Wine and...Music: LA REVANCHA DEL TANGO by Gotan Project (2001) with Kate Reuschel - Part 1

OR, for additional bonus content, interactive chats, polls, and the sometimes longer UNCUT episodes, join us on our Substack at: https://wineand.substack.com

Today's guest is screenwriter KATE REUSCHEL, a wine creative, writer and educator who specializes in Portuguese wine. She writes the Substack SURVIVES ON WINE, which is where I discovered her. She comes from a 15+ year career in the fashion design industry and she continues to practice visual art over on her Substack where she creates Wine Infographics and creates Visual Wine Tasting Notes.

Follow Kate on:
Substack
Instagram

KATE'S CHOICE: "La Revancha del Tango" by Gotan Project is an incredible fusion of Argentinian Tango and French electronic dub for an album that made the "1001 Albums You Must Listen To Before You Die" book, and for good reason.
 
"Gotan" is "Tango" with switched syllables, a common wordplay in Tango lyrics called "el verse". The group was based in Paris, France, consisting of musicians Eduardo Makaroff (Argentinian), Philippe Cohen Solal (French) and Christoph H. Müller (Swiss).

THE WINES (and/or Not-Wines)
Coming in PART 2 tomorrow!

Chapters

• 2:30 Kate Reuschel of Survives on Wine
• 16:52 Gotan Project: La Revancha del Tango
• 26:30 History of the Band
• 31:05 Track 1: Queremos Paz
• 35:33 Track 2: Epoca
• 42:45 Track 3: Chunga's Revenge
• 48:46 Track 4: Triptico

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;25;02
Unknown
I'm Dave and I'm Dallas. Together we are your window. Window. We have opinions on all things media and entertainment. Sometimes there are. Sometimes I go down with a glass of wine. Oh, you want some? Come get some. Welcome, everybody, to wine and the show where we pair wine with movies, TV, music, books, comics. And maybe one day we'll pair it with.

00;00;25;05 - 00;00;44;04
Unknown
I don't know, Ttrpg. I don't need a life anymore. Pretty sure Dallas doesn't either. I'm pretty sure he's on board with that. Ooh. We could even go into card game RPGs, Magic the Gathering Pokemon for you kids. We need more kids listening to this show, I guess. Not really. Illuminati new world order. That was my favorite card game when I was younger.

00;00;44;07 - 00;01;00;09
Unknown
anyone who hasn't heard of that one go look up that card game. It is amazing. I'm pretty sure it's out of print and hard to find. You're going to blow a lot of money on that, but do that anyways and you tell us what wine you would pair with. Illuminati new world order I've never steered you wrong, so trust me, it's an amazing card game.

00;01;00;09 - 00;01;18;16
Unknown
Okay, except for last episode and the one before that. But trust me this time Illuminati, New World Order, check out that game. Tell us what wine you would pair it with. I would, it's been a long, long time since I've played it, but I would pair it with ooh, it's actually it's a complicated card game so something with very low alcohol.

00;01;18;22 - 00;01;36;23
Unknown
Otherwise it's going to get out of control very, very fast. So go with that. But you know what? For now we're going to keep our non geeky social connections alive. And we will simply pair wine with music. We'll talk about all that in just a moment. But first if you like what you hear please make sure to hit that follow or subscribe button.

00;01;36;23 - 00;01;55;08
Unknown
It helps the podcast grow and reach new listeners. And if you love us, then please leave a five star review. If you don't love us, just send us a message. No review. Forget the review. Forget your crybaby review. Finger off the trigger there, Sundance Kid. and if you're on your phones speaking about messages, you can send us a text.

00;01;55;11 - 00;02;14;03
Unknown
You'll find a clickable link at the beginning of the description of this episode. It doesn't work as an active link on every platform I've noticed, but it does on most. So if it is a live link down there where it says send us a text, just click that which opens up your text app and send us a direct message via that which shows up in our buzzsprout inbox and does not show us your full phone number.

00;02;14;03 - 00;02;40;06
Unknown
Never fear, it only shows us your final four digits. Kind of like how a credit card shows on a receipt. It's just say right here, right now, quick and easy way to send us a quick note. We really do want to hear from you, even if it's a crybaby complaint. So please send us that message now. Today we have special guest Kate Roussel, a wine creative writer and educator who specializes in Portuguese wine.

00;02;40;11 - 00;03;09;14
Unknown
She writes. The Substack survives on wine that is survives on wine.substack.com. Just like it sounds. survives on wine, which is where I discovered her. She comes from a 15 plus year career in the fashion design industry, and she continues to practice her visual art over on her Substack, where she creates wine, infographics, and my favorite part of her Substack visual wine tasting notes, which are these really cool kind of wine Rorschach acts where she'll stain a piece.

00;03;09;14 - 00;03;24;08
Unknown
I'm not sure if it's parchment or fabric. She's going to tell us this when she comes on here in just a moment, but she stains something with the wine itself so you can see the color. And there it is. Okay, so there's a visual here. She's showing us her back wall, which is littered with the images of her visual wine tasting notes.

00;03;24;14 - 00;03;42;01
Unknown
So it's like an ink blot, but a wine blot of the wine. So you can see the color stained on this. Whatever it is, she's staining it on parchment of some kind. Something that soaks it up and displays it very well. And then she will put the adjectives, the tasting notes themselves, all around that wine with the name of the wine and the producer.

00;03;42;01 - 00;04;02;17
Unknown
So you know exactly which one you're talking about. And honestly, I'm going to get some to hang on my wall as well, because they're amazingly cool. So if you go to her Substack, you can just do a search for visual wine tasting notes. They will all come up and you can just look at those, the wine infographics. Also, if you're learning about wine and who isn't learning about wine, no matter how knowledgeable you think you are.

00;04;02;20 - 00;04;25;06
Unknown
But even if you're a newbie and a beginner, those wine infographics are choice. So check that out. So, Kate first off welcome to wine. And and so your story regarding why your Substack is called is called Survives on Wine. It's pretty heavy and I'd love for you to tell that story to our listeners if you are willing. Please.

