What would you expect from someone called Alexander Robotnick other than squelchy retro techno? A true pioneer, Robotnick has been a cult figure ever since his iconic house track Problèmes d’Amour weirded everyone out in 1983. Loved-up, machine-maid robotic pop that we still can’t get enough of, and so the revivalists’ party continues with The Analog Session.
Recorded in just two days using only original analogue equipment, this is old-school Italian shape-throwing that basically sounds like Ulysses on pills. ‘N5 From Outer Space’ is aptly named and will have you wu-wah, wu-wah, wu-WAH-ing all round the house. ‘Sunday Morning’ and ‘In My House’ are more spacious with wobbly Radioslavey baselines, before two mixes of ‘Fun Fare’ take us back on board the space ship. ‘It 122’ is a bit 80s by-the-numbers and we’ll forgive the odd cheesy Ibiza moment – Ulysses is NOT into sunsets and melodic interludes; he IS into wuoaaa-WAH and chk-chk-tsch-tsch-wuh-WAH.
Like listening to nine really good versions of Pryda’s ‘Animal’, The Analog Session is so satisfying because it’s such a known quantity. Even the webcam footage of the recording session on MySpace is really endearing, as Robotnick and his mate bop around a tiny studio in beanie hats tripping over cables and twiddling knobs.
So it’s a moot point to say that there’s nothing really new here as it’s all deliberatively old, in keeping with today’s about-turn in dance music. Just look at John Foxx’s recent sold-out Roundhouse gig, playing Ultravox classics with all original studio equipment. Even The Horrors have been lugging around outdated bleap-machines in their Spider And The Flies moniker. In Hackney raves like Bodyhammer and Bad Passion they’re eating up this kind of stuff. Call it coldwave, call it newbeat, call it future-retro-jackin-acid-revival, The Analog Session is a perfect party starter and goes well with anything fruity and served in a martini glass (Ulysses likes a strawberry daiquiri).
