Senor Coconut

Emperor Norton is quietly becoming the novelty record company of note for the alternative set. The Los Angeles-based company's roster includes the soundtrack for fake blaxpliotation films, a collection of decades-old gizmo-happy children's music and now this - completely faithful recreations of Kraftwerk's biggest techno hits performed as Latin dance numbers. Uwe Schmidt, aka Senor Coconut, has turned "Tour De France" into a meringue and "The Robots" into a cha cha cha number. The result is at once hilarious yet stunning. Repeated listening of El Baile Aleman from start to finish will challenge the mettle of even the most kitsch-addled popster. But I expect selected tracks to pop up on mix tapes and in DJ sets for the foreseeable future. No one will resist the allure of "Music Non Stop" served up as an impossibly sexy and spicy forbidden dance.