00;04;25;08 - 00;04;49;06
Unknown
It is pretty heavy. yes. So about actually, six and a half years ago, I was diagnosed with blood cancer. took a really long time, to get my diagnosis, and I lost a lung and a phrenic nerve, and so, yeah, it was, but it was blood cancer, so. And I'm in remission six and a half years in July.

00;04;49;08 - 00;05;16;15
Unknown
Fantastic. Well, thank you. So while that was all happening, I had to transition out of doing textiles full time because I just for some medical, like, pain issues just wasn't really sustainable anymore. And wine had always been in my life. my dad was a collector. I've always loved it. I've worked in wine at various points, but never did it seriously.

00;05;16;18 - 00;05;43;12
Unknown
And so cancer kind of gave me the ability to restart and learn something new. And I finally had time to invest into wine education. because as you guys know, wine is complex and you need time. So complex. It's so complex. So what survives on wine is kind of my little dark humor way of saying, you know, wine gave me a reason to survive.

00;05;43;12 - 00;06;03;11
Unknown
It gave me a future where, you know, cancer kind of took away part of my past. And that's okay. wine has given me the ability to survive and look forward, so. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I love that. Made it turn it around. And that's, Yeah. Origin story. Here's. And the visuals alone, I mean. Yeah. That's fantastic.

00;06;03;13 - 00;06;27;21
Unknown
That's beautiful. Thank you, thank you. Yes. And, my next question for you. So Portuguese wine is is definitely something you have deep, deep diving into. why Portuguese wine? Oh, man. That's a complicated story, too. you know, I was I was right in the middle of studying for my at three and, I kind of just.

00;06;27;27 - 00;06;56;10
Unknown
Life was happening, and every test I had scheduled, I had to reschedule. And I was getting really frustrated. And finally, I just sat back and was like, you know what? I can't be an expert in everything. Originally, I had wanted to go for that. M.W. and, you know, be the expert and invest like ten years into studying and and all that kind of changed when I kept having, you know, changes, kept getting in the way and plans kept getting changed.

00;06;56;13 - 00;07;20;06
Unknown
And I finally was like, you know what? I need to just pick a country. I need to make that what I study, what I focus on. And Portuguese wines had always been something that I love, that are not super appreciated. And where I am, I'm in the Midwest. and you can I mean, you can find them here.

00;07;20;06 - 00;07;40;24
Unknown
You just it's you can't find a lot and a lot of distributors don't even really carry them. we're not the Chicago market. So, you know, we kind of write like Chicago gets a lot of them, but we're kind of forgotten about, the coast. You too. But yeah, that that's, you know, we're we're kind of it's easy to get to us because we're right there on the.

00;07;40;24 - 00;08;04;27
Unknown
Exactly, exactly. Shipping's easy for you guys, you know? Well, easier. yeah. so Portugal was a place I had always wanted to go. My partner speaks Brazilian Portuguese. Not like. I mean, he used to be pretty fluent. He's. It kind of fell off for a while, but it's fading. It's. Yeah, it's fading, but we're getting it back.

00;08;04;27 - 00;08;34;06
Unknown
He's getting it back, you know. Okay, good good good good. And so I picked Portugal and I haven't looked back. And I fell in love with Portugal. The first time I landed in Portugal, I just I was blown away and I, I'm someone who's traveled a lot of Europe. I've lived many summers in France. I've lived in England and I just there was something about the beauty of the country and how small it is, but how wine is a part of almost every person's identity.

00;08;34;08 - 00;08;52;08
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, everyone has a tie to wine. Someone in their family was a winemaker. Someone was a wine grower, someone worked at the vineyards, you know, someone. It's there was some connection to everyone with wine. And I've been to a lot of wine regions, but I've never met people who are more proud of where they were from.

00;08;52;10 - 00;09;13;25
Unknown
And so it kind of just all those things together just kind of made that decision just the right one. And of course, I've completely fall in love with Portuguese wines and the grapes. And so yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I will say me and Dallas have talked multiple times on just how much bang for your buck you get out of Portuguese wine right now in the States.

00;09;13;25 - 00;09;36;19
Unknown
Like totally great if you can find some. Yeah, I totally they're not. Well, no one's heard of these grapes. No one's heard of these regions. So like, no one's asking for them. But if you introduce people to them, the quality you get for the amount of money you spend on the wine is nuts. So, so I've been I'm a huge growing Portuguese wine lover.

00;09;36;21 - 00;09;55;28
Unknown
I think you posted recently, a visual tasting or an infographic or tasting note. I can't remember now. The Tarika franca. Oh, that was a. Yeah, that was amazing. Our, visual guide grape guide. But there was also a tasting. And, So you're right. you were right. Yes. Okay, okay. That's why I'm confused. Yeah. Maybe it was both,

00;09;56;00 - 00;10;16;22
Unknown
So. Yeah. And that was a grape where I'm like, ooh, that I triggered nuts, you know? Yes. I'm. I'm getting well experienced in that, and a couple of other indigenous grapes over there. But then that one, I was like, now wait a minute, I don't know. I'm not even sure if I've had a blend that I've knowingly had a piece of that in because it was wasn't listed on the bottle anywhere.

00;10;16;28 - 00;10;43;19
Unknown
So that took me a moment where I was like, I think I need to actually try and hunt that down to see if I, know what that will grape even is and how it's used in Portuguese wines and whatnot. So but as we've already mentioned, you learn forever in wine because there's so much there are, especially now that indigenous grapes are becoming like people are embracing them again in their home countries, and they're starting to get exported and imported in different places.

00;10;43;21 - 00;11;13;01
Unknown
There have always been thousands of wine grapes that have just been sort of ignored for a long time, and now they're all out there, or they're becoming more and more out there. And I think this is a great time. it's a great time to become a wine lover because of how much variety you have. And whatever your budget is, things like Portuguese wine becoming more accessible, you can find amazing, great, interesting, culturally relevant wines for your budget.

