Otros Aires Presents Balkan Airs

Balkan Airs is the latest project from Buenos Aires' nu tango outfit Otros Aires, and it just might disappoint some of their loyal fans. Instead of straight-up tango, Otros Aires frontman Miguel di Genova has teamed up with Bulgarian producer Bojko Petkov and his Chalga Band to mix two styles of music that are intuitively very much alike and yet are intrinsically very different: tango and Balkan Gypsy music.

It all started when Petkov heard di Genova's humorous tango song, ‘Los Vinos’, about an adulterous fling blamed on the wine. Petkov gave the song to his Bulgarian chalga band, putting it through the stylistic blender, layering the song with shrieking clarinet and accordion in place of piano and the Argentinian bandoneón. Di Genova liked the result. In the end the pair came up with 12 songs, which serve as a cultural rapprochement between Argentina and Bulgaria.

Di Genova sings in gruff Spanish and Roma, the rhythm remains tango, while the Balkan influence manifests itself mostly in the clarinet and accordion (more aggressive than the mellower bandoneón). Two songs are Balkan Gypsy covers: ‘Aide Ko Pazari’ and ‘Romano Chavo’, the latter recalling, in the raspy Roma-accented voice of di Genova, Serbian Gypsy king Šaban Bajramović. The similarities between Balkan music and tango are obvious. Both have a dual sense of happiness and sadness tinged with nostalgia. But the differences made for a difficult birth. Balkan Gypsy music makes use of quarter tones, which are foreign to Argentinian tango. In the end Balkan Airs had to be mixed three times in the studio. The result is a spectacular blend of cultures and moods that spans the globe – gritty, earthy, atmospheric and real.