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Tango Saloon - Transylvania

SKU TS 002
Tango Saloon are an Australian band led by Julian Curwin. Some folks may already know them because their first was released on the always interesting Ipecac label. This is their very hard to locate (unless you are in Australia) second album.

"Astor Piazzolla meets Ennio Morricone in this tango-flavoured project with a twist of spaghetti western. The Tango Saloon's second album 'Transylvania' uses a similar palate of sounds and styles to the debut on Mike Patton’s Ipecac label, but also branches off into many other areas. Not so much a horror score, rather a "musical postcard" which of course includes some dark and disturbing sounds, but also manages to throw gypsy brass, cha cha and some wild vocal numbers into the mix. 13 tracks imbuing the band's tango/western blend with a touch of vampiric horror. Featuring fourteen of Australia's finest instrumentalists, as well as vocals from Jane Sheldon and Mike Patton."

"Although a concept album based on that most enduring of horror icons, Count Dracula, Transylvania isn't a grim, blood-soaked record of shrieking organs and shrill violins. Rather, Tango Saloon leader Julian Curwin has turned to the folk music of Eastern Europe to capture something of the superstitious culture of those dwelling in the shadow of the Carpathians. Transylvania is dark - much darker than the band's 2006 debut - but it never resorts to cheap Halloween trickery to convey its intended mood. Like Secret Chiefs 3 (a band with whom this group share not only a common sensibility but also drummer Danny Heifetz), The Tango Saloon don't craft their tunes from the airless innards of some vast sample library. These are real instruments - trombone, tuba, harpsichord, marimba, accordion, saxophone - being played by real humans. Real, extraordinarily talented humans. Its conceptual nature, widescreen compositions - from the gypsy swing of Dance Of The Dead and Oblivious (There's Something Down There) to the surreal lounge-pop of Dracula Cha Cha (which features vocals from Mike Patton) - and nods to the likes of Angelo Badalamenti and Ennio Morricone make it tempting to describe Transylvania as the score to a non-existent film. But to avoid such a naff cliche, it's better just to say that Transylvania is a richly evocative and beautifully textural record, with a sharp blend of theatricality and restraint that is a credit to its creators and their vision."-Drum Media



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