By Keith Walsh
As society becomes increasingly more technological, electronic music will occupy larger swatches of thematic space. Whether it’s simply fun pop fluff presented without irony, or darker sounding EDM genres that comment wordlessly in often pessimistic ways on the future, electronic music has never been more relevant than it is right now.
With a slick cyberpunk sound, unique beats and themes alternating between utopian and dystopian, Sick Robot is the project of Liam White out of York, Britain. On the brand new 12-track set Technical Ability, the resourceful Mr. White uses his amassment of samples and an otherwise austere setup to create tunes that are at turns playful and ominous. (My interview with Liam White is at popularculturebeat. )
There’s lots of gritty futurism here. The envelope on White’s newly acquired Korg Monologue is set to gritty and tight, delivering groovy basslines mixed with electronic drum beats, created painstakingly from his sample collections and sequenced in Ableton.
The opening track, “Dimensions” features White’s soprano vocal, sounding more than a bit like Thom Yorke of Radiohead. The song progresses from a chaotic intro, to a cinema-inspired groove, even as it flirts with dissonance. “Less Is More” is a minimalistic pop tune, upbeat and cheery, despite some minor keys there. “ANALOG” cranks up the grittiness, with pounding toms, glitchy sequences and mechanical sounds.
The ballad “Fading” is the only truly acoustic sounding song on the set, or at least it starts out that way, with a bit of pop acoustic guitar in the first verse. Then the mixed down, distorted vocals start, and electronics slowly enter, sounding a bit like a classic Radiohead from the Kid A era. “Humanoid” is somewhat atonal, featuring famous sounds akin to those from the Roland TR-808 analog drum machine.
“PRISM” is a future dance tune, full-on EDM and Kraftwerkian techno funk. “Future Shock” is a total electronic banger, as if New Order’s “Blue Monday” was stripped down by …..a sick robot. “After Burn” is even poppier than that, daring to be melodic as dystopia looms. “Anomaly” finds White tweaking the resonance on the TD-3, creating little squelchy moments in the verses. The minimalist vibe on that sound conjures up images of future espionage.
“Time Slip” is another EDM banger, cyberpunk mode, glitchy and hyper, somewhat atonally on the same chord. “Technical Ability” has a somewhat tropical feel, with quirky portamento, swelling strings and hidden vocals. “Exit” is darkly repetitive finale with a subtly anthemic theme and a pounding synthetic drumbeat with just a touch of pitch to its bass sound. As a whole, Sick Robot’s Technical Ability delivers a satisfyingly futuristic experience.
Sick Robot On Bandcamp
Sick Robot On Twitter
Q and A With Liam White At PopularCultureBeat.com
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