00;11;13;01 - 00;11;35;01
Unknown
You know, you don't have to waste a lot of money on this right now. And I'm just, it's such a it's such a great world, but it's impossible to keep track of, you know, possible to know everything about. I think, Dave, as you were saying, the sort of bang for the, for the buck comes from just such a long tradition and deep history of, you know, do you, the ubiquity of wine, right.

00;11;35;02 - 00;11;59;28
Unknown
In Portugal, you know, like you're saying, Kate, it just it's on everyone's table. It's in everyone's families and everyone's story. Everyone has a connection to it. And, I think now because of, you know, the, the way shipping happens, you can get some of those grapes that are just sort of, you know, really regional, really sort of just specific to a mountain or a hillside.

00;11;59;28 - 00;12;24;03
Unknown
And, you know, that value is just it is right there on the bottle, on the glass. And it's kind of fantastic because it also, at least to my palate, it's just some of the most interesting wine you can find, too. It's just really, really interesting. so. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Maybe we may be picking your brain about the, that Portuguese sort of,

00;12;24;05 - 00;12;46;17
Unknown
Well, then it's the, it's the one two punch. Two of. They've been producing wine for a long, long time, so they're very good at it. The the vine, you know, the vines have age on them like it's an established wine region. But we're learning about it. Exactly. So the prices aren't premium yet because they can't sell it at those prices over because you're like, you don't know what these wines are.

00;12;46;17 - 00;13;05;25
Unknown
You haven't heard of half of these grapes. And so you're in that sweet spot right now where the they have to keep prices low so the world learns about them. But I do think, like all wine, when this happens will catch on to the quality of it. And this won't last forever, folks. So, you know, don't don't go for ten years.

00;13;05;25 - 00;13;31;04
Unknown
Right now. I know you'll find Kate and buy her about here, I reckon. Yes yes yes yes yes I love recommending yes. Go to her. Wine survives on wine.substack.com. And she's there. And she answers comments and she answers chat. So go there, harangue her, find out what she knows about Portuguese wine and, Kate, you also mentioned you have a background in the music world as well, which is why we're here to talk about an album today.

00;13;31;10 - 00;14;06;29
Unknown
So what's your music related experience? Well, I was professionally singing from the age of nine till about 28, classically trained, and opera, jazz, all that good. My grandmother, got into Juilliard for opera, but then it was the wartime. So she married my grandfather and dropped out. But because of that, I was very blessed. And I got her vocal chords, and she she kind of got me into piano playing and singing immediately as a kid.

00;14;07;02 - 00;14;41;17
Unknown
so I grew up, you know, classically trained, doing jazz Off-Broadway. I did some Off-Broadway tours, and then when I was 17, I started interning at my first recording studio for, like, senior, you know, you got, like, a senior project you could intern for half the day. And so I chose a recording studio and then it went on to becoming obsessed with working at recording studios, assisting engineers and, you know, help setting up the microphones and, and, you know, I was I kind of did whatever because I was the only girl.

00;14;41;24 - 00;15;06;21
Unknown
So they kind of just had me doing everything. But I learned a ton and I, I, I loved it, I just and I did that for many years. And then, somehow I ended up recording, on like a dubstep UK grime type album. And I was seeing with some UK rappers and it was great. That's awesome. Fantastic.

00;15;06;24 - 00;15;23;16
Unknown
yeah. I was going to say when you said you were a vocalist, first and foremost, at least back in the day, I was like, well, and historically, you chosen almost instrumental album. Yeah, I talk about today. Sure. That's a dub. Yeah, I know, sorry. Yes, yes, but the dub, the dub does come back to it.

00;15;23;16 - 00;15;39;11
Unknown
And then of course she did work in engineering studios so and producing. And so I was like, okay, that makes sense because this isn't the box that I have. I give my three guys for a little loop on this one, and I was like, I hope this is okay. I could pick another one. No, you did actually, you did you really good.

00;15;39;11 - 00;15;57;12
Unknown
I'll tell you why. Because I, a bit just a bit here before we get into it, I remember this is a note. Side note, kids listening. Back in the 90s, we had something called a record stores and music stores, and many of them had little listening stations where you could go and pop in an album that was brand new.

00;15;57;17 - 00;16;19;01
Unknown
Put on your headphones and listen to it under the pretense that you might buy it. unfortunately, I never purchased anything. I listened to the entire album from start to finish. and if you were a kid, you didn't have any money. You were just like, I'm just here to listen to music. But what's crazy is I was really into the world music sort of phase when it hit in the late 90s and early 2000.

00;16;19;01 - 00;16;37;05
Unknown
And this, after I listened to this album a third time, I remember listening to this album from start to finish. It was around the same time I picked up another album, I Buy More Cheaper, which is some crossover we'll get to later on, as we get into it. But yeah, so good rack. Kate. Very good. Thanks.

00;16;37;05 - 00;17;09;14
Unknown
Yes, yes. And I will say we're going to get so you know, we've let's go ahead and do this. Actually now the Dallas sort of launched us on this before I introduced the album proper. Let me do a quick introduction. Then me and Kate will say what our backstories are with this album or not. but I will say that I appreciate this album being coming in right here, right now at this point in the podcast too, because, you know, we started off Dallas, chose our first album, which was the 1972 Egba Miyoshi by can we have a Carly Rae Jepsen album dropping this week?

00;17;09;17 - 00;17;33;06
Unknown
as we're recording this, our first Carly Rae. And when I, put on social media, Carly Rae was coming, someone on social media was like, I'm loving the variety already on this. And I'm like, you know what? I think that's a big thing. Is that variety. Like, we're not here to talk about 70s and 80s music or modern contemporary music or just American or UK music, like it's anything, everything.

