bold but tender, calm and then energetic. To enjoy dancing to his music, you have to be able to enjoy the silence. It is about the moments between the steps. Many believe that you have to have a large vocabulary to dance to Pugliese, but actually I probably do less when dancing to his music. It is about patience, balance and the connection to your partner.
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I really love dancing tango to bluesy music and no one sounds better singing the blues than Nina Simone. I have used this set for years and everyone always loves it. It is a sure fire crowd please, even for those that do not like alternative tango.
This weeks tanda is a classic golden age tanda by Anibal Troilo with Francisco Fiorentino singing. The combination of Troilo and Fiorentino is one of the greatest in tango. If you are a purest and absolutely must put 4 songs with singers and can't mix singers with instrumentals then "Yo Soy el Tango" would go great instead of "C.T.V."
Troilo is considered on of the four primary orchestras of Argentine tango including d'Arienzo, di Sarli, and Pugliese. He had a very long career and really contributed to the evolution of tango's sound. In Buenos Aires, you will see statues and paintings of Troilo all over the place and his music very loved by the older dancers. It has a lot of rhythm and strong melodies and gives dancers lots to work with.
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This weeks tanda is a classic golden age tanda by Juan d'Arienzo with Hector Maure singing. From 1940 to 1944, d'Arienzo had a wonderful orchestra with Hector Maure singing and Fulvio Salamanca on piano.
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Here is my collection of mixed vals tandas. My favorites are highlighted. I usually play 3 song vals tandas, but most of the tandas below are arranged in 4 song tandas for when they are needed.
| Song | Orchestra | Cantor/Singer | Year | Type |
| This is one of my faovrite vals tandas. This includes a wonderful version of Corazón de Artista by Ricardo Malerba. | ||||
| Bajo Un Cielo de Estrellas | Francisco Lomuto | Fernando Díaz | 1941 | Vals |
| Corazón de Artista | Ricardo Malerba | 1943 | Vals | |
| Lagrimas y Sonrisas | Rodolfo Biagi | 1941 | Vals | |
| I think this is a great example of trying to put songs together that have a similar spirit and feel. These are fun and playful and fit together very well. All of these are real crowd pleasers, especially Tengo Mil Novias and Estas Chicas se Quieren Casar. People are always smiling and laughing after this tanda. | ||||
| Isabelita | Enrique Rodriguez | Armando Moreno | 1940 | Vals |
| Tengo Mil Novias | Enrique Rodriguez | Roberto Flores y Choir | 1939 | Vals |
| Estas Chicas se Quieren Casar | Angel Condercuri | Alberto Castillo | 1949 | Vals |
| Todos Queremos Mas | Angel Condercuri | Alberto Castillo | 1953 | Vals |
| Isabelita | Alfredo Gobbi | Vals | ||
| Rosamel | Carlos di Sarli | Roberto Rufino | 1940 | Vals |
| Jugando, Jugando | Miguel Caló | Raul Beron | 1944 | Vals |
