Robotika Expanded

Robotika (Expanded) is available from:

Robotika (Expanded) available now from CD Baby

Experiencing symptoms of Robotika….

Following Electronic Ecstasy, the first song to leave the studio was Tonight.

A song about breaking free of the constraints and worries of the day-to-day and having one night of unbridled fun without any worries or concerns. Upbeat and exuberant the track was a bit of a red herring in terms of the album that would follow, Robotika. Thematically connected Robotika tells the story of Client SS006 (the catalog number of the album release) born into a future dystopia, who is being examined for symptoms of Robotika. Not a man. Not a machine. But something else in between.

The journey begins with the Diagnosis: Begin

The tale of Client SS006 has begun with Robotika (Technology Seduces). Dark, industrial, stark, but with an inherent beauty. Inside the electronic world of robotics, the spark of humanity cries out from its core, wanting to escape and break free.

Going into The Future, the awareness sets in that living in the past can feel like a safer place, but the past no longer exists. The folly that every generation believes theirs to be the greatest and their culture the high point.

Conforming to peer pressure, (I Do) the Robot, momentarily removes SS006 from the concerns of the moment. A certain relief comes with the conformity of expectations. (or not)

Working in a larger society and corporate culture is visited with Industry (Hostile Takeover Mix). Do as you’re told, don’t question anything. Your future has been mapped out for you.

And within any organization there will be factions that don’t have your best interests at heart. There will always Assassins (Take the Hit Mix). “You’re on the radar, you’re in their view. Locking on the target, they’re going to see it through. For them to be on top they have to drag you down. To stay afloat, they have to see you drown.”

Modern life crashing in, SS006 does what many do in similar circumstances and opts for medication intervention with (I want to be) Medicated.

As the drugs kick in, we float into Android Dreams (remix), a dream state with random memories from another day.

As clarity surfaces we address isolation with Just A Lonely Robot. “An aberration, a solitary blip. I never got the happiness chip. I don’t fit in, I shouldn’t be here. Sometimes I just want to disappear.”

Seeking escape, Nightlife is next up. “Tonight I want to set myself free, to be somone else I don’t want to be me. Escape, I need to get away, if only for a minutes, or an hour or a day. Tonight I want to get lost in the nightlife…” Cold analogue synths and a taught drum machine underscore the search for escape.

Following escape into the Nightlife, comes the unbridled escape of Tonight.

Tonight is followed by Dance Again as the party continues. “Drop the beat, move your feet, the time has come to get away. Forgot to smile, for a little while, but now we have a special day.”

As the night fades into day, a Perfect Day is the next step of the journey.

On the expanded version of the album, next up is introspective Memories Drift (It’s Christmas) “Memories drift like snowflakes in the air. To a place and time, no longer there. The days are shorter, the night alive with lights. The lights they glimmer, born again anew. Looking at the past from another view. Backwards glances on how things used to be. Images and sounds, dreams and memories. (It’s Christmas).”

from Memories Drift we go into Robotika (Ambient).

Closing with Prognosis: End

Following are three short instrumentals: Robot Pars b, c & d and finally Robotika (beta) closes the expanded edition.

Robotika (Expanded) is mastered in HDCD® by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering, Inc., for enhanced audio fidelity. HDCD® encoded discs will play on all CD Players.

Robotika (Expanded) is available from:

Robotika (Expanded) available now from CD Baby

Reviews:

The Mastermind Behind Munich Syndrome Talks About His Music and New CD

Robert Lawrence 23 Jul 2013

www.gaysonoma.com

ROBOTIKA – MUNICH SYNDROME – SYNDROME SOUNDS MUSIC

Emotionless. Neutral. Repetitive. These are some of the words often described when referring to electronic music and yes this holds true when it’s not done right. The trick is to start with a basic theme and then build on that thought. The end results when an artist is on the proper path are delightfully limitless. Munich Syndrome surely knows how to ‘get it right’ with every release thus far.

On Robotika, the multi-talented David Roundsley, takes his alter-ego Munich Syndrome’s fourth release to an opportunistic new level with a slightly pop-ish direction, breaking new ground for his sound and a new concept for this artist. The most exciting development for me was the incorporation of more beats into this release. From beginning to end it came off as a fresh encounter, even though I have been well exposed to his other works.

The future of music, or I should say music portrayed in the future has always been of an electronic nature as far back as the 60s. Munich Syndrome seems to have captured that essence first presented by pioneers such as Jean-Michel Jarre, Giorgio Moroder, and Kraftwerk, while effortlessly leaving a modern taste. Roundsley has perfected a hybrid of New Age and Synthpop with just the right amount of vox vocals to compliment the carefully tuned electronic orchestrations with the Robotika project.

I was going to breakdown the individual tracks, but Robotika truly is an entire event in its whole. I will mention my favorite selection “(I Do) The Robot,” which is absolute heaven while driving on an open highway. For some reason it brought to my mind the line dances on Soul Train. I close my eyes and I can envision the couples strutting their stuff in those wild 70s outfits and yes frequently doing the Robot Dance.

I had an opportunity to gather some information from the ‘man behind the curtain’ and I am pleased to share this with our readers:

Gaysonoma: David, in reviewing your releases there is a definite display of growth. What part of this do you feel has been your greatest stepping stone and why?

David Roundsley: Thank you. The area I have become much more comfortable with is voice manipulation. If you look at my releases chronologically there wasn’t much voice used on Sensual Ambience, and jumping up to Robotika, there is a vocal element on every track.

I think the voice is a very powerful tool, but not being a singer having the ability to introduce the vocal component was very important (but challenging) to me. I’d like to build upon that and go further with the next release.

Gaysonoma: Being a one-man army must take its toll, how long does it take to complete a single track?

