Westworld and Battlestar Galactica are popular because they place the human condition in stark relief against cybernetic beings indistinguishable from us. These shows call the very nature of our known reality into question, particularly in the context of advances in artificial intelligence. However, our existential anxiety won’t exactly be useful when machines reach sentience and wreak havoc on their makers.
A little-play-that-could from 1920, entitled R.U.R. (translated from Czech as “Rossum’s Universal Robots”), was the work that first introduced the world to the word “robot.” Written by Karel Čapek (pronounced “Chapek”), the play became as influential as something like Blade Runner today for reflecting on the human condition through a terrifying mirror.
For Bordeaux, France-based producer Djedjotronic, Čapek’s play reverberates again in the new century. Musically, it’s the perfect musical framework to return things back to basics. His debut album R.U.R., due out September 14 on Boys Noize, features eleven searing EBM tracks, including a vocal performance from Douglas McCarthy of Nitzer Ebb, sure to get those pistons pumping. Listen to “Take Me Down” featuring McCarthy, below:
R.U.R. tracklisting:
01. Dr Rossum
02. H+
03. Cops
04. Are Friends Electric (feat. Lokier)
05. Electric Body
06. Chasing The Lights
07. Take Me Down (feat. Douglas McCarthy of Nitzer Ebb)
08. Avatars Have No Organs (feat. Stelarc’s Prosthetic Head)
09. Cockring Robot
10. Not A Toy
11. R.U.R.
More about: Djedjotronic
