El Gaucho

El Gaucho is the superbly atmospheric soundtrack to Andrés Jarach's documentary road movie about Andrés Retamal, a taciturn Argentinian horse– trainer and rodeo king. Produced by Gotan Project's Eduardo Makaroff and Christoph Müller, it's the wonderfully cracked, 70%–proof voice of Daniel Melingo that takes the lead. He's also the film's narrator, following Retamal and his young son through the immense landscapes of Patagonia.

For the packaging alone, El Gaucho deserves a hearty 'Ole!' The CD opens up to reveal a 3D pop–up scene (pictured) of Retamal breaking in a horse in an intricately fashioned cardboard corral. Such lavish artwork is a trademark of the Paris–based Mañana label. The production values carry over into the music. Makaroff and Müller have fashioned a richly evocative soundtrack that is far removed from the urbane city centres where Gotan usually operate. Instead, it is a rural Argentina, and the country music rhythms of the milonga and zamba that are summoned up via a largely instrumental and skeletal soundscape of bandoneón (squeezebox), guitar, harmonica and piano. This is punctuated by live recordings from the rodeos that Retamal and his boy stop at on their way to the coast, alongside Melingo's serenading of the iconic gaucho on the opening and closing tracks.

It's music that takes you outside the normal run of time, and spirits you away to the pampas, drenched in the atmosphere of the rural and remote. As a soundtrack, it builds a sonic world of its own; your carbon–free, long¬distance journey begins here.