Review: The pioneering Italo producer is still prolific in the studio, but he also has a huge back catalogue, as this latest reissue shows. A good deal of the release focuses on trippy synth scapes - "It's Not My Life" and "Dark Side of the Spoon" - or grainy ambience, audible on the various instalments of "Salt Peanuts" and "Air Stack". However, what really makes this collection so valuable are Robotnick's experiments at the edges of the Italo Disco sound. "Mexicana" features a sassy electro shuffle and camp vocals, "Studio 01" is the kind of sewer techno that Unit Moebius went on to make and "Arabesca" sees Robotnick welcome Middle Eastern motifs to his spacey disco sound. It makes for one hell of a journey.
Review: London distributor, PR/DJ agency and all-round nice guys EPM celebrate 10 years in business with a compilation that features some of electronic music's most respected names. Italo veteran Alexander Robotnick delivers the tear-jerking melodies of "Running About", while Rob Hood, working as Floorplan, delivers the looped disco meets Chicago house jack of "Move It". There is austere techno courtesy of Mark Broom and James Ruskin on the restrained, bleepy minimal "Merz" and Sandwell District's dub meets chilling strings workout "Live in Berlin", while RadioNasty drops the woozy bass and elector breaks of "Radio 3". All these contributions display EPM's flawless underground credentials, while they may have a mainstream club hit on their hands in the shape of the shimmering strings, plaintive keys and Ibiza-friendly groove of Marius's "Jet Set".
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