Mylo
Destroy Rock'n'roll

In the autumn of 2004, major Italian radio stations began broadcasting a single, "Drop The Pressure". Sophisticated and simple dance at the same time, set on a bass line, a vocoderized riff ("Motherfu...er's gonna drop the pressure!"), four-on-the-floor bass drum, and filters galore.

Of the unknown Mylo, his real name is known, Myles MacInnes, and his origin, the Isle of Skye in Scotland. A desolate place where, I presume, the peak of fun is following the flow of bird migrations. Therefore, with plenty of time available and not having hobbies such as model-making or stencil art, our guy begins fiddling with the computer, composing riffs and entire pieces using industrial quantities of samples. Cut and paste works of art, however, (as DJ Shadow taught in trip-hop) and with notable ear.
Having gathered enough material, he sends demos to record companies but receives only rejections. He then decides to self-produce and creates Breastfed, personally taking care of the graphic aspect and packaging. Without losing heart, he goes to London and starts a real marketing campaign. He plasters the city with stickers saying "Destroy Rock'n'roll" and hands out copies of the record to specialized stores. It marks the beginning of success, Mylo's name spreads first within the DJ and club culture scene and then on a large scale, becoming a chart phenomenon endorsed by Mixmag, IDJ, and other industry magazines. Curious about this whole story, I try to get the CD and after countless "I don't know it," "it hasn't been released," "we've run out" (sic), I stumble upon the CD single and discover that no far-sighted Italian record company has acquired the rights (V2 will do so months later). I also come across the 12" import of the second single "Destroy Rock'n'roll" and the curiosity grows even more. I decide to order it online and within a week it arrives at my house. I'm not used to buying sight unseen, but from the first notes, I'm convinced I made a good purchase.

"Valley of the Doll" is the first track and takes you to places very dear to the early Royksopp and continues along the same line to the more lively episodes ("Drop The Pressure" above all) and the aerobics class dance of "In My Arms" (it contains a sample from the Eurythmics) and "Muscle Car Reprise". The ironic title track deserves a separate mention. In this piece, there is a voice reading a sentence condemning all rock albums to be burned. It’s followed by a list of the "condemned" names accompanied by a bass drum and a "circular" riff of bass and synth. A small act of accusation towards the rock-centric press? I wouldn't know, but at the end of the listen, there remains the pleasant sensation that you can make dance music without necessarily being "maranza,” as Royksopp themselves have taught.