00;17;33;06 - 00;18;01;19
Unknown
And I'm really excited that with guests especially, they're going to bring on stuff that we would never think to bring on, like it's just wasn't on our radar or long gone from our radar. And here they are coming on with something that they're very eager to talk about. And we get to experience it. and I think that's one of the perks of doing a podcast like this is that you get forced to, like, now I have to I'm going to not just listen to this, but I'm going to listen to it multiple, multiple times, really find out what I think about this.

00;18;01;21 - 00;18;26;21
Unknown
And so far it's just been a blast. Now, that said, this is an album that I can't actually posted on her Substack last year sometime and introduced me to the album that way. So I've had a little bit of a head start on that, but let's introduce the album first. So this is go ten project, their debut album from 2001, La Provincia del tango, out now.

00;18;26;23 - 00;18;49;17
Unknown
Tango the revenge of the tango is what that means. Now Go Tan is just an Avesta, which is switched syllables of the word tango. So tango go tan, right? So that's where that comes from. And that's a apparently this is something this was new to me. but that is a common love. Ezra is a common, word play entangle lyrics that they like to do.

00;18;49;17 - 00;19;15;28
Unknown
So it was very much in line. Now, these are three musicians, the go to and project. they are Eduardo McCraw from Argentina, Philip Cohen or Philippe Cohen Solal from France, and Christoph H. Mueller from Switzerland. and it was those three who came together. They're doing traditional tango with electronic elements like dubstep and drop and things of that nature.

00;19;15;28 - 00;19;38;22
Unknown
And this was, this, album was a bit of a sensation when it dropped. it made the 1001 albums you must listen to before you die. Book, which is so hate one down, a thousand to go, and there we go. but, before we go any deeper into this album and what it is. So, Kate, what is your background with this album?

00;19;38;22 - 00;20;04;01
Unknown
When did you discover it? How long have you been listening to it, and what were your thoughts when you first heard it? All right. So this is this is kind of why I chose this. this album came out in 2001 when I was interning at milk for a recording studio outside Philadelphia. so I that working at that studio, I, I was introduced to so much music, which was such a huge part.

00;20;04;01 - 00;20;25;25
Unknown
But when this album was released, it became like an anthem for me. I, I got in before everyone, I clean the studio. I kind of, you know, did the little things that I needed to set up for the day, for the musicians to come in and record. And I always had this album playing, and I don't it just, I don't it just made me smile.

00;20;25;25 - 00;20;50;26
Unknown
It just brings such good memories for me up that I just throughout my life. It's it's kind of been a staple. And then fast forward a long time, till 2013, there was a coffee shop when I was living in Florida, a coffee shop that I'd go to every morning before work. That's also a wine bar with like a little Parisian style cafe outside.

00;20;50;28 - 00;21;22;09
Unknown
And this was always on rotation. And I happened to meet my partner of 11 years there while this was, oh, with a rotation. So it has like it has two really has so much significance. Right. So yeah. Very nice. Awesome, awesome. Yeah. So for me, Kate introduced me to it, through writing about it. She does one other thing that I failed to mention that she does on her Substack is she will occasionally do a three way pairing where she does a wine, a recipe, and an album all together.

00;21;22;11 - 00;21;41;13
Unknown
and so she did one. I still haven't tried the recipe. a lot of the recipes are baking, and I'm so in my cooking phase right now. And like my left, I used to be more of a baker than a cooker, and now I'm cooking and I'm not baking as much. So I keep sort of bookmarking the recipes, but I'm like, oh, I'm just not.

00;21;41;15 - 00;22;00;15
Unknown
I'm not in the baking mindset right now. But do you remember the recipe? Okay, I'm a baker, so. So yeah. So hold on. I have to remember oh my gosh, this is how terrible is it. Which recipe was this one. It was I think it was it the, was it my, I want to say it was a babka type thing.

00;22;00;15 - 00;22;20;19
Unknown
It was. That might have been. Oh yeah. Okay, okay. That's the one. Okay. So it is delicious. Okay, let me let me get it for you. Because now. Okay, you'll I'll, I'll, I'll keep chatting away. Away while you, while you look at that. But so I read her post on that and she was like, here's an album, here's a wine, here's a recipe.

00;22;20;21 - 00;22;45;07
Unknown
And I'd never heard of the album, never heard of the band. and that's always I say, doing this podcast is a perk that way. But I've also been wired for maybe at least the last five years. I've been really, really big into expanding my own personal musical horizons. I realized that my musical tastes had calcified, for like, you know, in, in my adult years.

00;22;45;07 - 00;23;02;29
Unknown
And I basically like most people, you take what you listened to when you were a youth and you expand that. It teeny tiny bit, but you're basically locked in to what you decide you like and don't like. Barring a rare exception and in the age of streaming, I finally just decided you know, I don't want to be that person.

00;23;02;29 - 00;23;21;12
Unknown
And this is stupid. I have streaming, I have the world of music at my fingertips. There's no reason to listen to the same stuff I've been listening to since I was 18. For the rest of my life, I need to listen to more things. I saw her post and she had a Spotify link and everything right to the album.

00;23;21;15 - 00;23;50;10
Unknown
And you know, we're going to get to the track by track discussion of this album. But right from track one, I was just like, okay, yeah, this is one. It's an album. Two do things two. It is an album to cook to, to just work at your computer, to. I highly recommend I have a standing desk. I'm standing right now when we record this, I don't sit, and I highly recommend doing that because you're going to want to do a little but wiggle.

00;23;50;13 - 00;24;09;02
Unknown
Well, you like something that is not like you got to do a little sidestep while you're listening to this thing, just a little, even while you're still being productive. And if you're in a chair, I feel like that's too distracting. You're going to try and move the chair and then you can't really get the work done. But if you're standing like kind of like cooking, you're always usually standing at the counter or the stove or the what have you.

00;24;09;02 - 00;24;35;18
Unknown
And that's I think that or take a long walk and listen to it while you're walking, whatever it is you're doing. This album from track number one, I was like, okay, okay, I actually sent Dallas a track last year. because we share Spotify links all the time. I don't blame me for not remembering Dallas because, you know, we send a lot of Spotify links to each other on a day to day basis, but at least one and I think two tracks on this album, sometime in 2023, I shout over to you.