David Roundsley: It depends on how you clock the beginning and end. I’m continually writing in my head, but the only things I jot down are lyrics when they come to me. If I don’t document something the moment I think of it, odds are it’ll be gone.

Once I sit down in the studio, even if I have a very specific melody or beat in mind, once I start assembling the track, often it either goes in a completely different direction, or it becomes another song altogether.

I’ll get the base down and think it’s ‘there,’ but if I put it away for a few days, or even weeks, I end up tweaking it quite a bit and hopefully improving upon it. On average a song will take about four weeks total. Some have taken months though.

Gaysonoma: Which instrument to you find the most difficult to control or make do what you want it to do?

David Roundsley: This would be two-fold. The voice in conjunction with sampling. I’d like to have more mastery of sampling. There are two types of people in terms of learning. One being the type to thoroughly read instructions, watch tutorials, etc., the other being the type to just jump in and start pushing buttons. Sadly, I’m the type to just want to push buttons, let things rip, and see where they lead.

Gaysonoma: Of all your influences which artist has had the biggest impact in your current direction with Munich Syndrome and which piece of work do you admire the most of theirs?

David Roundsley: I will say the past few years I’ve been listening less and less to other artists. I went through a period where I’d be crushing on an artist or song and it would inform what I was doing on some level. With Robotika there was next to zero thought about anybody else’s style or trying to fit or match up with any current trends. Robotika addresses my own feelings of alienation. I’ve never sought groups or organizations to join, and none have reached out to me, so I’m kind of left to my own devices, so to speak.

Gaysonoma: Robotika has a slight dance feel to many parts. Was this intentional? How has it been received by your closest fans?

David Roundsley: Yes, there was intention to bring up the BPM a bit more throughout the album. I was also aware of writing it as a whole (even though I know few people listen to an album in it’s entirety). I purposely wrote some songs to as counterbalance (going from Assassins to Medicated) to the pace.

As to how it was received by fans, I’m not really sure. The last two albums were bootlegged very heavily in Russia, but this one was totally off the charts. I was getting pages and pages of sites that suddenly had the album every time I did a Google search. I’m going to take that as approval on some level.

Now being four albums out, I’ve found a curious trend in terms of plays and sales. When I release a new album the one that preceded it suddenly starts getting a lot of attention. I guess I need to release another album to see where Robotika actually stands!

Gaysonoma: With Electronica ever so present in popular alternative, hip-hop and dance music these days, what landscape do you envision Munich Syndrome heading to next?

David Roundsley: I have no real feel for where Munich Syndrome fits in regards to current music genres or trends. Or where it’s going. Robotika was the first album done as a cohesive whole (with the exception of one song that was written a few years earlier). I didn’t think about where it would fit or make any attempts to adhere to a current trend (dub step comes to mind).

I find that no matter how much I plan or think I know where things are going, once I sit down in the studio, the process takes on a life of it’s own and songs often go into a direction I never envisioned. When an album is complete I’ll think ‘where did that come from?’

Gaysonoma: It was great to get a little sample of the working process from David Roundsley of Munich Syndrome and numerous thanks to him once again for his comments. Robotika is quite a moving occasion for your ears. I highly recommend the use of headphones for this CD to capture all the textures and layers of sounds. It’s a future trip that’s well worth the time invested.

Robotika (Expanded)

Reviewed by Carl Jenkinson

March 1, 2013

While previous Munich Syndrome releases have provided ideal listening for the futuristic playboy in his high-rise penthouse flat, this latest album sees US musician David Roundsley incorporating, in many places, a more powerful & solid sound that moves closer to more traditional synthpop styles. This is particularly true during the opening exchanges with ‘Robotika (Technology Seduces)’ which is one of three versions of this track to be found here & which impresses with a powerful rhythmic backing providing the backbone for the assertive melodies which soon impose themselves in no uncertain terms. These quickly prove an important part of the album’s appeal, giving a nicely cutting edge to ‘Assassins (Take The Hit Mix)’ & the slightly darker ‘Industry (Hostile Takeover Mix) as well as the action-packed ‘Tonight.’

While some bombastic brass fanfares ensure that you are certain to follow the instruction given in the title to ‘Dance Again’! The vocodered vocals, which are another constant facet, do succeed in maintaining the slightly fantastic edge that has always been part of the MS sound, adding an almost ‘space-pop’ appeal to ‘The Future’ & a sense of fun to the ultra-infectious (I Do) The Robot’, a track you can’t help but listen to with a smile on your face although this is later contrasted by ‘Just A Lonely Robot’, the heart-rending feel of which is embellished further by some emotive sax voices.

This is one of a quartet of tracks that utilize analogue rhythms for the full-on old-school experience, the others being the short ‘Medicated’ which lays a mellow mood with its ethereal floating chords, the upbeat-sounding ‘Perfect Day’ (no, not the Lou Reed one!) & the excellent remix of ‘Android Dreams’ where more faux-saxophone voice give the piece a smokey, electro-blues-like mood. This is the closest the album comes to the MS styles of yore but it’s good to see Roundsley progressing while never losing track of what makes his music stand out from the synthpop crowd & he even manages to avoid the cheese factor that Christmas songs usually abound in during ‘Memories Drift (It’s Christmas)’, where the bells at the beginning are the only real indication of what the song is about, the track laying down a nicely laid-back feel, probably ideal for relaxing to after a big crimbo dinner!

The remaining mixes of ‘Robotika’ & three-part ‘Robot Parts’ which resemble Kraftwerk & which bring up the tail end of the album feel more like (not unwelcome) trimmings whereas the main course which makes up the rest of the album provides plenty of satisfying offerings for the synthpop lover to get their teeth into & at over 70 minutes duration, you certainly won’t be going hungry afterwards!

Reviewed by: Carl Jenkinson

www.hard-wired.org