It must be hard to be a genius. Alexander Robotnick (neé Maurizio Dami) has been releasing music under various guises for more than 25 years. Yet in all that time, with all that has changed in technology, both in the studio and in our homes, he has managed to release song after song, album after album of very essential, up-to-date techno.

His career really took off in 1983 with the single Problemes D’Amour. It’s groudbreaking simplilcity tightened up a movement which until then had been loosely grouped with italo disco. But his tracks were simple, minimal, and largely computer and synth driven. As italo got more vapid (not a bad thing really…) Alexander and his followers started working like scientists, building the genetic code for what would come out of the rave generation. Acid beats, electro rythms, chilled out melodies: the blueprints all bear his fingerprints.

Throught the next couple of decades he would release single after single, whether in vogue or out, of high quality techno. His method of building melodies on top of eachother passed in, then out, of style. Thank god he’s stuck with us for all these years. There’s quite a few musicians who could/should take notes from him.

Hopefully with his new album, My La(te)st Album, he’ll get some recognition for what he’s brought to the musical landscape, and for the pictures he’s still painting with his gorgeous beat driven soundscapes. Yes you can here those hints of italo with gorgeous melodies and perfect bass lines, and even a little new wave thrown in. And hell, the vocoder, as far as I am concerned, will never go out of style, and Robotnicks use of it is perfect, just touching on the romance of the future.

A friend of mine in Glasgow recently saw Robotnick DJ/perform live and said it was absolutely incredible. He DJ’s with a laptop, a mini-keyboard and a microphone so he can experiment and play while he DJ’s.

This album manages to look forward while addressing the past which he had a huge hand in creating. For that alone I highly recommend you get this album, which is available at both iTunes and Beatport.

If your interest is peeked, check out a sample at my blog, T.M.L.