Dinky, "May Be Later" (Vakant; 2008)

Under the moniker Dinky, Alejandra Iglesias has run much of techno’s worldwide gauntlet. She was born in Santiago and she’s cool with fellow Chilean producers Luciano and Ricardo Villalobos. She lived in New York City during the grimy, golden rave days of NASA and currently resides in Berlin, long a hotbed for minimal techno. In an oevure spanning the past nine years, she’s matched a dance background and an avant-garde sensibility reminiscent of Arthur Russell with the limber grooves of her Chilean confederates and the more mechanical thumps of the Berliners, conjuring an exquisitely elaborate swagger.

May Be Later‘s nine tracks are variegated “four to the floor” stomps, powered by beefy kicks and jumpy wet bass lines, overlaid with metallic percussion, ricocheting congas, dancing laser shots and unpredictable clicks and clacks. In “Mars Cello,” bizarre vocoder vocals coo over a racing heart beat rhythm and the disjointed plucking of what sounds like one of John Cage’s prepared pianos. “Fademein” takes off like a pixilated rocket ship with a squawking bass and Jorge Gonzáles’ sexy robot vocals. Atop the glassy scraping and harsh hi hat of “Sunday Set” lies a liquidy loop, jazzy keyboards and, finally, a funky modulated synth. It’s refined party music, intricately composed and hard-driving.

May Be Later is the kind of record that seems to transform depending on how loud you play it. Put it on low and it’s mellow morning music. Crank up the woofers and it’s a wacky romp. So if $18.98 for CD or $22.98 for vinyl feels like to high a retail price, think of it as a two in one deal.

Rating: 73%

:: myspace.com/dinkydj

Published Friday on The Glow.