Roman Angelos – Spacetronic Lunchbox

Happy Robots

Happy Robots is perhaps the perfect label name for the latest release from Roman Angelos. Spacetronic Lunchbox is a vehicle for NY-based composer Rich Bennett to go all library music wibbly on us, and I defy anybody to come out the other side of this eleven tracks in eleven minutes (yes, you read that right) extravaganza without a great big smile on their face.

It could be the warmth of a trip down an alternate reality memory lane or it could just be shaking your head at the sheer chutzpah of such an outing, but it is a riot. Once it starts, the ensuing eleven minutes takes us on a trip through Rich’s love of all things library, exotica or spacey — but be warned, it is a whistle stop tour.

The bossa beats from the rhythm machine are straight out of ’70s Bontempi land and the effervescent cheese of the keyboards in opener “Please Hold The Elevator” brings to mind some Acorn Antiques out-take, but it is over in about thirty seconds as “Himalayan Cats With AK-47s” bears into view. They manage to sound so different, as if Rich has some enormous cache of ancient organs just waiting to be played, idling away in some plush, brown velour Manhattan hideaway.

There is the carousel sound of the end of the pier on “I’m In Love With The Family Robot”, and the creaky sets of 1970s TV theme tunes in “Secret Secret”, or maybe you fancy the junior world cup theme of the urgent “Farewell To Love”. The first six tracks are under a loose heading of “Themes”, which is probably when you have to flip the delightful lathe-cut record (hurry now to Happy Robots’ site before they all go) and on the other side are “Games”.

These are less frivolous and there is also a surge in power. As often with these sorts of things, I am reminded of Trans Am, particularly on “Fall Off”, but there is also the church organ opening of chase sequence “The Undercroft” and the Tron-like — and utterly addictive and far too short — “Highway Chase”. You could imagine Madonna singing over the bubbling insistence of 1985-indebted “Electric Zone”. Signing off with the utterly charming “Why Am I Old”, replete with tape warps that sound as though this was dragged from the back cupboard of a BBC archive, the whole thing sounds as though it was played with love shot through with a dash of humour.

You could do far worse than treat yourself to Roman Angelos’s Spacetronic Lunchbox and put a grin back on your face.

-Mr Olivetti-