Latest From My Favorite Robot Records

Just ahead of the release of his excellent Crossing Wires compilation, Timo Maas’s relationship with the My Favorite Robot label continues to flourish with this new EP. Offering two new and exclusive cuts from said forthcoming compilation - plus another special remix from My Favorite Robot - it is pure techno excellence.

Timo Maas is of course an enduring techno icon famed for his eclectic sound and always compelling EPs and LPs. The most recent of those came late last year and featured high profile collaborations with the likes of James Lavelle, Mikill Pane and Placebo's Brian Molko, whilst throughout his career he has released on labels including Cocoon and Perfecto as well as running his own Rockets & Ponies outlet.

First comes ‘Watching the Robots’, a meandering bit of deep and mid tempo techno with a fat, dystopian synth line that spreads across the whole horizon of the track like a search light. Subtly fizzing electronics and imposing melodic drones circle to add even more sci-fi ambiance and it makes for a pleasingly otherworldly listen.

On the flip is ‘Z Panorama’, an equally bleak vision of the future with a droning synth line falling down the scale and sucking you right in as a result. The slick beats roll on below and sad piano notes linger long in the air, all the while conjuring filmic intergalactic imagery in the listener’s mind. The My Favorite Robot trio quicken the tempo on their remix, layering in a light dusting of dancing hi hats and miniature melodic explosions that colour the night sky in some style. A molten acid line also creeps in to complete the perfectly future facing and expansive sonic
picture.

These tracks are at the very heart of the forthcoming compilation and prove Timo, decades after first announcing his arrival with that remix of Azzido Da Bass, is as pioneering and essential as ever.

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Timo Maas - Watching The Robots

Following on from the inaugural Crossing Wires compilation by Toronto trio My Favorite Robot, next to mix it up for the exciting series is global electronic music icon Timo Maas. Still riding high off the success of his latest and greatest full length relaese, Lifer, back in 2013 (which blended trip hop with ambient, sleazy house with wonky techno and included collaborations with the likes of Placebo’s Brian Molko and Brighton chanteuse Katie Cruel as well as James Lavelle, founder of seminal ‘90s label Mo Wax) Timo has long been a pioneer in his field. Of course, he also runs his own influential label, Rockets & Ponies, and the German producer has also appeared on the MFR label before with standout track ‘Dancing For My Pleasure’ from the first Crossing Wires. Timo is also a revered DJ and in 2013 celebrated 10 years as resident at one of underground house and techno’s most mythologised clubs: Circo Loco at DC10 out in Ibiza. As such, this new Crossing Wires
compilation draws on his skills as both selector and sequencer and proves few can do it better than this long-standing talent. The mix features 14 brand new and exclusive tracks from a range of artists old and new – some are closely associated with MFR, some less so, but together they paint a perfect picture of the state of modern electronic music. Man of the moment Eric Volta kicks things off with the serene synth stylings of ‘Dreams Don`t Turn to
Dust’, a suitably lush affair that sets a soothing tone. From there we soon drop into a compelling groove courtesy of My Favorite Robot’s ‘Dead of the Dance’ and Timo masterfully balances the tempo through his ensuing selections. Never does he get stuck in one place for too long, instead coherently going from spaced out sci-fi house (Discern & Signal Flow’s ‘Coarse Language’) to tripped-out tech (Tim Green’s ‘Plenty of Spiders’) and kinetic and synthetic sounds (Martin Buttrich’s ‘Bubble Heat’) with ease. Timo’s own productions appear twice, first in the form of the growling, shadowy ‘Watching The Robots’ then in collaboration with long time partner Santos on ‘Z Panorama’. Tracks and remixes from Chris Carrier, Villanova and Daniel Stefanik then make up the latter half of the mix in which energy levels are kept up and heady, futuristic imagery is never far away. This is a compelling mix that showcases both the modern sound of house and techno whilst proving that Timo Mass has an understanding of dancefloor dynamics that few could ever question.