00;24;35;18 - 00;24;53;05
Unknown
I believe you liked them, and enjoyed them and whatnot, but I was into this album. I did a couple plays, a couple rotations of it, and then moved on to other things. And when Kate brought this up as a possible doesn't do here, I was like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, I remember I was into it for like a month last year.

00;24;53;05 - 00;25;13;00
Unknown
Let's go back to it and let's, let's deep dive into it. And really it's that kind of album actually it is. Yeah. You can if you're really busy, it's on rotation for a couple of weeks. A couple of months, you forget about it. You check back and you're like, oh shit. Yeah that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess, Dave, just real quick to get back to.

00;25;13;01 - 00;25;34;15
Unknown
Yeah, yeah it was, it was my sugar cookie recipe. No. Oh is the sugar cookie recipe. I should do that one then. That's easier. I'm so, so I've never baked bread in my life. That is the one thing. I've never crossed that line. So I'm that little. The bob got it easiest, easiest ever, easiest thing ever. So we're so easy.

00;25;34;17 - 00;25;57;04
Unknown
I know it's a little bit. It's bread, but it's also cake, you know what I mean? So like it's kind of. Yeah. By the way, if you have an old, babka which is going stale a lovely little breakfast French toast can be made. I'm just saying, I knew I liked you, Dallas. I'm just saying. I'm just saying yes.

00;25;57;06 - 00;26;14;06
Unknown
Dallas is the man to go to two for, Like, I'm always like, oh, I have a blankety blank. And he's like, you know what? That would be good. you know what you can make with that? And I'm always like, that sounds like work, dude. I'm just. I just wanted to, like, I just wanted to complain. I didn't want I didn't want a solutions.

00;26;14;09 - 00;26;42;14
Unknown
But that is how his brain works. He is always about like, how you take what's in your pantry, what take what's in your kitchen and like, rework it in magic ways. And I'm sure he's 100% right because he's more into it than I am. But out there, that's true. Yes. Yes, it does sound like work. so this band, the one thing I'm going to mention before we get into a track by track discussion on this album one really, there isn't a lot of information about this band out there or the making of this album per se.

00;26;42;17 - 00;27;05;06
Unknown
they are three independent artists that do work together frequently. two of them, you know, Mueller and McCarroll even have another band, Mueller and Macro off. it is literally called that. And so they, so they, they are constantly moving from project to project from, from gig, from, from concept to concept. Gotten project made three full length albums.

00;27;05;08 - 00;27;27;29
Unknown
they have never they have not made a fourth to date, but, you know, never say never because you never know that they're all still alive. So it could happen in the future. but this was their debut. And when their first thing they released was in 1999, they did release a single. And that single is two tracks on this final album, Whatever elsewhere and oh, Capitalist mode for audio.

00;27;28;02 - 00;27;50;07
Unknown
And they released it as kind of a single. So we're going to talk a little bit more about this when we go track by track. But these two songs, it makes sense that they started here because they're actually two covers. They're two covers of classic, bandoneon songs. And the bandoneon is a type of concertina. A concertina is like an accordion.

00;27;50;10 - 00;28;14;27
Unknown
so, it's the Argentinean. this is the version of of an accordion that's very popular in Argentina, also Uruguay. As a side note, it is a typical instrument. in most tango ensembles, as with most other members of the concertina family, it is held between the hands, played by pulling and pushing air through the bellows, routing it through sets of tuned metal reeds by pressing the instruments buttons.

00;28;14;27 - 00;28;44;14
Unknown
Unlike most accordions, though, Antonians always employ the same sets of reeds to produce their sound and do not usually have the register switches common on accordions. Nevertheless, the bandoneon can be played very expressively, as we find out in this album, using various bellows pressures and other techniques. So these are two classic bandoneon songs that were, covered by this band, so they weren't 100% original, songs and original recordings.

00;28;44;16 - 00;29;02;10
Unknown
But when I listen to this album, one of my favorite things there's this little percussive thing that happened and I thought it only happened in one song. but what is one of the first things to stick to my head when I listen to it? It's that little like, right thing that happens, like, and, and it got stuck in my head so much that only this listened.

00;29;02;10 - 00;29;21;09
Unknown
Preparing for this podcast did I realize it was two songs that that was that that came back in. And when I discovered they released these two songs side by side as a single, I was like, oh my God, that makes so much sense. Interestingly, though, they did, not only did they split the two songs, they're not side by side on the album.

00;29;21;15 - 00;29;50;08
Unknown
They even reverse the order of them because it was all sort of first on the single. And here it closes the album, of all things. And again, no information as to why that decision was made. But it is interesting, to say the least. So, and. All right, that is real quick, Dave. it's, a little more, sort of origins of tango, off the sort of tango is associated with the, Reve La Plata, which is the La Plata River.

00;29;50;10 - 00;30;20;19
Unknown
and itself, there's sort of a blended music style. it kind of owes its origins to much like jazz to kind of outsider counterculture. areas that create this sort of really specific musical vernacular that then kind of just takes off and kind of takes over the world, much like tango did, with the American, the Americas, and particularly in France and Europe, at the turn of the, last century.

00;30;20;22 - 00;30;55;16
Unknown
and, in terms of the style, Argentinean tango seems to be, much, more swingy and groovy and deeper in terms of its, its language. European tango, kind of comes off a bit sort of, staccato and militaristic. and even though it's still very sort of, celebratory in its way. So, right, that band early on, the instrument itself features heavily, much, much more heavily in, Argentinean tango.

00;30;55;18 - 00;32;06;16
Unknown
but, in general, it is more festive. It is. Yeah. It's much more. Yeah, much more festive. so. Yeah. Let's. All right. Where are we now? anything else before we, track by track? This. Let's get into it. Let's do it. Let's get into it. All right, so track number one. Crossed paths. We want peace.

