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Juan D'Arienzo - El Rey del Compás (1941-1943)

Sony-BMG 669334

Echagüe's replacement as lead singer in the D'Arienzo orchestra was Héctor Mauré. Before and after Mauré, every singer in the D'Arienzo outfit had to fit themselves to the compás of the orchestra. With Mauré however things were different. He imposed a more equal relationship between orchestra and singer, very much the mould of the 1940s. The fifty numbers they recorded together may not be the most representative of D'Arienzo's output, but they rank amongst the very highest in quality. This music gets more popular every year.

Track list

1. El rey del compás
2. Ya lo ves
3. Dime mi amor
4. Tierrita
5. Adiós querida vals
6. El Olivo
7. Humillación
8. La serenata de ayer vals
9. Sobre el pucho
10. Carnavalera milonga
11. Cuatro palabras vals
12. El resero
13. Claudinette
14. Tirando a matar milonga
15. Pompas de jabon
16. Vieja recova
17. Compadrón
18. Enamorado (Metido)
19. Vea vea
20. Si la llegaran a ver

Canta:

• Héctor Maure (2-11,13,14,17,18,20)
• Juan Carlos Lamas (15,16)

Tango Collection - Roberto Firpo

RGS 1717

No, don't skip on! This is a CD not of Firpo's old time quartet, but hard-to-find recordings of his orchestra covering the years 1935-1941. Like Lomuto, Firpo is one of those bands that you just wouldn't know had a huge recorded output from the quantity of material that's available nowadays. Firpo recorded over 2,800 tracks - that's three times D'Arienzo's output, and most of what has been released has been by his quartet rather than his orchestra, which has a special and unique sound.

Whilst half the CD overlaps with the Reliquias CD this is still essential. RGS seem to have taken their inspiration from those prohibitively expensive Japanese albums. La trifulca and Loco lindo on CD? Damn. Someone just stole some of my best tandas

In conclusion - stunning.

Track list

1. En la brecha
2. La carcajada
3. Didí
4. La despedida
5. Atardecer campero vals
6. Vea… vea…
7. Loco lindo
8. Homero
9. La murra
10. Barreras de amor
11. El compinche
12. Tierra negra
13. El amanecer
14. Curda completa
15. Entre los ceibos
16. Fuegos artificiales
17. De vuelta al pago
18. La chola
19. La trifulca milonga
20. El talento

Milongas... pa' sacale viruta al piso

EMI 828544

This excellent milonga compilation is the best available and the only album from the legendary FM tango label still in print.

If you are looking for a compilation for practicing - don't buy this album! Yes it's stuffed to the gunnels with great music; yes, it covers many different flavours of milonga.

The cover art, as on all the FM tango albums, is one of the caricatures by the wonderful Uruguayan artist Hermengildo Sabat. His book of tango caricatures is long since out-of-print, but the fact that they were used again in the 2001 series RCA Victor 100 Años testifies to their enduring popularity.

Standout tracks - well nearly all of them, although personally I can live without José Basso. But this is a great way to get a lot of decent milongas without buying a lot of cds. For instance, very few will want a whole cd of Mariano Mores, but here you can pick up his classic and ground-breaking Taquito Militar. The band's youthful, joyful exuberance is beautifully captured on this YouTube video.

Grela's classic De vuelta y media is another must have, although in this case we would buy more of this great guitarist if only more were available.

You also get two of Pugliese's milongas, otherwise not easy to pick up. Fresedo from the 1950s is too much for me - except in his milongas. The cd gives you his wonderful La trampera. Finally, Tita Merello's classic Se dice de mi (They say about me) which has more attitude than you can shake a stick at. You can see Tita telling it like it is on Youtube - this video is from the 1954 film Mercado de Abasto.

Track list

1. Taquito militar - Mariano Mores (1957)
2. Zapatitos de raso - Argentino Ledesma (1957)
3. La puñalada - Sexteto Mayor (1974)
4. Un baile a beneficio - Osvaldo Pugliese c. Jorge Vidal (1950)
5. Corralera - Alfredo De Angelis (1956)
6. La fulana - José Basso c. Floreal Ruíz (1957)
7. Milongón - Quinteto Pirincho (1952)
8. La señora del chalet - Edmundo Rivero (1958)
9. Azabache - Carlos Garciá (and orchestra) (1958)
10. Milonga que peina canas - Miguel Caló c. Raúl Berón (1942)
11. El firulete - José Basso (1961)
12. Tortazos - Osvaldo Pugliese c. Roberto Chanel (1944)
13. Picante - Rodolfo Biagi (1941)
14. Se dice de mi - Tita Merello (1954)
15. De vuelta y media - Roberto Grela (with Carlos García's orchestra) (1965)
16. Cien guitarras - Alfredo De Angelis c. Dante - Martel (1947)
17. La trampera - Osvaldo Fresedo (1951)
18. Bien criolla y bien portena - Rubén Juárez (1972)
19. Milonga orillera - Roberto Firpo (1948)
20. Vestido ounzo - Alberto Castillo (1945)

RCA Victor 100 Años - Julio De Caro

BMG 88173

Recordings of De Caro's sextet in the years 1926-1928. Beautiful artwork from the renowned Uruguayan-Argentine caricaturist Hermenegildo Sabát. This CD is deleted but we have managed to get some. Strictly limited stock.

Track list

1. Boedo
2. Tierra querida
3. El taita
4. Flores negras
5. Derecho viejo
6. Color de rosa
7. Copacabana
8. El monito
9. Guardia vieja
10. Ivette
11. La rayuela
12. Parlamento
13. Mal de amores
14. El baqueano
15. Mala junta
16. Vengan muchachachos
17. Maipo
18. La última cita
19. Loca bohemia
20. Vayan saliendo