album review :: robot goes here "the byte is in my blood"

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Robot Goes Here
"The Byte is in My Blood"

Robot Goes Here’s high-energy electronic rock bursts out into the

Finger Lakes music scene consisting of simply Ithaca, NY resident Dave Rand and his laptop computer, and together has succeeded in making The Byte Is In My Blood into a Do-It-Yourself, electronica masterpiece.

In most reviews, the reviewer will often say, "This CD would be best enjoyed by people who listen to: (insert band names here)," but I’m not going to say that, for one reason. The Byte Is In My Blood sounds like nothing I have ever heard. However, Dave compares his music to, "The Postal Service with more jump-kicks; Atom and His Package with more philosophy."

The debut full-length by Robot Goes Here, released on Dec. 15^{th, 2004, bends and blends genres
such as electronica, rock, hip-hop, screamo, and hardcore
into something unheard by most human ears.}

^{After giving The
Byte Is In My Blood the initial listen, I fell in
love with the blips, beeps, samples and screams, and
after countless more thorough listens, the love continues
to grow. This is the same way with many of my favorite
CDs; the first listen is always great, but after time it
gets better and better after picking out wonderful,
previously unnoticed subtleties.}

^{The songs which
stand out as my favorites include "What All The
Screaming’s About", "01001010 (Failing the
Turing Test)", and "Seeing Green". I
recommend those specifically to anyone new to Robot Goes
Here’s music.}

^{The lyrics are
outstandingly intelligent, and resemble something written
by one of the great minds of the last 100 years. In
"01001010 (Failing the Turing Test)" references
are made to Luddites, British textile workers who
destroyed textile machinery in the belief that it would
diminish the necessity of employment, and Alan Turing, a
mathematician who explored the possibility of computers,
pondered the existence of artificial intelligence and
helped break German enigma codes using the Turing machine
during WWII.}

^{During "Seeing
Green", a song motivated by conservation, Dave sings
powerfully, "We throw away our hearts/we throw away
our minds/we throw away our time/we throw away our
lives/our hearts, our minds, our time, our lives are
gone."}

^{On a similar note,
almost every song on The Byte Is In My Blood
conveys some sort of positive message, usually addressing
current and past social problems or concerns, something
which would normally be found in the lyrics of most
hardcore bands. This is not surprising because of Dave’s
large influence from the hardcore and DIY music scene.}

^{Songs like
"What All The Screaming’s About" and
"01001010 (Failing the Turing Test)" address
the fact that the past is much different than our present
and our future, how machines are replacing humans and
reality in many forms, and RGH sends a message to express
ourselves by, "unplugging from the wall and dancing
the dance that we feel in our hearts."}

^{Other songs like,
"Zen and The Science Of Nihilism" and
"Wake Up" tell listeners with a "get
real" attitude to get up and do something with their
lives, because nothing really matters anyways.
"Seeing Green" and the instrumental
"Breakfast at The Atomic Café" are a bit more
depressing, but still informative.}

^{"Seeing
Green" tackles the issue of our society being based
on disposable products, and that we’re being
overtaken by these disposables, while "Breakfast at
The Atomic Café" features sound-bytes from all
sorts of interviews during the Atomic Age, giving the
listener a subliminal "no nukes" message.}

^{Also found on The
Byte Is In My Blood is "Bizack In Blizack",
a re-named cover of "Back In Black" by the
infamous AC/DC. Robot Goes Here also throws in a simple,
orchestrated Intermission as Track 7.}

^{Dave Rand is not
exactly a new-comer to the music industry, as he has been
in many Ithaca bands in the past seven years, and once
ran a DIY recording studio: Cipher Studios, which is
locally noteworthy for the site where Canandaigua’s
own Over The Line recorded their first full-length.}

^{In essence, Dave
has mastered the art of DIY. All recording of The Byte
Is In My Blood was done in this electro-composer’s
bedroom between Jan. thru Nov. 2004, and Dave was even
able to screen print on every CD, print and fold every
paper wrap himself, release it without the help of a
label and even sells his merch on a sliding scale (a very
rare find in today’s music world); The Byte Is In
My Blood is sold from $5-$7, whatever the buyer can
afford.}

^{As a final thought,
I add the fact that I believe that The Byte Is In My
Blood might not be something that the majority of the
general public may enjoy, but those whom are looking for
music with a message and those whom will understand that
message will find as much joy in this sensational release
as I did. I give this CD an 8 out of a possible 10, and
can be purchased from Robot Goes Here’s website, at}^{http://www.robotgoeshere.com}^.