Tag Archives: Hot Chip

My Robot Friend – Soft Core: album review

An album review I did for Epigram Music

My Robot Friend - Soft Core

My Robot Friend is Howard Robot’s New York-based electronic music and art project inspired by the music of Le Tigre – yet Soft Core sounds more like Hot Chip, especially in the robotic delivery of its randomly pencilled lyrics and hand-clapped beats. Where the album flourishes is in collaborations; ‘The Short Game’ with Zombie Nation is a pulsating dance anthem with dark undertones, whilst ‘Waiting’ with Alison Moyet harks back to the golden age of 80s electronica, reminiscent of The Human League and more recent output from The Juan Maclean. Bonus track ‘23 Minutes in Brussels’ is an experimental instrumental that leaves you wondering why the rest of the album wasn’t quite so interesting. It seems My Robot Friend create sparks in live music shows where Howard features as a robot in his performance art spectacle – unfortunately Soft Core fails to galvanize the electronic music scene in quite the same way.

http://epigrammusic.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-robot-friend-soft-core.html

The xx: interview

I interviewed The xx for Epigram Music

The xx

The xx act coy about the success of their astoundingly beautiful debut made “for the after-the-party party”

When asked for three words to describe the xx’s music, lead singers Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim are confounded. It comes as little surprise that they struggle with this conundrum. “Melancholic and uplifting” are two contrasting words often associated with the oxymoronic four-piece from South West London, and the group cite contemporary r’n'b and the likes of The Cure, The Kills and Pixies as their biggest influences. They really are quite a puzzle. But there is no question or confusion when it comes to the success the band have witnessed in the last few months.

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