Thee robots got fonky this past Saturday night, with Georgio and myself throwing down a number of Prince [or Prince-related] jams. Getting prime billing was Dez Dickerson's [I Want 2 B A] Modernaire. Dez, who played guitar for Prince in 1979/80 [before leaving after becoming Born Again and getting replaced by Wendy], performed with his Modernaires for a scene in Purple Rain, but only 18 seconds of his song ever made it into the film. The track was supposed to get released as a single and appear on the Purple Rain soundtrack (which eventually became a Prince-exclusive affair), but Dez's song got shelved, multiple label offers fell through and a solo career failed to materialize.

Fast forward 25 years and the long-lost Modernaire finally gets a proper single release, mastered from a newly discovered tape recording. Put out by the fine folks at Citinite and pressed on translucent red vinyl, it also contains 5 funked-up mixes/remakes from DMX Krew, Luke Eargoggle [Faceless Mind], Hot Persuasion, Complexxion, and the ever heavy-breathing Egyptian Lover. Check Citinite's Modernaire page for online retailer/distributor links or go to Bleep.com to buy the mp3s. I suggest buying the vinyl pronto since it is a limited edition and I'm sure once those collectors find out, they'll be snapping them up like Prince at a high heels sale. So in the words of Morris Day, "I wanna see some asses wigglin'...I want some perfection."

Another act to look out for on the Prince/Midnight Star/Cameo/Zapp-inspired tip is Bumper, side-project of Mr. Pauli with Geoffrey T. Their sound incorporates LinnDrum, vocoders, and funky basslines, blending vintage Minneapolis genius with early Jedi Knight electro fuckery. Stream their Never Stop EP here to get a taste of new jack electrofunk, because when it comes to all things Prince, It Takes An Erotic Village...

Seems like the summer heat has rendered the 'bots at RobotSound HQ lethargic as of late. It's evident that they'd rather sit around watching bad Reality TV programming and getting their snack on than producing anything in terms of meaningful content for y'all. Nevertheless I've managed to coax them into uploading my set recorded live at the recent Hot Box Summer Solstice event. A potent synthesis of love and war, this mix attempts to address the uncertainty of the times in which we live by incorporating both the chaos of today with (hopefully) the promise of a brighter tomorrow.

HotBox 6.21.08

Shit Robot - Lonely Planet
Water Lilly - The Sleepwalker
Franz & Shape - Forgotten Days (Memory Boy Remix)
8-Bit - The Robots
Hell - Suicide Commando
Kano - It's A War
GTO - Love Is Everywhere (Live & Love Mix)
Steril - Electrostatic
The Clone Machine - Clone Machine (Empire Mix)
Der Zyklus - Roche Limit (v3)
Millimetric - Where
David Carretta - Shocktreatment
Nitzer Ebb - Murderous (Phil Kieran Mix)
6blocc - Digits
Anthony Rother - Mathematik
MOTOR - 1X1 (Phil Kieran Remix)
Kiko - Slave Of My Mind
Romina Cohn - The Night
Ectomorph - Lost Angles (Manyangles Version)

>Robotsound™ proudly presents:
dr™ @ Hotbox. 8.04.07

nu beat music for the sexy

fast eddie - acid thunder / 1988 DJ International
miss nicky trax - acid in the house / 1988 Kaos Dance
tricky disco - tricky disco [lützenkirchen remix] / 2007 iO
trance trax - get on / 1991 Beat Box International
major problem - acid queen / 1988 Kaos Dance
human body - acid bizzard / 2005 Goodlife
prince - erotic city / 1984 Warner Brothers
photocall - silver clouds / 2004 Computer Life
plus device - body heat / 2006 Hefty
kiko - running in the city / 2001 Goodlife
egyptian lover - make it hot / 2006 Egyptian Empire
anthony rother - moderntronic3 / 2007 Datapunk
huggotron - gasoline / 2006 Confused
franz & shape - tightropes [kissy sell out's bethnal green dub] / 2007 Relish Recordings
jun-x - balltraxx / 2005 Brique Rouge
millimetric - where / 2006 Goodlife
steril - grey / 2001 International DJ Gigolos