Robots need to learn some style.

I would hate to give the impression that Toronto does nothing but feed into the great Hoser myth by presenting some of the skuzziest rockers the city has to offer. At the other end of the musical spectrum, there are some great artist exploring the electronic realm, producing some of the best electro pop from here to Berlin (although I hear that Prague and Sofia have us beat hands down) and some free form post rockers so good that crowds have been known to stand completely still, arms crossed against their chest looking nonchalantly bored for the entire gig (something to do with sensory overload I hear).

Suction Records

You would think that an electronic label that specializes in electro-pop that you don’t dance to would be somewhat irrelevant. Any yet, Suction records treads the fine line between tedium and umm..slight genius so well that you forget how close they are to falling into ‘Dead or Alive’ territory. Formed by Solvent and Lowfish in the late 90’s, they have released steady stream of, what they term, ‘robot music’ ever since. Similar in to Morr Music, Warp Records, and even Replex (in their gentler moments), the music released on Suction shows that there can be warmth and human emotion in the music generated by robots.

Solvent- Radio Goo Goo
Solvent- For You
Solvent- My Radio
Solvent-A Panel Of Experts
Solvent-FlexiDisc
Lowfish-Glasshouse
Lowfish-Around The Neck
Lowfish- FricFrac
The Mitgang Audio- Minor Causes
The Mitgang Audio- View From Your New Home

Building Castles Out of Matchsticks

Building Castles Out of Matchsticks is the work of Anne Sulikowski, started (apparently) when she got her first computer and so that she would no longer need to mark daily events in her calendar. With such humble beginnings, you would be forgiven for assuming this to be self-indulgent crap. But with great titles like “I Have Made A List Of 374 Reasons Why I Can’t Live Without You And 375 Reasons Why I Can Never See You Again” even the most jaded electro purist would be hard pressed to not give it a listen. Which is a good thing. Because the album of said name is full of skippy beats, punchy melodies and spacy ambience that is every bit as clever as the title. And the song “In Between The Blips And Skips, There’s Love” proves that there is indeed romance to be found in the land of the square wave.


This Could Be The One That Makes It
In Between the Blips and Skips, There’s Love
Tinker Toys and Hearts
It Seems Ridiculous to Care After All This Time


I Am Robot And Proud

The first thing that you read after navigating your way through an entirely unhelpful intro page is: ‘The electricity in your house wants to sing’. This is a nice little encapsulation of what I am Robot And Proud is all about-you have, of course, your electricity, to produce the fundamentals of the music, but there is also a certain coziness, a certain down homey feel that permeates the sound and brings the music back into your bedroom on a rainy day instead of a smoky club on a Wednesday evening. It’s electronic music that sits humans and machines next to each other for a cup of tea and tells them to be friends and they listen.

Robot vs Heidi
Learn From Mistakes
Saturday Afternoon Plans

Now that I’m getting all sleepy and blissed out and I’m in the mood to get dancing, I can’t find any MP3s for any of the bands I had planned on featuring. So I guess I’ll forget about them and drift off to sleep as I contemplate Astroboy and his complex feelings for his sister..