Pardon the last few days' downtime - my database became corrupted (probably due to the work of some dastardly ninjas or pirates), frustrating this technology-challenged droid and leaving you guys without the updates you crave. Not exactly sure how this happened, but we'll be upgrading this weekend, eliminating problems such as these. The future of Robotsound™ will once again be secure.

Speaking of the future, it's clear that the music industry is heading in an increasingly digital direction. With the rise of the mp3 and the ubiquitousness of the iPod, CDs and eventually DVDs will go the way of the cassette/8-track. While there will always be an ever-shrinking niche audience of vinyl-whores like myself, nearly all other music junkies will be getting their fixes mainlined digitally to their drives. One type of dealer who supplies them is known as the netlabel, who have been quietly surfacing in recent years, consistently improving the quality of their product. Here's a small sample bag so you can acquaint yourself with some of these audio pushers. Midi junkies, gonna fuck you up!

Sweet Smelling Surfaces
Run by a crazy, French, noodle fetishist aka Tampopo (and his bad lieutenant Supakaji), this netlabel boasts releases from Plastique de Reve, Linda Lamb, Scape One and a host of artists you've never heard of. The sssounds on this label are not confined to any one musical genre, so prepare to discover the unexpected.
Micromusic
While the bleeps and blips might be small, the idea behind the micromusic community is quite macro. Microeventz occur 'round the globe (540 eventz in the last 7 years!) as much music (be it worky, fucky, sporty, spooky, lovely, funky and/or relaxy) gets uploaded and sucked down daily from micromusic hq.
8 bit peoples
For eight years this collective has expressed their love/obsession of video games in their approach to music. Here too you will find plenty in the way of hi-energy/lo-bit fun; Visiting this site is akin to chancing upon an arcade with all of your favorite quarter-munching machines, plus they're all set to unlimited credits. 1up!

Stay current on the burgeoning netlabel phenom:
Sonic Squirrel
Bleepwatch