Hot Elephant Italy At Juno Download

Review: It's always nice to have some vintage Alexander Robotnick fare to discuss. The three tracks here are typical of his late 70s/early 80s style, mixing up tough, arppegiated rhythms with vocoder vocals, bombastic metallic noises and even proto-acid tweakery. There's also a touch of tongue-in-cheek campery, too, in the shape of an Italo cover of Chic's disco classic "Le Freak". The EP's real highlight, though, is opener "Seranade", which bubbles away nicely in classic Robotnick, robo-disco fashion. Timeless!

Review: Robo-disco pioneer Alexander Robotnick takes another dip into his vast back catalogue and unearths a trio of previously unheard electronic bangers. Opener "It's All Right Baby" is a typically cute and kitsch take on synth disco, offering a mix of Italian house chords, bustling synth bass and some decidedly cheery melodies. The darker "Disco Action" is arguably the pick of the EP. It offers a twisted, Italo-meets-acid house concoction that bristles with aggressive dancefloor intent. Closer "Minor Terzo", meanwhile, showcases Robotnick at his brooding, foreboding best, all hypnotic electronic rhythms, intoxicating melodies and moody chords.

Review: Given his 30-plus year history of production, we should probably never be surprised by the contents of Alexander Robotnick's seemingly endless archives. Yet this release has surprised us. Lead cut "Funky Skunky" sounds like a cross between early prog house and nu-disco, while "It Was Like A Dream" re-casts Mr Fingers-ish deep house and wonky Italo. "Infinite Solitude" is less surprising; with its chiming synth melodies, cheery appreggios and Eurodisco strut, it's vintage Robotnick. As if that lot wasn't enough, there are two bonus remixes of "Can You Feel Me", including a storming, techno-tinged rework from Things Happen.

Review: Maurizio Dami, aka Alexander Robotnick, is a total legend. Following his early hippy years, he ended up scoring his mate's Italian mime performances - inadvertently helping invent Italo-disco in the process. He gave up 80s disco stardom for world music adventures in the 90s but was lured back into production (and indeed DJing) by The Hacker about ten years ago. He's been pretty prolific on the electro-disco scene ever since, even recently releasing a host of rarities from his personal vaults. This latest instalment reveals a variety of styles including house: "In My House", acid/breaks: "Submarine" and electro-house: "Disco Asha". Tulioxi provides both bouncy house and Chicagoish remixes of "TB Maniac" and finally Electric Prince delivers a killer doomy techno-disco rework of "Minore Terzo".

Review: A somewhat experimental smorgasbord of genres and influences on this solid debut from Tulioxi. House-meets-disco with an element of tech and more than a slight nod back to the 80's, coming from both the synth and effects as well as the vocals on the title track. 'Wrong Reference' is a cool hybrid or modern and retro and has an all round cooler feel to it. With 'In 1996 I Was Like This' he gets all acid induced with a psy flex, while completing the package is an instant crowd pleaser with his cover of 'White Wedding'. A bit of everything here, with some proper outside-the-box thinking, which will add an interesting twist to any set.