Tango Volcano's debut album:

"CATCHING FIRE"

17 great numbers including: Piazzolla's famously sensual bandoneon solo, "Oblivion" and the fiery "Michelangelo 70" ; traditional favourites include "Quejas de Bandoneon", "El Choclo" and "Nocturna" and six brand new tangos written especially for us in 2003; Graham Lynch's hypnotic, slow milonga "Milonga Azure", Ross Lorraine's funky and addictive "Tango X" and "Red Tango" by Sergei Zyatkov, a trio tango all the way from North Siberia!

Available direct on CD from Tango Volcano, price £12

Make cheques out to "Tango Volcano" and send to:
Tango Volcano, Flat 1, 90 Highbury New Park, London N5 2DJ
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Review of CD album "Catching Fire"

It was with some trepidation that I slid this cheesy-looking homemade CD into the system. Band and album titles aside, most tango outside Argentina is highly unflammable and the last UK outfit I heard murdered fine early tango cancion songs by doing them in English. So I was gleefully surprised - shocked even - as each track of this London-based quintet's debut improved on the previous one.

Whether testing themselves on Astor Piazzolla's more rhapsodic works or pumping strings, bass and squeezebox to danceable classics by Juan de Dios Filiberto, Julian Plaza and Angel Villildo, the band played a heated, horny orchestral tango balancing passion with control and poise (the recording has some rough edges at high volume but it adds to the effect). They also showcase several new works by different composers, most of them after Piazzolla - Graham Lynch's "Milonga Azure" and Ross Lorraine's "Tango X" are stylish confident pieces.

Naturally I'm now looking forward to seeing them live, where, no doubt, dancers drool to have such talent in the flesh - especially violinist and founder Lucy Waterhouse and Finnish bandoneonist virtuoso Kristina Kuusisto, both of whom shine with a Latinesque glow on the press photo and on the disc. Only the final track, a thin version of Piazzolla's "Verano Porteno", lacks drive - but it's sooo difficult, and this is Tango Volcano's first album.

Chris Moss
Songlines Magazine
March/April 2004

Tango Volcano's second album:

"TANGO! TANGO!"

"Tango! Tango! " tells the story of the tempestuous life of Astor Piazzolla, probably the most famous tango composer of all time. It takes us from his migrant childhood through his early initiation into the music profession under the charismatic bandleader Anibal Troilo, culmination in the profoundly felt death of his beloved teacher. In the show, the story is told by playwright Justin Pearson through Piazzolla's own words and music, gradually revealing the opposing layers of his complex personality. This CD contains just the music from the show.