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Francisco Canaro - Serie De Oro / Colección Aniversario

BMG 499628

BMG Argentina tried to confuse us with this one. In 1999 they published a series called Colección Aniversario, pictured right. The series was reprinted in 2003 with the same catalogue numbers but with new covers and - confusingly - a new title: Serie de oro. Whatever the name of the album, this is a great selection of (mostly) early 1940s Canaro - just the opening track doesn't fit, coming from 1956.

The tangos presented include a couple of Canaro versions of Troilo tangos, notably Naipe, and some nice milongas. Collectors will appreciate Lo que el viento se llevó and especially the milonga candombe Estampa del 800, both of which have not been reprinted by BMG on Reliquias.

The real jewel in this album is the cheeky El rey del bosque. Whilst highly danceable, it doesn't really feel like a tango; Christoph Lanner's online discography lists this as a tango sinfónico. Whatever it is, it's trememdous fun.

Track list

1. Café para dos
2. Tres amigos
3. En el viejo café
4. La milonga de Buenos Aires milonga
5. En un beso la vida
6. Estampa del 800 milonga candombe
7. San Benito de Palermo milonga
8. El rey del bosque tango sinfónico
9. Más solo que nunca
10. Soy un porteño milonga
11. La bandera de mi patria marcha
12. Lo que el viento se llevó
13. Naipe
14. Desde el alma vals (1940)

Cantan:

• Guillermo Rico (1)
• Carlos Roldán (2,6,7,9,10,13)
• Eduardo Adrián (3)
• Ernesto Famá (4,5)
• Francisco Amor (11,12)

Solo Tango: D'Agostino/Vargas

BMG 71366

Like the other CDs in this series, this is a reprint of an earlier album on FM Tango. In this case, this was the best CD of D'Agostino/Vargas ever printed.

For this reprint, BMG corrected the mistake they had made on the album's previous incarnation. The recording of No aflojes really is the 1940 one with Ángel Vargas, rather than the much later one with Rubén Cané. This track makes fascinating listening because it reveals that in 1940, D'Agostino was still playing in the up-tempo style brought into favour by D'Arienzo. This casts a different late on D'Agostino's more familiar 1941 sides, in which his slower pace shows him to be a forerunner.

We could only get a few of these long deleted albums. I suppose we should be selling them for £20, but instead they are only being offered to our club members.

really sorry - stock now exhausted

1. No aflojés
2. Muchacho
3. Un copetín
4. Tres esquinas
5. Ahora no me conocés
6. Adiós arrabal
7. Una pena
8. Agua florida
9. El yacaré
10. Transnochando
11. Pero yo sé
12. Viejo coche
13. Noviecita mía
14. Ninguna
15. Esta noche en Buenos Aires
16. Mano blanca
17. Palais de glace
18. El aristócrata (Shusheta)
19. A quién le puede importar
20. A pan y agua

Canta:

• Ángel Vargas (1-20)

Carlos Di Sarli - sus éxitos con Jorge Durán

As the 1940s progressed, the strong preference for high tenor voices for the male cantor de orquesta (orchestra singer) began slowly to soften. Even before Troilo took the step of incorporating the much lower base-baritone voices of Edmundo Rivero and Roberto Goyeneche - both of whom he poached from a struggling Horacio Salgán - Carlos Di Sarli had, in 1945, invited the wonderful Jorge Durán to join his orchestra, following the departure of both Roberto Rufino and Alberto Podestá, and for a couple of years he was Di Sarli's only singer. The bulk of the tracks on this cd date from that period.

Together they recorded a string of hits. It's classic Di Sarli with a strong walking beat and a strong but sensitive voice. Standout tracks: Que no sepan las estrellas, Porteño y bailarín, Tus labios me diran adiós, Un tango... y nada más, Duelo Criollo and Tu íntimo secreto.

Not to mention the wonderful and overlooked milonga Con alma y vida, which shares the same wonderful cadence as Di Sarli's 1941 hit Zorzal.

The only duff tracks here are the late 1950s tracks - two instrumentals, Germaine and El incendio, and three vocals - and that's simply because you can now get much better transfers elsewhere.

But never mind about those - everything else on here is sensational.

Track list

1. Porteño y bailarín (1945)
2. Que no sepan las estrellas
3. Un tango y nada más
4. Vieja luna
5. Marianito (1941)
6. Tus labios me dirán
7. Así era mi novia (1946)
8. Con alma y vida milonga
9. Hoy al recordarla
10. Germaine (1955)
11. Tu íntimo secreto
12. Clavel del aire (1946)
13. Duelo criollo
14. Noches de carnaval (otra vez carnaval)
15. El ingeniero (1955)
16. Whisky (1957)
17. Muriendome de amor (1956)
18. Dónde estás? (1958)
19. Acuérdate de mi vals
20. El pollito (1947)

Osvaldo Pugliese - Bailando Tango

EMI 529105

An excellent and rare, deleted instrumental CD. Would have been offered as the club CD but some people are still scared of Pugliese. The only place you can find the Pugliese milonga Corrales viejos.

Track list

1. Gallo ciego
2. La rayuela
3. 9 de julio
4. Corrales viejos milonga
5. Marrón y azul
6. Chiqué
7. Zum
8. Mato y voy
9. Yunta de oro
10. Ojos negros
11. Camandulaje
12. Corazoneando
13. Desde el alma vals
14. La yumba