As you might have noticed, the mercury in thermometers across the northern hemisphere is starting to dip and the months have taken on the familiar suffix “ber,” which I cant help but think is supposed to be some clever play on the sound people make when they’re cold. Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean you have to give up the life of dancing, partying and debauchery you developed a taste for during the warmer months though. After all, sexy robot music knows no seasons. And since electronic equipment actually runs better in cooler temperatures since there’s a lowered risk of overheating, that means all you sexy robots should be able to dance with abandon throughout the coming Winter.
If anybody knows about making robots, or people for that matter, dance, it’s Chicago House music DJ and producer Felix da Housecat, who’s been doing so since the late ’80s. In recent years he’s stepped away from straightforward House music in many respects in favor of a more wide-reaching “Electronica” sound that embraces club music like Disco, House, and Techno, as well as ’70s electronic music, ’80s New Wave, Synthpop, and Electro-Funk, and more. He continues this trend on his newest LP, Virgo Blaktro and the Moviedisco. The results, like the Moroder-meets-Prince-meets-Kraftwerk Funk of “Moviedisco,” “I Saw the Future,” “Mad Sista,” and “I Seem 2Be the1,” the cheesey-but-sleazy Euro-Disco-ish “Like Something for Porno,” the Chic-influenced Disco-Funk of “It’s Your Move,” the Devo-sampling “Sweetfrosti,” and the Depeche Mode/Yazoo-isms of “Monkey Cage,” “Night Tripperz,” and “Tweak,” are sexy, slick, and icy-cold. Which means it’s a perfect soundtrack for your Fall and Winter body-jacking activities.
Listen to “Moviedisco”
One of the skits on Virgo Blaktro and the Moviedisco features a disembodied female voice declaring that “pretty girls don’t dance, they just pose to Techno.” And while I may or may not agree with such a statement myself, I realized that it sort-of contradicts the very existence of the other featured purveyor of “sexy robot music” in today’s post, Irish singer, songwriter, and producer, and former Moloko-member, Róisín Murphy. Her 2005 solo debut Ruby Blue was a huge hit with me, and it’s glitchy beats, courtesy of producer Matthew Herbert, and Róisín’s soulful, torch-song vocal stylings easily became staples on my radio show. She’s back, sans Herbert, with a new album Overpowered, that boasts a line-up of co-producers including Seiji of Bugz in the Attic, and Andy Cato of Groove Armada, and a sound that draws largely on the Synth-Funk, Disco, and Synthpop, of the late ’70s and early ’80s in a manner akin to Timbaland’s work the last few years. The singles, “Overpowered” and “Let Me Know,” have been kicking my ass, but album cuts like the Eurythmics-ish “Primitive” and “Footprints,” where Mark de Clive-Lowe assists with Prince-esque keyboards, work especially well for me too.
Listen to “Footprints”
Just remember, even if the music and the weather outside both start matching each other in chilliness, you can still keep yourself warm, and maybe even work up a sweat… All you’ve got to do is dance.
-El Keter
