To commemorate the recent passing of Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman, the first man to synthesize Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), this month's RobotSound Jukebox is all about thee Acid. From 1987 to 2008, here are 33 (30+3) choice 303 trax for your trip. Yes, the Silver Box called the TB-303 Bass Line manufactured by the Roland Corporation (and its subsequent clones and software emulators), which once spurred the Acid House movement, continues to jack the masses worldwide.

In the beginning there was Jack...

Today's RobotMix™ comes to us courtesy of Mark Archer, of Nexus 21/Altern 8 fame. Mark kicks it wayyy Old Skool here with Thee urban jams of the early-to-mid 80s. Let me be the first to witness that the robots who krafted these songs had some serious soul indeed.

Listening to this mix, I was transported back to my childhood, when I'd tune in to local radio station KDAY when it was still 1580 on the AM dial. I'd eagerly await each day's top hit countdown which for a time nearly always included one of the countless "diversions" of Art of Noise's Beat Box, Egyptian Lover - Egypt Egypt, Newcleus - Jam On It, Cameo - She's Strange, and invariably, something from the LA Dream Team. KDAY was responsible for bringing the sounds chilly most of West Coast Hip Hop (Electro-hop in particular) from the other side of town to the ears of suburban, fat lace wearin', robot mimes like myself.

So, depending on your flava, break out the linoleum/carboard, don those Adidas tracksuits and Kangol hats, or dig out the rollerskates for the smoov sounds of:
Soul Electro

(Tracklisting after the jump)

After countless attempts by dr™ of trying to convince me to impart some of my vast musical knowledge by contributing to RobotSound™, I've finally decided to discuss one of my favorite dance music genres, New Beat. This was the sound created primarily by Belgian producers from '87 to '89 that forged a link between the EBM and Acid House of the mid-to-late 80s with the Rave/Hardcore Techno scene of the early 90's.

According to dance lore, New Beat was inadvertantly created when a deejay played an EBM 12", Flesh by A Split Second, at 33rpm instead of it's intended speed of 45rpm. Besides their slower tempo, New Beat hits were also characterized by their use of sexually explicit samples, especially those taken from NYC shock performance artist Karen Finley. After a couple years, New Beat morphed into the even shorter-lived Skizzo and Hard Beat sub-genres, which in turn were the precursors of early 90's Rave/Hardcore...

With that cursory introduction, I present:
Vodka Ed's Top 10 Jams of New Beat.

Warning: Some of the videos and/or corresponding audio may not be suitable for the workplace environment ;)

10. A Split Second - Flesh
Since this is the track that supposedly started the whole shebang, it's inclusion on the list is essential.

9. 101 - Move Your Body
One of the MANY projects of Praga Khan and friends. Though there were seemingly lots of different New Beat artists, in reality most output was created by two (or maybe three) groups of producers. This was 101's 2nd hit, after their anthemic Rock To The Beat, though I always thought this was the better track.

8. Moments of Ecstacy - You and Me
Another alias of Praga and crew. Like I said, they used LOTS of different names to make you THINK there was a whole scene.

7. Erotic Dissidents - Move Your Ass And Feel The Beat
This is the full 12" mix from the ultra-productive (one could even say robot-like) Morton-Sherman-Belucci, the New Beat equivalent of Hi-NRG's production whizzes Stock, Aitken & Waterman, who also brought us such classics as Shake Your Hips and Jack To The Air Of The Underwear.

6. Taste Of Sugar - Hmm Hmm
Some cheesy dancing here in another Morton-Sherman-Belucci production. Note the dancers are wearing proto-typical New Beat fashion. Many of these 12"s came with inserts where you too could mail order the clothes.

5. Space Opera - Mandate My Ass
This one gets included for the title alone. Some members of Space Opera included CJ Bolland, David Morley and R & S Records founder Renaat Vandepapeliere.

