I Am Robot And Proud
The Electricity In Your House Wants To Sing

THE REVIEW

Canada, a hotbed of talents mostly unexplored or even more overshadowed by mainstream compatriots or their American cousins.

That Canada, which gifted the scene with dubious characters like Unicorns, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, MSTRKRFT, Arcade Fire, gave birth to the genius in question, one Shaw-Han Liem aka I Am A Robot And Proud, from Toronto. The LP I want to propose to you is "Electricity In Your House Wants To Sing," released in 2006 for Darla Records.

Insert the CD into the player and press play: a magic box containing all the childhood toys you lost and never found again with loads of Meccano and Lego, plush toys, and colorful little cars will appear before you. This is pure electro-pop for dreamers, for those who even today, returning from work and passing a playground, look enviously at the kids on the swings.

The listening experience is pleasant for all 37 minutes, and the tracks of the album form such an amalgam as to bring it closer to the figure of a concept album (obviously only regarding musical plots, since the tracks are not supported by vocals and thus lack any form of lyrics): it starts with the piano of the title-track enriched by an up-tempo synth carpet up to the closing "Center Cities", passing through the intricate yet immediate melodic lines of "The Work", stopping to admire the breathtaking beauty of "Neil Lake" (in my opinion, the highlight of the album) and tapping your feet to the sampled drums of "Me Vs. Heidi".

Overall, an album I highly recommend to anyone who wants to listen to fresh and original electro-pop, perfect for the summer at the door.