Gui Boratto

At a time when São Paulo, Brazil, gets a whole lot of ink in the hipster press for its street-hewn favela beats, city resident Guilherme Boratto is focused on an entirely different sound altogether. In fact it's one that often has him mistaken for a native of a whole different continent. His minimal, yet fully warm, techno creations (the best-known being the no-less-than-hypnotizing "Beautiful Life") have been darlings in the comparatively cosmopolitan European scene, where he works with the respected German label Kompakt.

The songs still have enough edge to have earned Boratto some coveted hipster ink of his own. His debut album, last year's Chromophobia, scored an impressive 8.3 from the notoriously harsh review team at Pitchfork. He likely honed his gift for adventurous accessibility as a composer for advertising campaigns, which he did for many years before he began releasing his own records just three years ago. If all jingle writers could be as hip-shaking and thought-provoking as Gui Boratto, skipping through commercials might just become a lost art.