00;32;06;19 - 00;32;11;10
Unknown
Get.

00;32;11;13 - 00;32;32;19
Unknown
Kate, what do you think of this very first track? Well, I love it. I have to I love the whole album. So I'm going to say that not every single one, I. I think for me, I don't know, right? Right now in the world and probably always people have just wanted independence. They've just wanted peace. You need a song to kind of get through the tough times.

00;32;32;22 - 00;32;57;23
Unknown
And for me, this is kind of it. And, I don't know when I hear this song because I always tend to listen to this album with this song first, even though, like, I'll jumble up the rest of them. This is kind of the first one I want to hear, and it gets me in the mood. Like it gets me in the mood to like, yes, yeah, let me listen to the rest of the album like they're standing for something, but, you know, they're a little vague.

00;32;57;23 - 00;33;21;13
Unknown
And what they stand for with the album, they don't really, you know, but there is that sort of I'm fighting for the people because tango kind of was the people's music, literally. So I don't know, it just really gets me in the mood for the rest of the album, and it's what I want to listen to first. So, you know, I'm I'm big on the sort of first strike of an album because it does.

00;33;21;13 - 00;34;02;06
Unknown
It sets the tone. it's the onboarding, it's the on ramp. And I think this one, does a great job because it does have that kind of, not a sort of rebellious kind of thing, but there is this sort of, route, almost like rousing. It's a rousing kind of, sort of preamble, almost. And, I do think, you know, these guys have gone on record a few times to say that, you know, we are not your sort of counterculture rebellion band, you know, even though this music came out at the same time that Argentina was going through massive, massive upheaval.

00;34;02;06 - 00;34;23;26
Unknown
And so they have to say, look, this is just it's just endemic to the music. This is not us being, you know, sort of overtly political. But I think this first song definitely is a sort of a great sort of preamble into, you know, where they go. Yes. yeah. I wrote down the same thing. One, this is a great, onramp into the album.

00;34;23;26 - 00;34;41;24
Unknown
It even kind of fades in, in an interesting way where you're just sort of like, it's already like the music's already kind of happening and you're just entering the room where it's happening, and it has this like it's a smooth beat, it's chill but still lively, which is, I think that thing like to get through the tough times.

00;34;41;24 - 00;35;03;24
Unknown
You're like, it's festive, it's lively, but it's also like, you can keep this tempo up like, this is not going to exhaust you. You just got to keep chugging along. You just got to keep going. It's an amazing introduction to the bandoneon and that sound, which when I first listened to this album, even listening now before I looked up what that sound was and what instrument was making it, you always, in this day and age, you're always like, is that a synth?

00;35;03;24 - 00;35;32;17
Unknown
Is that a, you know, like, is that not always instrument? Instrument. Right. That sound, it's so smooth while being festive. It's a weird combo that works so brilliantly. Well. And so this is a perfect appetizer. Like it's an appetizer. It whets that appetite. You are ready for more. You're like, what is this? It's cool. It's it's nice. So yeah, one of the most pleasant openings of an album I can think of in recent memory.

00;35;32;21 - 00;35;57;00
Unknown
100%. All right, next we move on to epoch. which is means time or period, or, of course, literally epoch. so what are your thoughts, Kate, on this as a second track, I love it. I think it follows up really well. from what I gather, like trying to, you know, figure out what the song with the meaning was behind this song.

00;35;57;00 - 00;36;19;03
Unknown
Right. What I'm gathering it was like for Hope, for the Argentinians. another thing, you know, following up from, like, a song about independence and peace, like, to kind of where, like what? Tango's standing for the people, and you pocket just kind of. I don't know, it. It brings. It gives you more of the music, it gives you more of them.

00;36;19;03 - 00;36;47;00
Unknown
But then it it gives you this hope that I can't wait to the next song. I can't wait to the next song. And, and I feel like the music just it you start, you know, you're you're really starting. Or at least like in this song, I'm really starting to want to move like I. And for me, if I'm listening to, strictly, while this isn't strictly instrumental, but highly instrumental, verse like vocal, I want to be moving.

00;36;47;00 - 00;37;19;04
Unknown
I want the music to make me want to move nonstop. Like I want it to bring out emotions. And this one for me brings out emotions. It gets my spirits high, but not like, like you were saying, like it's not overly and then I'm going to crash. It's kind of like building me up and I think it's beautiful and I just I love how it also you get that classic tango mixed in with it, but not not in a sense that you're really thinking about the tango, or at least for me.

00;37;19;04 - 00;37;55;25
Unknown
I'm not thinking about the tango in this song, it's just kind of in the melody and the rhythm. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that for sure. Yeah. Dallas. Dallas, your thoughts on this one? similar. it is again, it's just a great next sort of step. one thing I do like about, world music in general, I hate the term because that's that that's the term that came up with in the late 90s when all this sort of fusion stuff started happening, this world of music, you know, music that isn't ours, I don't know, it's like, call it as American people say, right, right, right.

00;37;55;28 - 00;38;28;02
Unknown
right. But one thing I do like about it is when you are sort of thrust into these albums, into these sort of sonic scapes, you do end up just sort of wandering about and you're kind of tossed about, you know, with the rhythms and the sort of themes and the textures and, you know, so often your ear will want to, find that traditional kind of, pop style, or at least the sort of benchmarks of pop styles that you're accustomed to.

00;38;28;05 - 00;38;54;13
Unknown
And this album does not give you that. there's a great quote, by the way. where is it? Where is the quote? when they were writing this song, Mueller said to Eduardo, you know, you should write lyrics, like a love song. But about a time when the people are disappearing. It can happen in a love affair, but it happened to your country and, you know, with the young people who died.

00;38;54;13 - 00;39;19;19
Unknown
And so it is this sort of lament for youth, and he's personifying this sort of character because he's referencing the he, in the lyrics of the song. And, you know, I think the poetry of the song, it just really does encapsulate kind of the, the sort of collective spirit of what the country was going through at the time, maybe intentionally or maybe unintentionally, sonically and, yeah.