Agoria - For One Hour (Villanova Remix)

Following on from the inaugural Crossing Wires compilation by Toronto trio My Favorite Robot, next to mix it up for the exciting series is global electronic music icon Timo Maas. Still riding high off the success of his latest and greatest full length relaese, Lifer, back in 2013 (which blended trip hop with ambient, sleazy house with wonky techno and included collaborations with the likes of Placebo’s Brian Molko and Brighton chanteuse Katie Cruel as well as James Lavelle, founder of seminal ‘90s label Mo Wax) Timo has long been a pioneer in his field. Of course, he also runs his own influential label, Rockets & Ponies, and the German producer has also appeared on the MFR label before with standout track ‘Dancing For My Pleasure’ from the first Crossing Wires. Timo is also a revered DJ and in 2013 celebrated 10 years as resident at one of underground house and techno’s most mythologised clubs: Circo Loco at DC10 out in Ibiza. As such, this new Crossing Wires compilation draws on his skills as both selector and sequencer and proves few can do it better than this long-standing talent. The mix features 14 brand new and exclusive tracks from a range of artists old and new – some are closely associated with MFR, some less so, but together they paint a perfect picture of the state of modern electronic music. Man of the moment Eric Volta kicks things off with the serene synth stylings of ‘Dreams Don`t Turn to Dust’, a suitably lush affair that sets a soothing tone. From there we soon drop into a compelling groove courtesy of My Favorite Robot’s ‘Dead of the Dance’ and Timo masterfully balances the tempo through his ensuing selections. Never does he get stuck in one place for too long, instead coherently going from spaced out sci-fi house (Discern & Signal Flow’s ‘Coarse Language’) to tripped-out tech (Tim Green’s ‘Plenty of Spiders’) and kinetic and synthetic sounds (Martin Buttrich’s ‘Bubble Heat’) with ease. Timo’s own productions appear twice, first in the form of the growling, shadowy ‘Watching The Robots’ then in collaboration with long time partner Santos on ‘Z Panorama’. Tracks and remixes from Chris Carrier, Villanova and Daniel Stefanik then make up the latter half of the mix in which energy levels are kept up and heady, futuristic imagery is never far away. This is a compelling mix that showcases both the modern sound of house and techno whilst proving that Timo Mass has an understanding of dancefloor dynamics that few could ever question.

Martin Buttrich - Bubble Heat

There is no stopping the Canadian powerhouse that is My Favorite Robot in 2014, and here they serve up the goods once more in the form of a fantastic new EP from Remain who returns to the label for his second outing. Remixes come from Clickbox and Carreno is LB & Javi Redondo and bolster an already great package. Frenchman Remain is the co founder of Meant Records and has also released his idiosyncratic electronic wares on labels like Throne of Blood, Ideal Audio and My Favorite Robot Records. His ultramodern vision of house music and beyond has made him an international favourite as well as a staple on the French scene at clubs like Rex, Zig Zag and Showcase. Opening up this sterling EP is ‘Bounty Hunting’; a stripped back cut with stern no frills drums, stark synth melodies and plenty of abstract minimal lines. Dark, foreboding and barely decipherable vocals add to the apocalyptic vibe and make for truly tense and involved listening. Then ‘Bounty Hunting’ gets remade by Carreno is LB & Javi Redondo into a whirring, malfunctioning affair that sounds like a robot disco in the sky. Remain then turns in ‘Filthy Stitches’ ft Monoblok, a sinewy, metallic affair with tight synth lines stretched over rubbery drums. Said synths swerve and twist about for the duration, with intergalactic melodies and robo vocals eventually bleeding in, but it’s a firmly taught and tense vibe from start to finish. The remix is by Brazilian duo and Items & Things associates Click Box, who transform the original into a loose, writhing cut of synthetic house with plenty of alien details and gurgling synth lines. This is evocatively futuristic music with plenty of inventive textures and tones all working together to make for a fascinating listen that also makes you move.




