When I started this site in 1996 (humiliatingly, the design hasn't changed since then), there were only two other websites about house music and neither had anything to do with New York. Therefore, they were useless.

I'd put up clips of the songs that were big here in order to help people like myself find them, and that was that. By now, putting up clips of the 'house hits' would be redundant. They can often be heard on the radio, and besides that there are hundreds if not thousands of websites now devoted to house music. House music is not hard to find. This is why I no longer feature new house songs every week.

Electro began as an African-American phenomenon when producers added funk to the Germanic beats of Kraftwerk. When blacks branched off into house music and hiphop many European producers took up the reins and in the 90s electro flourished under acts like Mandroid and Anthony Rother. At the same time electro masters Dynamix II and Detroit groups like Ectomorph and Drexciya never forgot their roots and continued to expand electro's horizons.

When the media writes about electro lately its usually in connection with Larry Tee. Strangely, none of the music Larry purports to have created/nurtured is actually 'electro'. Its as if someone came out with a new type of rock & roll that didn't sound anything like grunge aside from using guitars, and decided to call it 'grunge'. Maybe that's why he calls it 'electroclash'.

Larry Tee's statements to the press are often completely odious. He once declared that electro was for white people because white people hadn't had a 'rebellious' music to listen to in a while. Not only is that statement wildly divisive but also idiotic. Nearly every one of the early electro acts were black. Not to mention that none of his 'white' acts are 'rebellious' in the least. Larry Tee's 'Electroclash' is phony rebel posturing at its worst; he and his puppet acts would like nothing more than for 'Electroclash' to go mainstream.

I can say nothing of Larry Tee's Spice Girls, WIT (Whatever It Takes), because I haven't heard their music yet. It is a tribute to his mastery of media manipulation that they've gotten so much press without even having an album. But looking vapid is only interesting if you're saying something real underneath. Dolly taught me that. Otherwise, you're just vapid and that gets boring very quickly.

Electro isn't about how pretty you look. Electro is not about 'not letting integrity get in your way'. Electro is not about an 80s haircut or 80s dress. Guess what? The 80s sucked. I was there. They sucked. And shallow people suck. Its not cool to be shallow, even when its supposedly 'ironic'. Irony is easy, boring and ultimately witless.

Traditionally electro has been about sounding new, not retro. Electro is about the future. Electro is a first; an original. Electro is music for the 21st century. Acts who simply mimic low-fi sounds with home computers and feather their hair aren't getting it. They aren't original, will not last and deserve ignominious ends.

Here I'm going to give you the electro that's worth hearing, and there is a lot of it. There will be 80s electro, 90s electro, the synth-pop electronic punk rock 'nu-electro' of late, and even house tracks that float my boat. All of it will be worth your while.

I start with a mega-talent.. My Robot Friend!



Here he is above looking very Tron, but make no mistake, he is neither empty nor retro and his album 'Hot Action' is the best album of original music I've heard in years. It has the rawness and energy of punk rock and like punk rock, most of his songs are under 3 minutes long. That's nothing in dance music time and so to my dance-music-laden ears, the album flies by like an intense, super-creative rocket.

'I Am The Robot' by My Robot Friend

The first song on 'Hot Action' gives a clue as to how wonderful My Robot Friend really is. A quick pace sets a narcotic tone and the lyrics.. something about the secrets of his robot phase and stroking his cock with mayonnaise and his metal skin not being 'so tough'.. give a clue that he's actually talking about things. Best of all is the manic chorus that makes me feel like a robot. Who could ask for more?

You may be wondering if this guy is my doppleganger but he is not. He is simply another robot, trying to make his way in this human world, and his perspective is one I appreciate.

My favorite song on the album is one I've given you already:

'Sex Machine' by My Robot Friend

'Sex Machine' is like My Robot Friend's origin issue, explaining why he turned into a robot. Apparently he hasn't been able to escape all of his 'human' needs. In fact, he wants to fuck the human race.

'Sex Machine' has the best throwaway lyric ever stuttered out by a malfunctioning robot:

'My psychological repression and emotional stagnation does not preclude my desire for intimate sexual relations.'

Just when you think you have My Robot Friend figured out.. frenetic beats, manic vocals and robots.. he hits you with this, the most hummable tune on the album.

'Why Won't You Call Me Back?' by My Robot Friend

That he reveals an aching heart while supposing that scientists are studying why someone won't call him back appeals to me in every way possible.

And now, my email interview with My Robot Friend.

