Various – Chilean Pop review

Matias Aguayo’s Cómeme imprint is seemingly matched only by the equally fledgling Pampa label for sheer precociousness and uniqueness of sound. So far this year the label has introduced these gleeful ears to the sounds of Argentinean Ana Helder – we defy you not to pick your jaw from the floor after hearing “Complicado” – and Cómeme indulge in curveball tactics for their next essential drop.

Chilean Pop squarely throws the focus down on Aguayo’s hometown of Santiago de Chile and sees a selection of Cómeme’s key players remix tracks from bands that form the city’s underground music network. Not being particularly au fait with either the bands in question or Santiago’s music scene in general, it’s naturally a bit futile to attempt comparisons. What is clear however is how easily adaptable the source material is to the humble art of booming club music.

Aguayo himself teams up with Markus Rossknecht under the Broke guise to remix the band Fredi Michel – turning “Enganami” into a mutant discoid future classic. It’s quite simple yet utterly effective in execution as layers of off kilter rhythmic textures are introduced whilst the organic melodic elements are teased out playfully – this is a remix stamped with Aguayo’s own unique palette of sound. The same band get remixed by Diegors, whose Percapella rerub of “Marinero” can only be described as a bunch of Chilean cold wave enthusiasts doing a Miami bass cover version of the Strafe classic “Set It Off”.

Diegors appears again on the flip as part of the Cómeme all star team that do a flip on $990’s “Gatito” which matches the A Side endeavour in the quality stakes – bringing forth a shuddering EBM proto techno flex which should be at odds with the gentle vocal harmonies that ripple atop! Rebolledo goes solo for the final remix, switching the pace right down to Sex Jam on Javiera Mena’s “Hasta La Verdad” which suddenly drops into a seemingly endless epic combination of John Carpenter style arpeggios and delayed vocals.

Tony Poland