MFR103 Remain - Bounty Hunting (Carreno is LB & Javi Redondo Remix)

One of the most artistic labels of the modern scene continues to hone its own aesthetic here with a new EP from Spanish DJ, producer and label boss Undo, complete with a remix from Maurice Aymard. Undo has long been a key fixture on the Barcelona scene as not only artistic director at The Loft, but as boss of his own Factor City label. The man born Gabriel Berlanga has also been a composer, vocalist, guitarist and bassist in pop-rock bands since school days so has a vast musical understanding. The first cut here is title track ‘Aimia’, a wobbling, bass heavy and off kilter house jam with standout synths and plenty of emotive little female cries buried deep in the arrangement. It’s sombre yet charming at the same time and will bring dancefloors together with its tender touches. Maurice Aymard (aka acclaimed DJ and producer and founder of Galaktika Records) remixes the track into a much more direct and propulsive jam with fulsome drums, weird effects and plenty of trippy late night charm. Undo’s next original is ‘Lost With You’, this time things slow right down and you’re left to wallow in his syrupy, gloopy synths as they warble below a gentle smattering of percussion. Heavenly pads add a sense of space to the backdrop and again Undo strikes a truly resonant emotional pose with his patient production. Finally, ‘Out There’ is another sensitive and go slow synth jam with lazy, elastic chords stretched between spacious drums. Filtered vocals add an element of futuristic humanism and the whole thing really seeps into your soul. These are well crafted tracks that make much more of an impact on you than your average club fare, and for that reason are a perfect fit on the ever excellent MFR label.

MFR104 Undo - Aimia

Earlier in the year the trio that is Pink Skull released a debut LP that was full of a metallic, liquid,and raw sounds, delving into urban landscapes and deep space industrial wastelands. Here select tracks from it get remixed by a fine selection of modern talents – Raxon, disCerN, Stefan Zand Balcazar & Sordo - and have plenty of new life breathed into them.

First up, ‘My Other Feet is My Car’ gets reworked by Balcazar & Sordo, the hot Mexican act that has released on labels like Culprit and Audio Tonic. Their version is a dramatic, macho discoaffair with tight drums, slick arpeggiated melodies and crisp synth lines all building to dramatic peaks.

Raxon, label manager at Dubai’s foremost imprint Audio Tonic, then flips ‘Ryryryry’ into a freaky bit of wonky and unhinged tech house with bendy toms, echoing voices and lots of little alien spirits. It’s a peak time, main room bit of tension-fuelled house that will undoubtedly bring dancefloors together.

Stefan Z, who has had his own full EP on the label back in late 2013, then goes to work on‘Abalone’ and opts for a sparse remaking that is propped up with a bobbling, dirty bassline. Above it industrial synths are allowed to ring out into a chilly night sky before more radian patterns unfold and his bleak vision of the future full manifests itself.

Lastly disCerN aka esteemed DJs and producers Jonny Cruz and Silky then team up to remix the same track. Their version is a deep and constantly decaying house effort with feathery percussion, swaying drums and some serious somber chords that strike a truly introspective vibe.

This is another fine packages of remixes from some of the day’s best.

Pink Skull - My Other Feet Is My Car (Balcazar & Sordo Remix)

Whilst Tim Paris’ excellent recent album on My Favorite Robot is still picking up plenty of praise,the label have invited a carefully hand picked selection of remixers to turn in their own version of three different tracks. Red Axes, Nyma, App and Jon Charnis & Hands Free are the chosen ones and the results are brilliant.

Up first on ‘The Grip’, Red Axes are a DJ and production duo based in Tel Aviv, Israel, formed byDori Sadovnik and Niv Arzi who have previously released on Relish, Klasse and I'm A Cliché.Their remix is a steely, darkened disco affair with reverb coated guitar licks and chugging drums coming over like the soundtrack to some Hells Angels get together in the woods.

Next Up Nyma hails from Tehran but lives in Berlin and has found favour with his originals on Magda and Troy Pierce’s Items & Things. His take on ‘Disco Ellipse’ is a supple bit of techno with plenty of minimal sound design fleshing out the bouncy, futurist groove. It grows ever more intense as hypnotic blurts of synth come into the mix, and will drive dance floors deep into the night.

Tackling ‘Extreme Nails’ first is App aka Watergate’s Peter Pixzel and August Jakobsen, who have fomented their own melodic tech house style with releases on Diynamic and a great live show to boot. Their trippy, late night mix is full of inventive charm, busy drum patters and celestial melodies that bubble up through the track as it squirrels on. It’s a loopy, rolling number that will sound perfect on the DC10 dance floor this summer.

