**1/2 Señor Coconut

EL BAILE ALEMAN

(Emperor Norton)

Señor Coconut is the latest incarnation of electronic music pioneer Uwe Schmidt, and El Baile Aleman is a project that consists entirely of Latin-styled Kraftwerk covers. Songs like "Music Non Stop" and "Showroom Dummies" are transformed from quirky, minimalist techno into velvety-smooth cha-cha-chas and merengues that approximate the sound of a cheesy South American lounge band. The Kraftwerk classic "Homecomputer," which sounds like a '70s spy-movie theme, takes on new meaning given today's Internet culture -- hearing "It's more fun to compute" over and over is as funny and disturbing in a South American accent as it was in the original German. None of the arrangements strays too far from the Kraftwerk versions. But the bright horn blasts and warm marimba lines take these songs far from their cold, mechanical roots.

-- Matt Parish