Todd Burns: Maurizio Dami is nothing if not a legend, working since 1981 in a variety of guises. His 2003 return to the realm of electro has heralded a spate of new releases that continue to feature some of the genres highest-profile purveyors. Case in point: Bangkok Impact and Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas contribute remixes on Robotnick’s newest 12” for the Dutch Crème label. While the original version of the track is all sweetness and light, Bangkok gives it a darker air with a throbbing bassline and a distorted version of the main melodic theme. Disorientingly complex at times, Bangkok comes out the other end in six minutes with a well-constructed version that sounds more like reworking than it does remix. Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas, on the other hand, discofy the original by livening up the drums and highlighting the guitar and cowbell. The ecstatic sound of that cowbell emphatically closes the track, gone off beat by a person clearly sweating, tired, and glad to be ringing it.

Mallory O’Donnell: God bless Alexander Robotnick, and God bless this crazy world for producing an Italian pretending to be a German pretending to be from outerspace. Though he’s still producing tracks, this one is from 1982, part of a compilation of unreleased material put together by the good folks at Creme, who just happen to be Italo-influenced Dutch who actually are from outerspace. This track is nothing off-the-wall for Robotnick, but it certainly sounds stunningly modern and beats the crap out of 95% of the electro currently being put out by anybody else. Fittingly, Bangkok Impact (representing that other 5%) whips the track up into thicker, chunkier electro-funk, then drizzles gooey analog synths on top like chocolate sauce. Lindstrom & Prins Thomas flip the script for their remix, arranging the original’s already tight drum patterns, echoes, swirls and stabs into even stricter military formation, marching them across the parade ground while waves of fuzzed-out psychedelic guitar crash in the distance.

Michael F. Gill: Is the child now father to the man? Three generations of disco and italo come together for a family reunion of sorts, and to see what they can learn from each other. Robotnick, the elder statesman, prays at the holy sepulchre of the synthesizer, feeling ageless at the disco while a stately, yet serious stare comes across his face. The Detroit posse take notice. Bangkok Impact, wild child from the dawn of Y2K, fattens up the sacrificial lamb with a luminous flash and some luster extracted from his mechanical skin. Lindstrom & Prins-Thomas, the current celebrities du jour, are subverting the religion by sculpting disco as a long, sweaty orgy that looks all pastoral and honey-sweet from the outside. Sex, gluttony, and spirituality, what more could you want?

Crème Organization / 022