Track Listing :
1 Andrés Retamal
2 Comodoro Rivadavia I
3 Jesús María I
4 El piche
5 Río Negro
6 Comodoro Rivadavia II
7 Jesús María II
8 Jinete
9 Río Negro II
10 Comodoro Rivadavia III
11 Payador
12 Andrés Retamal (Roy Dubb ReRide)
El Gaucho is first and foremost a film by Andrés Jarach. More than a documentary, it’s a road movie in another Argentina: not the urban Buenos Aires one, but the one frozen in time, immense flat and often dry expanses inhabited by herds of cows or sheep and their mounted guardians…the Gauchos. It’s the trajectory of Andres Retamal, a rugged horse breaking genius crossed with rodeo star, who embarks on a voyage with his little boy that, from one trophy to the next, leads them to the sea. A journey of double initiation for the child – the discovery of the ocean, and more, the discovery of the horse – the film is the tough and tender log book of this adventure.
El Gaucho is also a record, the music of the film which punctuates the silences of the taciturn man. But it is much more than a soundtrack, more of a voyage within a voyage. Composed and produced by Christoph Müller and Eduardo Makaroff, two of Gotan Project’s three pillars. Very far from the sonic experimentation of Gotan and its hotbed, tango, the soundtrack explores rural Argentina, starting with tango’s elder sister – a country girl – milonga and zamba, another gutsy rhythm. Argentina’s country music, but rather more wily, more twisted. All of which sits well with the “mood” of 19th century Argentine literature’s hero, Martin Fierro, incidentally also known as… El Gaucho.