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I really love your songs. especially 'Sex Machine'. It is a revelation to me. The lyrics are so brilliant. Its as if you scanned my brain and came up with exactly what I wanted to hear What other acts do you enjoy? (Adult? Hungry Wives? etc.) adult, yes. actually the raw crack cocaine of the electro (like adam miller/le car) rather than the vocals and lyrics in adult which are rather dull. the hungry wives are friends of mine, as is avenue d, morplay, prance, and a lot of the other folks that are a part of the "electroclash scene" here in nyc. i like green velvet, mouse on mars, detroit grand pubahs, smash tv, matmos, herbert, the books... a lot of the new electronic stuff. i like rock-influenced bands like le tigre, erase errata, the need, xiu xiu, interpol, the faint, the rapture and the liars. i also listen to a lot of non-electronic, non-dance oriented music as well. things like mirah, the microphones, magnetic fields, moldy peaches... any band that begins with "m" is down with me! What's your feeling on Larry Tee and 'Electroclash'? larry tee has been a good friend to me and a strong supporter of my music for almost a year now and he has given me a fantastic stage to perform on (first club badd, now mutants and berliniamsburg). larry has created a great playground to bring the nyc freaks together under the flag of electro-punk-dance-queer-new-wave-whatever. oh! look! i can see the flag now... it says "electroclash!" on it. it's such a pretty flag. i think it was designed by some of the top fashionistas in nyc. it's got a few stains on it, but it's still nice. Why the obsession with machines and being a robot? (People always ask me this.) because of the beautiful paradox in life that i have discovered since i embraced my existence as a machine: i am at my most human when i am a robot. Do u see a connection between sex and being a machine? yes. it is when we are at our most as preprogrammed beings. isn't that sexy? Yes. What was your scene in the 90s? Clubs/house music or ? i was making acoustic music. i was in a trio called 'princess,' we played acoustic guitar, violin, and bass. we were about to be signed to the label 'too pure' (pj harvey, mouse on mars, stereolab, etc.) when we broke up. one of the members is a modern dancer and he couldn't divide time anymore between the music and dancing, so he left us for his first love: dancing. i smashed all of those rotten acoustic instruments, made friends with machines, and was reborn as a robot! Have u read the book 'The Age of Spiritual Machines'? no. but i have heard of it. do you recommend it? It is my favorite non-fiction book. my feelings about robot spirituality and automated existence are based mostly on personal experience. i am giving voice to these thoughts because of the liberating power that they have had in my life. Do you believe in free will? within the range of my program, yes. it is like zeno's paradox. you can spend your whole life covering the distance between where you are and the limits that bind you. Do you exist? ha. ha. i used to until i became a robot. Does God exist? yes, but i don't want to get into a discussion of that right now  because i'm feeling horny and i'm off to download some internet porn! Speaking of internet porn, I'll point you here . ha! i liked that. do you know who is going to star in the "sex machine" video that i will be working on in a few months: FuckingMachines . That is so amazing! Especially because I am very familiar with that website and I love it. I always show it to people. Is it going to be pornographic i.e. with girls/guys getting fucked by the machines? mmm... no. but who knows i might take them for a ride when i'm out there if they're nice enough to me and if they're as cute in person as they are in the photos ;) You ought to suggest he invents a blowjob machine. They are all mechanized dildos so far aren't they? i think they might have a titsucker or something as well. I saw the titsucker. My friend Janine wants to try all of them. Their gay boy site is up and running too.. maybe you're in luck. Have you seen the Japanese movie Tetsuo: The Iron Man ? It is about a man turning violently into a robot. There is a great scene in it (harking to FuckingMachines) where the guy's cock turns into a huge whirring drill and he fucks his girlfriend. I have always fantasized of being in my own movie where I'm turning into a robot just like he does, only instead of hating it like him, I love it. It would be orgasmic. someone else once recommended it to me years ago, and i forgot about it... thanks for mentioning it. i'll check that out. i heard it's really disturbing. i think there are sequels, too. aren't there? There is one sequel which is basically a higher budget version of the first. The first is better - more Eraserhead-esque and experimental. All of your drawn robot representations on the CD are of clunky blockhead robots. Why? the drawings are expressions of my inner robot. at heart, my program contains strong algorithms for dorkiness, nerdiness, awkwardness and fun. i am externally imperfect and clunky. it is my strength as a robot (whereas in others it may be a weakness). Do you have something against sleeker models like myself? no. i find your model to be very sexy...albeit a bit intimidating to a robot like me. visually, our expressions of ourselves are like different astrological signs. every robot serves a different purpose and represents a different design. What equipment do you use? Which sequencer? no sequencers. just a computer with a combination of proprietary, public, and custom software. and hardware such as modified toys, analog keyboards, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, harmonium, filters, etc. What is your feeling