Last session, I was remiss in addressing music for tango practice that works well and is readily accessible. Here are my picks from what is available on iTunes:
Tubatango: this is great for the beat, but does not seem to exist on iTunes. Oh, well, I guess you have to go back to the old masters :-)
Carlos di Sarli:
Glorias del Tango, Carlos di Sarli, Vol. 1 & 2
El Senor de Tango
Serie de Oro, Carlos di Sarli, Vol. 1 & 2
I am a fan of di Sarli's music. It is deliberate, with a clear, precise beat, but it is still nice and romantic, with lyrical melodies. Elegant would be the word I'd use for di Sarli. If you're only going to get one CD, buy one of these first.
Juan d'Arienzo
Glorias del Tango, Carlos di Sarli, Vol. 1 & 2
Serie de Oro, Juan d'Arienzo (has a few with scratchy sound on it)
d'Arienzo is the master of the rhythmic tango: peppy, crisp, lots of oomph!
Ricardo Tanturi (my favorite orchestra)
Serie de Oro, Tanturi, Vol 2 is the only CD iTunes has of Tanturi
Osvaldo Pugliese (another great romantic orchestra)
Serie de Oro, Pugliese is the only CD iTunes has of Pugliese that is danceable. Some people like the ColorTango version of his works and some don't. Listen and see if you like it or not. Pugliese is harder to dance to than all of these other orchestras because the tempo varies. At the same time, that really gives a more advanced dancer a lot to play around with!
If you want a sampler, there are about two songs per band of a bunch of the old masters on Tango, The Originals, Vol. 1. If I were you, I'd listen to it in snippets, and go buy a whole CD of something you really like.
I hope that helps the new folks. Look at the tango compilation albums, listen to the snippets, and look at orchestra names. Then, go and search for those orchestras and find out what there is. I have enough tango music that I may never buy any more . . . well, not before Christmas! Have a good week!