The Robot Heads From The Cradle To The Rave

It's amazing to think that the very idea for SXXX Robot's album, From The Cradle to The Rave, was hatched before most of its listeners were even born. Originally dreamed up 21 years ago, From The Cradle to The Rave has taken a fair amount of time to get made for all sorts of reasons that should probably be put in novel form; we're talking DJ residencies, cabinet making, the works. With all that in mind, to say the making of this album was epic would probably be an understatement as the Robot have actually taken longer to make one album that Boston has their discography; now that's impressive.

The problem with taking over two decades to make an album is whether or not it can ever live up to the hype that's going to inevitably piled upon it. Thankfully for From The Cradle to The Rave it's actually a pretty decent record. Not necessarily earth shattering in a OMG I can't believe what I'm hearing way, but a consistently solid and well produced record of tech-chilled-glitch-electro house The Robot does little to disappoint. With lush grooves, seductive vocals, chilled vibes, upfront beats and a modern sense of where dance music is today, the Robot manage to craft a record that has as much retro-coolness as it does leading edge beatology. At times reminding me of someone like the Other Two while at others embracing its inner Green Velvet the Robot clearly knows its way around the dance floor and I suppose that's to be expected with nearly a lifetime of musical experience under it's collective belt.

With contributions coming from DFA boss James Murphy, Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem, the Juan Maclean, and the Make Up's Ian Svenonius how could this record ever fail? I'm willing to say that it's just about impossible as every groove on this record has been meticulously written, planned, and programmed with uber efficiency and when you add in all these guests and their talents From The Cradle to The Rave explodes into this massive beat devouring monster that will leave your head pulsating in repetitive bliss. From The Cradle to The Rave might not end up outliving it's legendary recording timetable, but the songs are solid enough to stand on their own without all the hype and are still relevant. SXXX Robot's glitchtechnotronica is a welcome addition even if it's time stamp might be 21 years past it's sell by date.