Also remixing the same track is American house duo Jon Charnis & Hands Free. Their version flips the original into a blissed out bit of twinkling, melodically rich deep house that needs to be heard on a beach under the stars. It’s emotive and tender and beautifully sensitive.These four unique re-workings all add something very new and different to the originals and prove as ever that My Favorite Robot really has its finger on the pulse.

Tim Paris - Extreme Nails (Jon Charnis & Hands Free Remix)

The next release from Canada’s MFR sees Patrice Baumel making his label debut alongside emergent talent Rodnonsonjon 

German & Dutch based producer Patrice Baumel has long been a techno cohort with fine releases on labels such as Trapez, Dirt Crew and Get Physical and is also the long time residentat Amsterdam’s foremost club, Trouw. Rodnonsonjon meanwhile is making his start in themusical world but the two tracks here suggest he has a fine career ahead.

First up, ‘The Tower’ is a hurried bit of deep house that’s marbled with industrial drones andmuted rave horns. It’s a tunneling bit of music that takes you ever deeper down the rabbit holeand hypnotizes as you go, with sweeps of white noise the only thing to stop you fully falling into atrance.

On the flip, ‘To The End of Time’ mines a similar vein but is even more steely, teeth clenchingand doom laden. A vinyl crackle characterizes the track’s texture, with paranoid voices, edgypiano lines and circling synths all trapping you beneath the groove. It’s a patient and dramatic bitof music that will be truly captivating on a loud soundsystem.

This EP is another fantastic feather in the bow of the already tastemaking My Favorite Robotlabel.



Patrice Baumel & Rodnonsonjon - To The End of Time



Quality Canadian label and close-knit electronic family My Favorite Robot offers up a Various Artist EP and introduces us to some fine talent on their 108th release. Guy Mantzur & Khen, Slok and Of Norway all turn out one track each and every one is pleasingly different to the next.

Having previously worked together on a number of remixes and originals on labels like Sudbeat, Guy Mantzur & Khen team up for ‘Touching Distance’. It’s an epic, ten minute bit of stormy and tumultuous tech edged house with breaking synth waves, kinetic percussion, plenty of drama and atmosphere and lots of bright, glistening metal surfaces. It’s wholly abstract but is a wellconstructed groove that fits in perfectly with the indie leaning label’s cannon.

Next up is Italian Alessandro Russo aka Slok, who has associations with labels like Satoshi Tomiie’s SAW, One Records and Get Physical going all the way back to the nineties. His contribution, ‘The Trip’, is a deep and broody bit of house with supple pads, clean and uplifting chords and slinky, wiggling drums and hi hats that really draw you in to the dance. Emotive and airy, it’s a nicely spacious groove that really resonates as it rolls on.

Finally, Of Norway are Vegard Wolf Dyvik and Carl Christian Steenstrup, a pair who say their sounds are like being lost in the woods of Norway – warm, dubby, deep. Their track ‘Running Lights V’ is just that – sparse, dark, mysterious and eerie in its little melodies and haunted sounding chords. Driven by rubbery beats and water droplet like melodies, it’s one that really sends shivers up your spine.

These three make for welcome additions to the MFR family and come up with some fantastically original track in the process.


Slok - The Trip

NAOME is the new LP project from CircoLoco veteran Andrew Grant and the first fruits of it is the single, ‘Belly of the Beast’, released on My Favorite Robot Records with remixes from Villanova and Jori Hulkkonen in tow. 

Debuting in September with an LP slated for late 2014, NAOME (Not Andrew Only Me) sees Grant move away from the techno and house into more esoteric sounds, exploring musical themes outside of a club environment. 

The NAOME project has been cultivated to co-exist alongside his Andrew Grant name with the sole purpose of exploring new sounds and ideas for enjoyment at home or day to day but in his own words - “this is a chance for me to break away from the club sound and explore the other side of the pillow”. 