00;39;19;20 - 00;39;27;19
Unknown
Great. Second, second notes. Yeah, sure.

00;39;32;29 - 00;39;38;27
Unknown
I see this happen. It's you.

00;39;38;29 - 00;39;49;21
Unknown
In the, parties here. Where is it? the more you.

00;39;49;23 - 00;40;05;09
Unknown
Arenas, it,

00;40;05;11 - 00;40;25;08
Unknown
I will say mostly agree. this is a heavier song on the album. because of, you know, the subject matter and what it's about. I love the dramatic strings, that are also a part of this song. This is the first time we're really hearing something quite that prominent from the string side of things. the vocals are very good.

00;40;25;08 - 00;40;46;01
Unknown
I will say this was a track that I think the first time I listened to the album, I loved it. I was like, yes, a perfect second track. I think especially I they probably put this number two. This is one of the most heavily vocal tracks on the entire album, and I almost feel like it was throwing people a bone who like, are reticent about instrumentals where they're like, no, no, no, don't worry, don't worry.

00;40;46;01 - 00;41;03;05
Unknown
We have some vocals, we have voices. Two guys. Yeah, this isn't just a jam session, right? Right, right. Yeah. So I was like, here's a bunch of vocals and then we're going to fool you. And by the time you're on your song 3 or 4, you're gonna, you'll, you'll be in, you'll be hooked or not. But you know, by then you've given it a real chance.

00;41;03;08 - 00;41;25;13
Unknown
but at the same time, I will say I don't 100% know why. Maybe it is because of how chill and maybe even heavy this is compared to some of the other songs, but in future listenings, this is the one and only track I'm always tempted to skip. Interesting when I'm listening through the album in order. I always want to go from track 1 to 3 and track two.

00;41;25;13 - 00;41;49;08
Unknown
I'm just sort of like, yeah, I can listen to it, but but and none of the other songs do I feel that way about it currently. because that does change over time. Of course, that always usually morphs as your, whatever time of your life you're listening to an album. But right now, this is the one and only this is a near perfect quote unquote album for me because of how unskippable almost every single song is.

00;41;49;08 - 00;42;14;08
Unknown
This is this is the one caveat, as I have for this one. I don't know if it's all the vocals. I mean, she's even a great vocalist. She's great in the other songs that she does vocals on. But this one, for whatever reason, maybe it lulls me a little too much where I'm just sort of like, I need, I need to get back to something a little like the first song wasn't exactly super fast, upbeat, and I think I just need something more lively as track number two in my brain.

00;42;14;08 - 00;42;35;11
Unknown
Or I start to like, my brain just starts to threaten to check out. so that's but this is the only one that also a bit of, sort of texture here. Guys, you may be familiar with this song because, like a lot of their tunes, they're kind of used in jingles and in media and, in media and in, advertisements.

00;42;35;14 - 00;43;45;10
Unknown
This is featured heavily in a jet dryer, dishwasher commercial. so if it sounds familiar, that is what, goodness. Speaking of commercial properties, let's get on to track number three. Chungus! Revenge, a cover of a Frank Zappa song.

00;43;45;12 - 00;44;15;25
Unknown
Thingy. Getting stuff is what I mean. He grew up. Everything from these. A lot of, channels that. Yes. So. Yeah. So, Kate, your thoughts on this one? I love it, but but I'm a huge I'm a huge Frank Zappa fan, so for me to say I love something that's a cover of Frank Zappa that I think blew his original out of the water for me.

00;44;15;27 - 00;44;37;06
Unknown
honestly, I agree with that. Oh man. The strings, the dissonance, it just I this is a better version. I love it better version. so yeah, I agree it's different. It's different. It's better and different that. It sure is different. Better. It sure is different. And better. Different better. Okay. But definitely different. Sorry. Go ahead okay. Good.

00;44;37;08 - 00;44;58;08
Unknown
No, I was just I, I mean no, I love this. Yeah I've said the dissonance for it is I'm a huge fan of dissonance and music, which I think is also why this album I just love so much. and probably not everybody loves that I know. Yeah, a lot of people, it makes them a little uncomfortable. Like, they they don't really understand it.

00;44;58;08 - 00;45;15;16
Unknown
It's a little darker melancholy, but for me, it's just, I don't know, it brings a smile on my face. It just makes me want to listen more. So, how about your day? What do you think? oh. I mean, I love this, so I will say I was not familiar with the Zappa version before, okay. Before this.

00;45;15;16 - 00;45;30;09
Unknown
So I had to go track it down on Spotify when I realized this was. Is that I didn't realize it was a cover, I was like, Juncker's revenge. I love this song and listening to it. And then they're like, I. When I was looking up information about this album in preparation for the podcast, I saw, it was a Frank Zappa cover and I was like, oh shit.

00;45;30;09 - 00;45;51;05
Unknown
Okay, well, I have to. I have to hear what the original was. It is fascinating. The differences between them. I'm pretty sure the bandoneon is playing the guitar part. I think so, so yes. But yeah, it's yeah, it's it is. But there's also the, is it the or what's the organ. It's a is that the keyboard. Whatever the key is, is it a like a Wurlitzer?

00;45;51;07 - 00;46;10;20
Unknown
I think it's a Hammond. I think it's that and it is I think most of them are Hammond solo. and it's usually our answer every time there's a strange keyboard, you're like, it's a Hammond. Yeah, well, because everything. Well, to be fair. Yeah, it can't, because it is. It can be. Yeah, it can actually be to have it.

00;46;10;20 - 00;46;33;18
Unknown
The heaven is the it's the workhorse. It's the thing that people just because it has such a specific sound, it's orchestral, but it's also soulful and totally it's lived in kind of the same space where, where, the guitar does, you know, when you're wailing on this or in the case of the Zappa version, the wah wah saxophone in Zappa is it's the wah wah saxophone.

