N'attendons pas

Fifty years after its release on March 24th, 1971, and thirty years after its creator's death, we look back at the conception and progression of one of Serge Gainsbourg's greatest albums, "Histoire de Melody Nelson", a conceptual story set to music alongside his accomplice Jean-Claude Vannier.

Rooted in dance and eventually becoming its very own artistic movement, the history of tango is an epic one; and its future truly looks limitless. A musical genre with hybrid origins, it remains one of the most incredible creations to come out of Río de la Plata. “It’s the only thing we don’t ask Europe for its opinion on,” wrote Argentina’s Macedonio Fernández, the man that young Jorge Luis Borges admired “to the point of devout and passionate plagiarism.” A number of coincidences in the late 19th century gave rise to this style of music. As musicologist Carlos Vega said: "no one really tried to create tango." And yet, here it is; complete with its own traditions and innovations, as well as its own golden age, ill-fated artists, myths and rituals.

Since its creation in the late 1950s, Bossa-nova has become an indispensable part of Brazilian music. The style’s strong evocative power won over artists from all around the world and earned recognition for many first-rate musicians whose works are now seen as classics.