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MATIAS AGUAYO

Ay Ay AyKompakt ****

It's the WTF? release of the year: an a capella album on Kompakt, the home of German minimal electronica specialists.

That said, it's a capella with a twist. Chilean producer Matias Aguayo's vocal chords may be the primary instrument here, but his patchwork of beatboxing, humming, singing, chanting and sighing are tweaked and paired with low-end, slinky basslines into joyous, headspinning tunes. Each track is infectious and often quite delirious, with Aguayo's user-friendly vocal twists and turns providing a scatter of hooks that would be impolite to ignore. While Aguayo may have been following a definite technopop line in his work before now, Ay Ay Ayis a huge leap in a far more interesting and innovative direction. As Rollerskate, the African-tinged Koro Koroand the tripped-out Latin buzz of Juania demonstrate, Aguayo's groove is very much in his mouth. www.kompakt.fm  JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Rollerskate, Koro Koro