00;46;33;18 - 00;46;58;20
Unknown
If you guys don't know what the Wawa is, saxophone. It's a distortion, a sort of device treatment. Essentially, it gives you that moaning, wailing kind of thing. You'll find, and is the guitar pedal thing called wah wah as well. Yeah, yeah yeah yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. And so you get that treatment on the saxophone and, I am always going to be in defense of saxophones.

00;46;58;20 - 00;47;19;10
Unknown
I think we use them too little now. I think the 80 now ruined it. Yeah. So yes, I think we need we we needed a break. We needed to break the foam because it is phenomenal. But, in Zappa's version, it is that while a saxophone that takes the lead, that does the, the vocalization, and you know, I you there's no way to compare the two.

00;47;19;10 - 00;47;43;28
Unknown
I do love the Tanz version of it. And you say that it is, it is, you know, for your to your point, Kate, it's the dissonance that sells it. It stands on its own. I think this is probably the most pop friendly record they have, because even even with the dissonance, I, you know, I have a very broad definition of pop, pop, pop.

00;47;43;28 - 00;48;09;20
Unknown
So, yeah. so apparently a very, very broad, but, I do think because of that dissonance, because they play the way they play with that sort of emptiness and that air and that lightness. And then with, you know, just the treatment, it's fantastic. Zappa's version is its own thing. It's pure expression. It lives in its own little place.

00;48;09;22 - 00;48;31;18
Unknown
Better know, just different. But go on. Yes. So I will say I love the gravelly bass voice, the vocals on this one, which are only here and there, but it reminded me it gave me heavy Alabama three vibes. from the lead singer there, like the woke up. Then. For those who watch The Sopranos Alabama three song the Woke Up This Morning theme song to The Sopranos.

00;48;31;21 - 00;48;49;10
Unknown
so you know, you got that woke up. This is kind of a thing. And it's just like, oh God, yeah, I like it. So it feels like a tangle. Alabama three doing tango, you know, and you're just sort of like, yes. this is fantastic. so track number four, this is my favorite track on the album.

00;48;49;12 - 00;49;11;23
Unknown
for me personally, triptych, the three parts, which it is kind of in three parts. I'm just going to give a quick little ramble off here because I tried to break that. It's 8.5 minutes long, so it's the longest song. Yeah. On the album. it, it squeezes a lot out of every minute though. so minute 1 to 2 and to 2.5, it's the slow build with percussion, keyboard, bandoneon leading the way.

00;49;11;26 - 00;49;37;22
Unknown
And just as it threatens to get repetitive, the piano comes in. Or, you know, whatever the keyboard, instrument for this one is minute three through six. It's this piano and guitar dual solos, with a little bit of violin peppering and a little bit of string, and then minutes 6 to 8.5. That is the violin coming to the front and just this virtuosic solo section for it.

00;49;37;25 - 00;49;49;29
Unknown
Is.

00;49;50;01 - 00;49;59;11
Unknown
It.

00;49;59;14 - 00;50;02;25
Unknown
It's.

00;50;02;27 - 00;50;16;13
Unknown
It is to me. It.

00;50;16;15 - 00;50;25;00
Unknown
Is.

00;50;25;02 - 00;50;29;18
Unknown
More like.

00;50;29;21 - 00;50;50;22
Unknown
So it just keeps building and flipping around on itself in a way where? And for an 8.5 minute instrumental piece, it is it. I think it's brilliant in it knows exactly how long it can give you one thing before switching it up, and then you're right back in with it. Cool moment. Not a new thing. My favorite song on the album too.

00;50;50;22 - 00;51;16;26
Unknown
Favorite by far. By far. It does it by far, but cool. Oh, by far for short by far. And it does this, like you said, it does this sort of seamless blend of the sort of the orchestral, the folk, the tango, that trip hop sound. And it just it's almost like they're. Yeah, it's just fantastic. I cannot explain how much I like this song.

00;51;17;03 - 00;51;39;12
Unknown
Going back to my original statement that I enjoy songs that just take you to places you cannot anticipate. And, for that reason, this song is just really satisfying for me. How about you? Okay, so this is my second favorite song, all right. Kind of tied with well, we'll get to my favorite song, but I. Yeah, I absolutely love it.

00;51;39;14 - 00;52;02;14
Unknown
it makes the jam band girl and me very happy because. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it makes me really happy. I think the progression, it's almost. I don't know, it's almost like with the tango vibes. It's almost like the instruments are dancing around each other. Yes. And so, like, I think that's how it works. You know, you're in the first part for me.

00;52;02;19 - 00;52;24;02
Unknown
Is it the accordion that gives off those like classic guitar riffs? It just like, yes. Yeah, it's amazing how it does that. And I, I don't know if I've actually ever heard that before outside of you on this album. Yes, but I but how it kind of draws you in and then you get that piano coming in and it's almost like it's twisted up a tango beat.

00;52;24;09 - 00;52;44;18
Unknown
And then I don't know that you then you add the strings and it's just a full on jam session and I'm a happy, happy. No, you know, I'll go any, step even further, Kate, and say it's to my ear. It's almost like these genres are dancing around. Yes. Yeah. And that's kind of the mark of a true, I think, you know, master of true masters.

00;52;44;18 - 00;53;09;27
Unknown
Yeah. Taking these genres and dancing them around one another. That's totally what blew my mind about it. Yeah. Thank you for listening, everybody. We will be back tomorrow with part two of this episode, where we will cover tracks five through 11 of go ten project La Revanche del tango with our special guest. Kate grew shell up, survives on wine that is survives of winds up sector comes these go liquor up there.

00;53;10;00 - 00;53;25;17
Unknown
but she will return with us as well. And we will also, of course get to the wine pairings for this album. We will see you tomorrow. Bye bye now.

00;53;25;20 - 00;53;38;19
Unknown
For the third.

00;53;38;21 - 00;53;44;29
Unknown
For the third of the.

00;53;45;02 - 00;53;52;26
Unknown
Us.