From coast to coast
Us Robots got our start in Maine. It's where we met, froze our butts off together, one of us was even born there. Brendon Whitney (alias: Alias) is also from Maine, but left the frosty north for the warm asphalt hip-hop pressure cooker that is Oakland, Cali. On the same side of the country but in an earlier time, Rona Rapadas (alias: Tarsier) grew up in Cali, then left for Brooklyn. Despite having crossed the country in opposite directions, the pair united via e-mail when Tarsier reached out to Alias after being inspired by his work, and worked in a postal-service style collaboration for almost two years before meeting up.
The results are pretty amazing. Their forthcoming LP Brookland / Oaklyn (which comes out on the 23rd of this month) shows an amazing range, with Alias' skilled touch shining on the production side, and Tarsier's sweetly alien vocals giving it a curious allure. Combine the two, and you've got ten incredibly beautiful tracks. In addition to his own albums, Alias has done production work for Sole, Ben Gibbard, personal favorites The Notwist, and the touch that made all of the aforementioned music so strong is readily evident on this project as well. Fast, soft electronic hits mixed in with scores of layered acoustic strings build towards a strong finish, while on the vocal side of things, fans of The Knife and Björk will really take a shine to these tracks, this one (their lead single) in particular. If you like anything ever put out on Anticon, then this one is a no-brainer for you. If you haven't, this is a very good place to start. It's warm and very approachable while staying intelligent and aurally rich.
The full length will be out in a few weeks, but the 12" and digital single for Dr. C is out now. You can listen to and download the B-side and remixes on eMusic, and nab the full album (for free with your trial signup) as well.