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Gui Boratto

Take My Breath Away

(Kompakt; US: 3 Mar 2009; UK: 9 Mar 2009; Internet release date: 23 Feb 2009)

Review [6.Mar.2009]

Sau Paulo deejay and graceful button pusher Gui Boratto has a sound that’s hard to pin down exactly. See, he’s a Brazilian that makes French influenced German house. It’s like the United Nations of minimal techno. Of course, you’ll know exactly what to do when you hear it, and that is nod like a bastard ‘til your neck can’t take it any more. In that regard, it’s more active than the UN ever could be.


Throughout Gui’s sophomore full-length, he demonstrates impressive growth as a producer. All of the tracks on the aptly named Take My Breath Away are smoother, punchier, and more fleshed out than those on Chromophobia. Yet, they retain all the minimal, bouncy beats, and bittersweet, distorted melodies that made his debut so charming within each densely orchestrated soundscape here. It may be called minimal techno, but Boratto’s subtle motivic development takes you farther than you ever would have thought a 4/4 beat could. The odd bit of lyrics and guitar have been flawlessly integrated into his whimsical shoegaze production. This record is simply a cut above.


Suffice to say, Gui’s time has arrived. Critics practically did back flips for Kompakt labelmate, The Field’s From Here We Go Sublime in 2007. I don’t see a single reason why they shouldn’t do the same for Gui’s latest. M83 and James Holden would probably agree.

Rating:

Greetings, brothers and sisters. Like you, I'm a fan of music. I spend most of my time researching, investigating, making, and exploring music. Since 2004, my music reviews, essays, and columns have appeared in publications such as Exclaim!, Tiny Mix Tapes, PopMatters, and I've been a Polaris Music Prize juror since 2010. I graduated from Simon Fraser University's Contemporary Arts program with a BFA in music in Summer 2011. I am happy to live in East Vancouver with my sketchy but sweet cat Isobel.


Related Articles
5 Oct 2011
When he’s on his game, Gui Boratto can let timbre subsume rhythm without sounding languorous. On III, he sounds languorous.
24 Mar 2010
Kompakt artist gives us more of the moody progressive house that we've come to expect from him, but with a hint of darkness and drama.
By David Abravanel, Timothy Gabriele, Mike Newmark, Alan Ranta, and Dominic Umile
11 Dec 2009
We have no idea where the hell electronic music is going in the next decade, but if you can't find something in the wide stew of sonics out there to get excited about, check your pulse. You're probably dead.
29 Apr 2009
Gui Boratto’s solid frame pulses in reaction to the audience and he senses when they want more beat, more psychedelia or more riff.
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