My Robot Friend - Dial 0

New York musician and multi-media performance artiste My Robot Friend has been a cult figure on the city's underground circuit since 2001. 'Dial 0' marks his full-length debut for Glasgow's Soma Records and sees him combining such lyrical topics as post-millennial tension and the apathy of youth with electro-pop, rock and techno sounds. With numerous vocal tracks, 'Dial 0' represents something of departure from the label's usual output. Intentional or otherwise, the album fuses a sense of novelty and disposability giving it the feel of a kitsch art project, particularly on the insane cover of Blondie's Rapture, the cacophony of City Sounds and the bizarre Electric Pants, where a David Byrne-esque vocal clashes with classical guitar. One More Try is the exception to the rule, with a star turn from Mercury Prize winning vocalist Antony Hegarty of Antony and and the Johnsons fame, which sounds like a long-lost Yazoo classic. [Colin Chapman]