Title track ‘Belly of the Beast’ shimmers into life through dusty percussion and an oscillating hook, the dry-pulsating beats and the subdued vox from Sutja Gutierrez sublimely meander alongside shimmering tones to whisk the listener off on an ambient journey laced in cinematic atmospherics. 

For the second offering Turbo affiliate and Acid Symphony Orchestra head honcho Jori Hulkkonen steps up for remix duty. Jori’s polished production ability crafted over a career that spans more than two decades really shines through in this deep and melodic re-imagining. Sutja’s almost demonic vocal purrs along throughout proceedings while warm pulsating bass washes over shifting percussive patterns and a dancing 303 line to dish up a dynamic and emotive cut. 

The Parisian pair known as Villanova deliver two transcendent remixes to close the EP off in style, their dreamlike Fretless version incorporates a beautifully basic bass arrangement alongside sooty percussion and extended tones to offer up a ethereal third track while their Sigma remix employs industrial grindings, craggy booms

NAOME - Belly Of The Beast Feat. Sutja Gutierrez (Original Mix)

For their next release, leading Canadian indie dance label My Favorite Robot returns to a huge release from earlier in the year by Montreal duo Flowers and Sea Creatures. Their ‘Afternoons & Afterhours’ release featuring Wrong Jeremy was a serene and widescreen EP that built patiently and won them many fans, and now label regulars Eric Volta and Speaking Minds, alongside Adriatique all remix it. 

DJ and production duo Adrian Schweizer and Adrian Shala aka Adriatique hail from Switzerland and have really put their country on the map in recent times. Releasing a string of standout EPs on labels like Culprit, Diynamic and Hive Audio, they are also regulars in the world’s best clubs and this year are residents at Solomun's Diynamic night at Cova Santa. Their version of the ‘The Very Next Day’ repackages it as a trippy, melody rich house roller with deep, groaning and moody basslines underpinning the whole thing. It grows increasingly chaotic as things roll on, taking dancers ever deeper down the rabbit hole in the process. 

Next up is Eric Volta, a MFRR regular and masterful synth craftsman who also releases well received sounds on 1trax, No.19 Music and Visionquest. His ‘Navigate the Untold Cosmos remix’ is a fantastically moving thing that initially casts you adrift in a celestial and heavenly sphere of beat-less ambience. Eventually it coalesces into an engaging, ticking house number with synths spraying about of their own free will and vocals bleeding in to add more layers of heavenly atmosphere. It’s hugely sensitive and emotive and will make all the hairs on your body stand right on end. 

Last but not least to remix is Speaking Minds, a project born in 2012 from the union of 2 Italian guys with a common passion for music: they have appeared on Noir Music, had a standout EP on MFRR earlier in 2014 and have had support from the likes of Tale of Us. Their remix of ‘Citadel’ is similarly spine tingling in the way it so patiently builds on spaced out kicks. A sombre, undulating synth line adds a sense of drama and the airy vocals are allowed plenty of space to breath up top. It’s the sort of peak of your set track that really brings everyone together in magically moody fashion. 

This moving package is a fantastic way to revisit one of the MFR label’s biggest hits this year and proves they know exactly who to call when it comes to choice remixes.



Flowers And Sea Creatures Feat. Wrong Jeremy - 'The Very Next Day' (Adriatique Remix)

Sid Le Rock has been a key part of the My Favorite Robot label for a while now, and following on from his fine album ‘Busted With a Bag of Bliss’ and some great remixes of it, comes this new EP. Featuring three new tracks plus various mixes it’s another standout package from both label and artist. 

Canadian Sid has now released more than 6 LPs and 50 singles and is a remixer in high demand from the likes of Fairmont and Placebo as well as being someone who has collaborated with the likes of DJ Koze and Ada. His sound is an always expressive, arty and musically adept one that works wonderfully on and off the dancefloor. 

The serene and supreme ‘Burning Daylight’ opens the EP with shimmering synths, dreamy whispered vocals and some beautiful vintage sounding pixelated melodies. A shorter radio edit and stripped back dub mix of the same track are also included. 

