Astor Piazzolla: Remixed/Unmixed [Box set]

Astor Piazzolla | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 3, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Milan Records
• ASIN: B000I0QJHA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #474,532 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If the mark of true musical genius is a potent combination of timelessness and universality, then the late Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla stands near the summit with other, more celebrated, masters. Before his death in 1992, the classically-trained, jazz-influenced Piazzolla was known for revolutionizing tango, reinventing a largely provincial dance music and spreading it at concert halls worldwide. Little wonder that since his death a wide variety of jazz and classical performers (Yo-Yo Ma, Gidon Kramer, Emmanuel Ax, and Al DiMeola) have recorded albums devoted to Piazzolla's music. Perhaps more surprising, but fitting in its own way, is the recent embrace of nuevo tango by a global army of dance-club deejays, many of whom appear on Astor Piazzolla Remixed. After all, tango was originally born as a dance between two men in the bordellos of Buenos Aires, and the deejays on Remixed--hailing from New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, and Helsinki--are simply reclaiming the music’s past while simultaneously propelling it into the future. Thankfully, all fifteen interpreters are respectful without lapsing into the reverential; they cut and paste the primary elements of Piazzolla’s music –bandoneon, violin, piano, contrabass, and guitar—into new sonic shapes, adding dance beats and a polyglot range of vocals that often meld together seamlessly. Particularly good are the soul-infused take on "Milonga" by New York deejay and ordained African priest Osunlade; the Detroit techno-Latin hybrid of "Revirado" by John Beltran; and the symphonic scat jazz of "Verano Porteno" by Nuspirit Helsinki. Not all the tracks will win instant acceptance from long-time Piazzolla fans: London drum 'n' bass duo 4Hero turn "El Viaje" into four-on-the-floor disco that edges closer to Donna Summer than anything the late composer might recognize. But then, such complaints probably sound similar to the opposition Piazzolla faced when he first pulled traditional tango apart and refashioned it to his own liking in the mid-'50s. All told, Astor Piazzolla Remixed is a worthy tribute to a great composer. --Keith Moerer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars should be entitled "astor piazzolla INSPIRED/milked ", December 12, 2005

By 

nfoar77 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Astor Piazzolla Remixed (Audio CD)

BIG F*NG NOTE PEOPLE~~ this is just an astor piazzolla INFLUENCED acid jazz album; not an astor piazzolla REMIXED album. the only songs I like are #2(...bossa nova sounding and repetitive) & 4(... not really tango; more dub/strings/trip hop). A remix album should have at least 50% original material with accents...this just contains 6 second loops of original Piazzolla material used as a sort of "spine" to build up the rest of the meager songs. Track 8 is so lame all the guy says is "said I wanna be dancin witcha baby"...freakin' annoying! But I guess if your into elevator music this is a good album.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Partly very good chillout tracks, not really tango, October 18, 2004

By 

Jonas Luell (Zurich, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Astor Piazzolla Remixed (Audio CD)

This album contains "Piazolla-Remixes". Some of the artists are well-known in the electronic/techno/trip-hop -world, their sounds and beats are very cool. But those people have no idea what tango is. So the mixes are neither real tango nor piazzolla, but there are some tracks you can actually dance tango to.
I gave it four stars because it's one of the best electrotango-cds concerning the "electro" and not the "tango" part.
Chicho "Mariano" Frumboli e.g, the famous inventor of a new tango dance style, uses this Cd often in his workshops - and this guy understands a lot about music..

22 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nothing to do with Piazzolla or tango, May 4, 2004

By 

Michael Lavocah (Norwich, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Astor Piazzolla Remixed (Audio CD)

This is tango tourism at its most commercial - the producer asked twenty electronic bands to make some tracks incorporating tango themes. Nobody involved with the project from start to finish had a single idea about tango except that they could use it to sell a few records. Relentlessly boring.
If you want to hear some good electronic tango music start with Gotan (ASIN: B00008NRL8) & Carlos Libedinsky's "Narcotango" (ASIN: B0001WPSBS). "Bajo Fondo Tango Club" (ASIN: B00007M5CO) is also interesting.
If you want to hear a good Piazzolla album: "Tango Oblivion" on the European label Music Club MCCD165 (ASIN: B0000072WS) was the best but it's no longer available. Try "The Essential Tangos" on Manteca (ASIN: B0000AVSXG) instead.