4. Technotronic Feat. Felly - Pump Up The Jam ("Live")
Easily the biggest and most instantly recognizable hit of the New Beat era. As everyone knows, Felly was just the blue-lipped lip-synching model, whose presence record execs felt would likely sell more records. In actuality, Ya Kid K was the uncredited singer/rapper. Here's the original video for a laugh (dig the fannypack).
I don't want a place to stay
Get your booty on the floor tonight
Make my day

3. Lords of Acid - I Sit On Acid
'88 + 303 = Sit on your face...I wanna sit on your face. Soulwax put out I Sit On Acid 2000, an electro remix a few years back.

2. Major Problem - Acid Queen
New Beat doesn't get much hotter than this. Perfect for your Robot S&M parties (don't ask me, dr™ asked me to include that line). Now I want you to get down on your hands and knees...

1. Miss Nicky Trax - Acid In The House
Don't ask me what pumping iron and women's wrestling have to do with this masterpiece of the genre. As part-time New Beat revivalist V/Vm so succinctly puts it, I Wanna Fuck Miss Nicky Trax.

Seeing that we're already in that time period, it's time to honor a small, yet noteworthy subset of early techno, namely Bleep. Centered around the Yorkshire towns of Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford in the UK, it briefly made it's name during '89 - '91, before the ravey piano anthems and hardcore breakbeats took the spotlight. We all know that Robots Love Bleeps (or anything Bleep-related for that matter), so it should surprise no one that this particular electronic dance music sub-genre deserves a post of its own.

Here's not one, but two mixes of Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass courtesy of Sheffield Bleep, an internet radio station broadcasting the very best electronic, dance & experimental music, non-stop, 24/7 - tune into their SHOUTcast stream here. Mix 1 mainly focuses on Bleep put out by Network Records while mix 2 consists of early WARP releases. Tracklistings and places to buy after the jump. Now you'll never accuse me of causing you bleep deprivation.

Network Bleep

Sheffield Bleep

You know what? I think I'm starting to burn out on everything Neu Rave (no, it's NOT rave) / New French Touch (God I hate that term) / Noisy Machine Rock / Ed Banger style - the RobotSound™ posse have given to derisively referring to all of it as "Daft Punk Breaks." Maybe because it's just a bit too prevalent and trendy or that in six month's time I'll have heard just about everybody trying to sound like or get remixed by the latest incarnation of Justice/SebastiAn/Boys Noize/Kitsune act. Don't get me wrong - some of it is brilliant. But seriously, I'm beginning to have a hard time differentiating everything; listen to it for too long and you start to malfunction like some head-spinning, out-of-control cyborg! Are any of you experiencing this output? Can I get an "exact match" anyone?

Now that I've ranted, I think I may have found the antidote to my current, sample-induced frenzy. It's more of a return to a personally, much-loved era in music, albeit with some modernizing upgrades. This is for those of you who liked getting lost in the dreamy soundscapes of Slowdive and Seefeel, or enjoyed drifting away to the hazy abrasiveness of My Bloody Valentine or The Jesus and Mary Chain. It's perfect for your post-Night Out soundtrack. I believe you'll agree that sometimes it's nice to just leave them all behind and get washed away in the distortion.

Loud is the New Quiet.

Lights Out Asia
Ceremony
Malory
Ulrich Schnauss
A Place To Bury Strangers
Death By Audio
Spooncurve

Tune In. Turn On. This Is Acid.
V/Vm - Anal Acid
Miss Nicky Trax - Acid In The House
808 State - In Yer Face
Hithouse - Jack to the Sound of the Underground
Lords of Acid - I Sit On Acid
Hardfloor - Acperience 1
DHS - Mind Control
Psychic TV - Joy
Fast Eddie - Acid Thunder
Luke Vibert - I Love Acid
Universal Indicator (Live 2007)
Aphex Twin - Windowlicker (Acid Edit)
Ceephax Acid Crew - Trolley Service
Gaye Bikers on Acid - After Suck There's Blow (Acid House Remix)
Josh Wink - Higher State of Consciousness 2007
Simian Mobile Disco - Tits & Acid (Live 2007)