‘Fade to Black’ is a more stormy and tumultuous affair with sombre chord progressions lain over deep drums as twinkling disco melodies and glowing lines shoot about like stars in a night sky. It’s a very real world Sid creates and is one that you feel right at the centre of. 

Next up is ‘Butterflies’, which is a non standard arrangement of swelling synth lines, skittish claps and dark basslines. As if coming from outer space, this journeying, ambitious track really takes you on a journey through Sid’s musical mind and, importantly, never strays from a compelling groove. A stripped down version, radio edit and even more blissed out dub version also come along side the fantastic original track. 

Sid Le Rock is a veritable synth and studio genius who creates dance music that is much more meaningful than most, as this latest EP proves in spades.

Sid Le Rock - Fade To Black (Original Mix)

You will probably recognise the name Clarian as one half of former synth pop leaning duo Footprintz. The Canadian has now stepped out on his own, and has released well-received solo EPs on Vision quest, Hot Creations and Turbo that saw him delve even deeper into a melancholic world of experimental house music.

As someone who learnt guitar and piano from a young age, Clarian’s music is very much alive and rich with real melody and feeling and that is once again the case on his debut EP for Canada’s My Favorite Robot Records.

Up first is the title track, a truly magical affair laced up with dangling harmonies, glowing percussive patterns and loopy melodies that suspend you in a huge open chamber and pleasure your soul as much as direct your feet. Musical, synth laden and beautiful tech like this doesn’t come along very often.

Next up is ‘Unrest’, another heavenly and super sensitive bit of richly melodic and vastly airy music. Hand claps, trilling keys and sweeping synths all colour an expansive deep house groove with real charm, wit and emotion.

Lastly, Clarian teams up with upcoming Miami based producer Uchi whose affinity for the dark &dreamy is on show for ‘Floating in the Wind’. It’s a sombre broken beat affair that has glowing pads backing sharp percussion and undulating drums and perfectly personifies the uplifting and intense mood of the dancefloor; a standout bit of work from these North American producers. 

This EP confirms Clarian to be very much out on his own in terms of the spirituality and artistry of the music he makes.

Clarian - Unrest

A year after Fairmont dropped his highly impressive Lie To Me EP, Canadian outfit My Favorite Robot carefully curate a selection of remixes of tracks from this standout release. As well as one from the label’s eponymous production trio, the likes of Chloe, Abstraxion, Mattheis and John Digweed and Nick Muir all step up with their own great interpretations. 

French producer Chloe you will know from releasing killer cuts on MFRR, Live at Robert Johnson, Throne of Blood & BPitch Control as well as serving up hot DJ sets and mix compilations at clubs like Rex in Paris and for labels like Kill The DJ. Her remix of ‘Boa’ is a sparse but moody house affair, with deep groaning bass and an atmosphere akin to a deserted late night street. It’s a tense, broody track that will make for lots of dramatic moments on the floor. 

Next up, Harold Boué aka Abstraxion is a 29 years old French producer based in London and Marseille. He has released on Marketing, Biologic and Nicolas Jaar's label Other People. His remix of ‘Abysm’ is an invitingly hurried, heavyweight bit of electronic house funk with tons of great synth lines, interesting pads and weird sounds that make you want to move. 

Dutchman Mattheis of labels like Nous’klaer then goes for a much more blissed out, slow burning and ambient affair. He layers in lots of twinkling pads and rippled synth lines to his version of ‘The Most Beautiful Eyes in the World’ and it’s a stunning, widescreen bit of work that really sweeps you off your feet. 

MFR themselves tackle ‘Lie to Me’ flipping it into a brooding bit of slivery, reflective and synth heavy tech that rises and falls in beautiful ways, with gorgeous pads and feathery hi hats making for a super inviting rhythm. 

Finally the Bedrock boss and Renaissance legend that is John Digweed and his studio partner Nick Muir rework the same track with a sensitive heart and conjure up a warm, smooth and serene prog track that is riddled with great synths and really works you into a state of hypnosis. 

These carefully chosen remixers all manage to get fantastic results here, and as a result the whole package excels.  

