Craving for some Argentinian music scene insights? Keep reading!

Exploring the musical landscape of a country is a fascinating journey through its history until the present. For this reason, I’ve tried to put up the most representative artists from Argentina for you to check out.

As any list of this kind, it is undeniably subjective and I might be favouring certain artists and leaving out some others worth mentioning, but my goal is to just spark your interest in Argentinian music and point out what a great contribution music might become to your learning.

I’ve divided the artists in 4 categories in 4 different sections:

• TANGO
• FOLKLORE
• ROCK
• and TRAP

In each of them tried to offer an overview of the genre as well as include some suggested artists.

Hope you enjoy it!

Tango

Let’s set off with TANGO.

Although Argentina is linked to tango, it’s not a mainstream genre nowadays. Not many locals enrol for tango dance classes, either. There are traditional tango orchestras which perform regularly, but for most younger generations, it’s the music of our grandparents and what many tourists come after. The big names of Tango were established between the 1920s and 1930s, slowly fading out afterwards.

The lyrics of tangos can sometimes be cryptic, as it’s filled with lunfardo (Argentinian slang) words, but if you take the time to read some of them you can learn a lot. “Cambalache” is a song, which still today, despite having been written in 1934, describes with astonishing accuracy the reality of our times.

Suggested artists:

CLASSICS – Julio Sosa, Enrique Santos Discepolo, Edmundo Rivero, Carlos Gardel, Hugo del Carril, Roberto Goyeneche, Astor Piazzolla

MODERN – Orquesta Fernández Fierro, Bajo Fondo Tango Club, Gotan Project

Folklore

There are different subgenres within this general term because folklore expresses differently in
different regions of the country, with carnavalitos and zambas in the North West, chamamé in the
North East, chacarera in the Central North Region and several others.

Peñas are places where tourists and locals go to listen to live music and engage in spontaneous
folkloric dances.

Ask any Argentinian and they will mention Mercedes Sosa as the most remarkable representative of what we’ve come to understand as folklore. Her unmistakable voice is soothing and deeply moving.

Atahualpa Yupanqui is our folklore legend. A gifted guitarist who travelled across the country on a horse and paid homage to the tunes he learnt.

Watch Mercedes Sosa in one of my favorite performances:

Suggested artists:

CLASSICS: Jorge Cafrune, Los Chalchaleros, José Larralde.

MODERN: Juan Quintero, Chango Spasiuk, Raly Barrionuevo, Soledad Pastorutti.

Rock

Rock music is the genre I personally know best, but it’s really difficult to comprehend.

There have been are still are amazing rock bands along the decades, but they are so many I’ll stay
with artists who have established themselves as solo artists. All of them have taken part in bands, but
have a reputation of their own.

One of them is Luis Alberto Spinetta. Recognized by his poetry and complex guitar technique, his
career spans an amazing display of creative power.

Charly García was very close to him, and he is our present time living legend. Charly García has contributed some of the hymns of our parents’ generation. He and Spinetta wrote “Rezo por vos”.

In the late ‘80s Fito Páez started to build a name in the music scene, and his 1992 album, “El amor
después del amor” is the best-selling rock album of all time in Argentina. His music shows a sensitivity
to the Argentinian identity like no other.

Gustavo Cerati was the lead singer and guitarist in “Soda Stereo”, one of the few Argentinian bands
that became popular in other parts of Latin America. When he left the band, he moved on to pioneer
sounds

Marilina Bertoldi is currently the best example of a modern rock artist. Her growing popularity reflects
the ongoing transformations in the music scene, formerly ruled by almost exclusively male artists.

Suggested artists:

From the 70s – Invisible, Vox Dei, Almendra, Manal, Pappo

From the 80s – Virus, Soda Stereo, Sumo, Los Redondos

From the 90s – La Renga, Los Piojos, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Los Caballeros de la Quema, Kapanga, Bersuit Vergarabat, Attaque 77,

From the 00s – Eruca Sativa, Él mató a un policía motorizado, Airbag

I made a podcast episode dedicated to Rock Music

Trap

With trap I’m starting to feel old. I can’t catch up.

In the past 5 years or so, trap music has established a new music culture, totally different from any of
the previous. Its modern melodies and instrumentation are a demonstration that music is ever
changing and we cannot know what will come next.

See Ca7riel performing a great song:

Suggested artists:
WOS, Duki, Nicki Nicole, Catriel and Paco Amoroso, Trueno.

I could keep writing about Argentinian artists and their music, but there is an element of curiosity
attached to music which cannot be transferred. I invite you to dive in and start exploring.

By the way, do you know any Argentinian artists which is not mentioned in this article? Please
comment and add your personal recommendations.

Thanks for reading!

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