Tango
is fucked-up dance music. Especially if you’re used to the obvious 4/4
of rock 'n' roll, its beats are subtle and syncopated – more stepped
around than on. My husband and I took tango lessons in a South Beach
bar a few years ago, and they were hard. The rhythms are felt, not
pronounced, and the steps complicated. You have to count, but to be
good, you have to count subconsciously, so that the moves flow rather
than stutter. This is why tango is so fraught and taut: It’s serious,
sometimes nerve-wracking movement. The jitterbug it ain’t.

Techno
is dance music for fucked-up people. Its beats are mind-numbingly
obvious, its movements freeform yet robotic. Techno is all about the
symphonic voyage of a track – it’s music for tripping as much as
stepping.

Tango and techno would seem to be worlds apart, but
in fact, a number of artists have managed to merge the two to
compelling effect. The New York-based group of multinationals who call
themselves Brazilian Girls find common club ground in multiple beats, including dub, trance, tango, and techno. More to the point, a few years ago Gotan Project
and Bajofondo Tango Club both released albums that launched a new wave
of tango, one that mixed Buenos Aires’s historic music with modern-day
Balearic beats.

After a several-year wait, Bajofondo released Mar Dulce,
its second album, July 14. As the Argentinean-Uruguayan group expands
its rhythmic repertoire, it has dropped the last two parts of its name.
But tango remains the inspiration and heartbeat on such tracks as "Pa
Bailar" (which features Mexican alt goddess Julieta Venegas on one of
the album versions).

Bajo’s main man is acclaimed producer
Gustavo Santaolalla, the music genius who has helmed CDs for groups
including Molotov, Juanes, and the Kronos Quartet. He is probably best
known for his Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning soundtracks for films,
including Babel, Amores Perros, Brokeback Mountain, and The Motorcycle Diaries. But tango is this Argentinean’s passion. His filmic tribute to it, Café de los Maestros, is scheduled to be released later this year. It could do for tango what Buena Vista Social Club did for Cuban son.

Because
of his immense industry cred, not to mention how damn good Bajofondo’s
music is, Santaolalla was able to land an impressive posse of guest
vocalists on Mar Dulce. Elvis Costello shows off his increasing
immersion in Latin music on the torch song “Fairly Right,” Soda
Stereo’s Gustavo Cerati spans the Argentinean decades on “El Mareo,”
and Nelly Furtado croons “Boldozas Majados.”

Fusion tango bridges not just genres but generations; I think my ballroom-dancing mom would love Dulce,
but it’s also cool enough for South Beach. It’s the ultimate party
music: smart, sophisticated, yet not at all above having a good time on
the dancefloor. In fact, heightening the art of cutting the rug is what
it’s all about.