Fairmont - Lie To Me (My Favorite Robot Remix)

Villanova - 5 O Clock In The Morning feat. Flowers and Sea Creatures (Club Mix)

Nhar kicks starts 2015 with a follow up to his critically acclaimed ‘Life’s Ether’ EP, released early this year on My Favorite Robot Records French DJ and producer Nhar has been a stalwart of the underground House and Techno scenes for the last decade, releasing music with respected imprints such as Mobilee, Correspondent and Boxer. The opening months of 2014 saw him team up for the first time with the ever excellent Canadian label My Favorite Robot Records for the superb ‘Life’s Ether’, a record that garnered support from the likes of Steve Bug, Danny Howells, Estroe and Justin Robertson to names but a few. Now the highly respected producer is back with a standout follow up entitled ‘In Spaces Between’ based around 3 interconnected compositions. The package opens with ‘Part 1’ , a warm and
hypnotic slice of electronic music that draws on warbling pads, haunting spoken word vocal and bubbling acid undertones, all underpinned with a perfect rhythm track. “Part 1’ gives ways to ‘Part 2’, which sees a shift into Chicago inspired territory with it’s old school stabs and taut drums. Spoken word vocals once again set the atmospheric scene before the bassline picks up a blissful melodic pattern and drives the track forward into spine tingling territory with it’s ethereal pads and subtle acidic squelch, quality stuff. Finally we have ‘Part 3’: the tempo drops, the acid breaks free and the listener is taken on a journey down the rabbit hole with this delightful mid tempo and musical workout. This is another impressive release from Nhar and another fine addition to the ever expanding and critically acclaimed MFRR catalogue.

Nhar - In Spaces Between Part 1

My Favorite Robot Records are proud to announce a special new album project from accomplished DJ and producer Andrew Grant in his Naome guise. Grant has been releasing assured tracks since 2007 and as a DJ has headlined all over the world. 

For his first album, he has collaborated with a number of talented musicians and performers and has really gone to town, taking maximum advantage of the full length format. As such, NAOME was 2 years in the works and found Grant working with a plethora of drummers, bassists, guitarists and singers to help curate his first full album. Those artists include Spanish vocalist Sutja Gutierrez, Washington D.C. native Symbol, Baltimore heroes Life On Planets, Dimes aka Jen Schimpf and more besides. 

The album kicks off with the sci-fi atmospheres of ‘Space Station feat. Symbol’, and the Washington DC native’s great vocal range is immediately apparent. His well treated vocals stretched over slowly churning disco beats and thick baselines drive things along perfectly. Then comes ‘Desperate Soliders’ feat. Dimes who lays down her southern bell charmed vocals in fine fashion on a track that is beautifully sparse and moody. ‘Subtle Jestures’ then picks up the pace with propulsive drums and frazzled but expertly crafted synth lines. It’s a a reflective, metallic groove of the sort that perfectly fit in with the MFRR MO. 

‘Amity on Keys (Interlude)’ is an intense, emotive passage of swelling sound, synths and chords that places you deeper into NAOME’s very real world. ‘Making Lace feat. Life On Planets’ is another slo-mo track that gurgles and bubbles, with discordant chords, smeared melodies and a charming, playful sense of late night colour that get sensitively finished off with the sultry tones of Life On Planets. 

‘Kosmatic’ features upcoming artist Slumber and is an otherworldly jam of distant percussion, down low drum breaks and haunting, celestial synth lines. Then NAOME drops the most tender cut of them all, ‘The Great Espace’, features breathy vocal intonations, Balearic 80s guitar licks and crawling groves that make your thoughts turn to lazy days on the beach. ‘WherrWe’ finds Nanni jamming out his raspy voice and fat notes on a classic fender with plenty of vintage tape delay, it makes for an intoxicating, deconstructed disco track full of texture. FInally Sutja Guiterrez joins NAOME on closer ‘Belly Of The Beast’, a downtempo, atmospheric electronic soundscapoe that is a perfect bookend to this outstanding album. Mention must also go to Philip Charles for his contribution on the album. Behind well over 100 productions and as a mastering engineer of greats such as Miles Davis, Digable Planets & Stevie Wonder, Charles worked on album tracks ‘Space Station’, ‘Great Escape’ and ‘Desperate Soldier’ as well as making an appearance on ‘Amity on Keys’. 

