Gui Boratto (Pronounced Gee, like the Indian clarified butter), for anyone who doesn't know, is a techno, house and electro producer from São Paulo in Brazil. In 2006, he released the stunning album Chromophobia on legendary German techno label Kompakt. It topped many a dance critic's end of year list, and produced one of the finest pieces of electronic music in recent years in the form of Beautiful Life.
Now he's back with his new album, Take My Breath Away. A few releases in the last two years have threatened to be the first techno releases to go overground and enter mainstream conciousness (the Supermayer album springs to mind, also on Kompakt) but never quite managed it. Could this be the one to finally do it? Maybe. Boratto has a knack for producing really catchy melodies and hooks, whilst still retaining techno's more restrained dynamics. The most obvious example on this album is No Turning Back (the closest thing to his masterpiece Beautiful Life), a lovely vocal track with a poppy sentiment, but that still sits firmly in the techno camp, rather than selling out and becoming an electro-house banger.
Gui's real skill lies in his ability to produce a range of different styles that have enough in common with each other to stop anything ever sounding out of place. Essentially, never sounding samey, but never sounding confused either. As well as melodic and stripped back minimal tracks including the title track, Opus 17 and Atomic Soda, there's also a handful of harder-edged somewhat pounding tracks. Ballroom and Eggplant are the best, which whilst sounding tougher, still retain Gui's deft production touches. The other string to Boratto's bow is some wonderful electronica tracks, which feature more obvious live instrumentation in the form of guitar and piano, including the sublime Besides and gentle closer Godet.
Is it as good as Chromophobia? Not quite. However, assessed on it's own merits this is still an excellent album by anybody's standards, and one that stands out in the often homogeonous world of techno. Although sometimes too poppy for some minimal heads, and too techy for more populist dance fans, Boratto's efforts here should please those who just love music, full stop.
Stream the whole album on Gui's MYSPACE, and check out his homepage HERE, where you'll be able to find out more about the man himself, as well as locate links to buy his CD's and 12"s. He also recently recorded a rather amazing Essential Mix for Radio 1, the tracklist to which can be found HERE.
Finally, watch an unoffical video below of his best piece of music, the previously mentioned Beautiful Life.
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