Customer Reviews

Ay Ay Ay

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Matias Aguayo offers up another slab of his unique vision of house and techno with AY AY AY. Aguayo doesn't fall into any easy categorizations: "Menta Latte" is all a cappella beatbox, and yet with a deepness and a fullness that you wouldn't expect. An actual bass provides the deepness of "Ritmo Tres," though Aguayo's vocals percussion remains in full-effect. The "Rollerskate" manages to be funky and bizarre at the same time -- no mean feat. The vocals border on the meaninglss, but deep lyrical content isn't the focus here. As well, Aguayo isn't the most accomplished vocalist -- his preferred mode seems to be bilingual talk-sing -- but his attention to the groove is undeniable. The wooden xylophone of "Desde Rusia" also shows his embrace of different textures and sounds (even if "Ritmo Juarez" sounds a bit more chaotic than necessary). "Koro Koro," for instance moves into Africa with a Ladysmith Black Mambazo feel, while "Ay S***" goes into a dirty funk. The final track, "Juanita," has the suggestion of a melodeum floating into it, but it's the thump that really gets you going. A wonderfully off-kilter album.

I love this record. I heard it being played at a local street festival a few weeks ago in Chicago and actually went up to the DJ and asked what it was--not something I do regularly.

I'm not an electronic music fan necessarily. After buying the record I started to do research on Matias and it seems that he's really solidly an electronic performer and yet--I wouldn't actually have categorized it as an electronic record so much. It's almost instrumental rock. Not quite, I mean, the instruments are mainly synthesizers, vocals samples, and drum machines, but something about the feel of the record feels closer to rock than to electronic. The use of vocals samples is great.

It's the sort of record I would want to play at a party. I've listened to this record probably 20 times in the past week. It's actually made me want to go out and buy more music. I bought the vinyl version of the album which came with a free copy of the album on CD (score!).

Bought this one because of very positive reviews but was disappointed in what I found: repetitive, cliché and generally a lack of punch in the music.The kind of album you don't listen tomore than once...