This is an album in the truest sense, one that evolves and take left turns, one that makes for truly escapist and captivating listening and one that proves once again that MFRR deal only in the most considered and artfully crafted electronic sounds.

NAOME - Space Station Feat Symbol

Next up on My Favorite Robot Records is another fantastic full length project, this time from someone who has done 20 of them in 20 years, namely Jori Hulkkonen in his Nuclear Winter Garden guise. 

Over the years, Finnish DJ and producer Jori, also a member of the Sin Cos Tan band, has released on F Communications,  Turbo and of course My Favorite Robot Records and, since 2004, has run an outdoor, intimate party at a 14th Century museum in his hometown. Called Nuclear Winter Garden, the night finds him playing extended sets of jazz, folk, classical, avant-garde and indie sounds a world away from his usual DJ duties. It is those sets that have inspired this new album. 

Says the man himself: “The idea is to find a personal edge for the output, rather than paving the way for accessibility. What’s missing from a lot of people’s music these days is the risk taking. And I like taking risks.”

The album opens with sparse atmospherics and a mix of subtle synthesised hooks and organic piano chords. A drifting voice floats in amongst it all and a contemplative mood is set from the off. ‘Some of You Might Survive’ is then a chilly ambient brew of frazzled sines that suddenly flips midway through when emotive chords and one finger synth notes arrive to lighten the mood.  

‘A New Cold War’ keeps up the frosty and autumnal vibes with twinkling keys offset by rasping synths and gentle tumbling percussion. Remaining resolutely horizontal and sparse, ‘Strangest Positions’ features what sound like de-tuned synths and twanging guitars, ‘Baryonic Truth’ marries distant, sketchy drums with swirling pads and ‘Red Magic’, with its lo-fi electronics and obscured, gauzy vocals, references Jori’s pop-act inspirations Connan Mockasin and John Maus.

The last two tracks complete this evocative, enthralling and experimental journey though sound in blissfully soothing style. The influence of Jori’s outdoor party looms large throughout this album, and on it he does a fine job of painting a picture of just what one might sound like. 


Nuclear Winter Garden - Red Magic

Nuclear Winter Garden - A New Cold War

The Canadian outfit behind the My Favorite Robot label turn to their own creative talents for
the next EP, namely a tidy two tracker entitled ‘Glass to the End’.
Made up of Jared Simms, James Teej and Voytek Korab, My Favorite Robot have established
themselves as artful electronic craftsmen with a penchant for deep and moody synth tracks
that feature stirring vocals and engaging grooves. This EP will actually be their first for a long
while following efforts on Crosstown Rebels, No.19 Music and Life and Death.
Opener ‘Magneto’ is a darkly melodic gem from the Robot trio, with Voytek’s pained vocals low
in the mix and reflective but sad synths stretching out all around. The beats grow increasingly
prominent and eventually sound like the sort of epic fair that Sasha would drop in one of his
emotive club sets.
The title track is then a quicker and slicker track with bursts of horn, blurts of synth and
arpeggiated melodies all making for an urgent and dystopian vibe. Futuristic and evocative,
this is another well crafted and properly structured song that really sets on fire when Voytek’s
vocal cries leap out of the mix at the mid point.
Dramatic and theatrical in truly unique ways, My Favorite Robot really do have their own
unique sound, as this EP shows once more.

My Favorite Robot - Glass To The End

www.myfavoriterobotrecords.com
My Favorite Robot Records has been a strong force in underground electronic music since 2008.

The Toronto based label is an offshoot of the act “My Favorite Robot” formed earlier in 2002 by Jared Simms and Voytek Korab.

The label has managed to consistently release quality music by some of the electronic dance world’s most renown producers such as H.O.S.H, Kenny Glassgow, Jori Hulkkonen, Eric Volta, Sasse, Fairmont, Tiger Stripes, Tim paris, Chymera, Sid Le Rock, Tim Green, Clarian, and My Favorite Robot themselves just to name but a few and there is no slowing down for them!