Federico Aubele rose to international recognition back in the early ’00s riding on the wave of new-school electronic tango propelled by Gotan Project and Bajofondo. Somehow he managed to survive the avalanche of clones that came right after that and here he is, preparing to drop his fourth studio album, Berlin 13, on ESL Music (that’s Thievery Corporation’s label).
However, to label Aubele’s music as new tango would be a mistake (and probably some old school tangueros would consider it an insult, too). He certainly has that melancholic gray atmosphere of a cloudy Buenos Aires afternoon permeating throughout most of his work, but the characteristic 2×4 rhythm of tango is nowhere to be found since it was opportunely replaced by down-tempo funky break beats and dub. A lot of dub.
Berlin 13 was entirely composed during Aubele’s stay in the German capital and as you may know, most of the great new tango was done by Argentinians in exile (Gotan Project’s Eduardo Makaroff in Paris, Bajofondo’s Gustavo Santaolalla in Los Angeles, CA). I guess it’s only when you really miss Buenos Aires that you can come up with songs like “Berlin,” the opening track for this album, where he sings along his wife and recurring guest Natalia Clavier.
Out of the 10 tracks from Berlin 13, only four have lyrics en español. There’s one in Portuguese (sung by Ka) and the rest are in English, like “No One,” featured below for FREE download. The remaining are just plain instrumentals.
There must be somewhere an adage about Argentinians being at their creative best while in exile. Download Federico Aubele’s “No One” from his upcoming album Berlin 13 below.