on late 80s freestyle music and 90s trance? i haven't listened to enough of it to have much of an opinion. i never spent much time in clubs and i wasn't really drawn to that type of music as a fan in the 80s and 90s. i am operating in a bubble. although i'm trying to educate myself. your website is helpful in that regard. The song 'You're out of the Computer' is crazy. Are you doing that vocal? heh. heh. oh, boy! that vocal (and the lyrics) are done by a man named bingo gazingo. he is a 76 year old rapper from outer space. he sometimes performs with me live (when i don't have a show that starts too late for him). usually i perform "you're out of the computer" myself on stage, but that's him on the CD. if you like the song, you should buy bingo's full length CD from other music. Your song 'We're the Pet Shop Boys' is fucking hilarious and touching too. If you don't get Neil Tennant I'll get him and make him walk out as a surprise and sing this with you in concert sometime! you have no idea how much i would love for them to hear that song. they can love it or hate it, i just want them to hear it. it's a dream of mine. they were so important to my formulation of self, love of music, etc. but the song expresses my feelings better than this email could. my friend miguel sings the pretty part on that song. i do the cheesy neil tennant parody at the end. 'The fake' - I guess this is your most popular song so far right? But I don't like the idea of 'fake machines.' Am I reading too much into this? Or are you making fun of others? it's easy to misinterpret. i understand why you might think that it is some sort of an indictment... and it is... but not in the way you think. it is actually about the "fake" rebellion manufactured by the record industry. it's what has been sold to kids and its what they buy when they really buy the rock n' roll lifestyle. the sad irony of thinking you're a rebel when you are conforming to a consumerist mold that has been sold to you by the entertainment industry. the fake machines are the songs. they are tools of the capitalist system... fake... artificial... like little song worms. propaganda bombs. people underestimate the power of music to transform lives. to raise children. to shape our view of the world and our dreams. artists make music without the forethought and consideration of its impact. the music industry uses the rock n roll rebellion and posturing as a tool to sell records not to transform lives in a positive way. the song was inspired by le tigre's decepticon which REALLY catches that sentiment. i just wanted to throw my hat in the ring. get my own little battle worm out there to fight against all of the bad songs out there that are trying to take over your head. I'm really glad to hear your explanation of the song. Its exactly what I had hoped. I have always been interested in entertainment robots i.e. those performers who seem to have nothing going on except the desire to perform, e.g. Britney Spears, or Cher, who I am convinced is an advanced entertainment robot from Japan. Did you know that the 'vocoded' singing from 'Believe' was a Cher malfunction that made it into the final recording? Musical history followed. Earlier i was playing your songs for my friend Janine (who knows about my 'entertainment robot' theory) and then she said as we were watching the American Idol finale: 'This is why My Robot Friend is so great. The kids on American Idol are all entertainment robots, but they don't know it. My Robot Friend is an entertainment robot, and he knows it and that's why he is so great.' I really enjoy you. You sound super and I want to be your friend. fortunately, that is at the heart of my program. i am your robot friend. Are you programmed to be everyone's friend or are you programmed to discern? i am a true friend of all humankind. just like you. I must be a different model than you are as I am not a friend to all of humankind. Machine life will be better. 'Men are monkeys. Robots win!' - Season to Risk ah. well, i've seen your website. so i have evidence that points to the contrary. [Editor's note: Not sure what he is talking about there. I am a friend to no one, including myself.] Your songs are full of brilliant little details, witty lyrics, amazing beats, great samples and awesome vocals. What is up with you? Why aren't you incredibly famous? thank you so much... it means a hell of a lot to me that you loved the CD. as a fellow robot and musical traveller it is really for you (and others like you) that i am making this music (please don't tell the other humans, though. i don't want them to get jealous). Is there anything else you think would be of interest to friends of the House of Diabolique? here are 3 things that came to mind: 1. i have some fun music videos by adam shecter posted on my web site: www.myrobotfriend.com 2. i think that everyone should see the movie 'donnie darko' 3. i'm not sure if it is fats or carbohydrates or overeating and lack of exercise that make people fat.

There you have the great My Robot Friend. His single 'The Fake' is out on Dekathlon Records , and his songs are also on compilations like the 2002 Loveparade album and the soon to be released Badd Inc compilation. His full length CD, 'Hot Action', is available at Other Music here in NYC. To inquire about ordering online or to shower My Robot Friend with compliments, send email here .

As for fat people, I believe that many fat people are genetically predisposed to be fat. These fatties ought to stop worrying and learn to love being fat, especially the women. Imagine if all fat women everywhere began acting uncharacteristically fabulous at all times? The sticks would get jealous! What a wonderful world it would be. It is perception that counts because reality doesn't really exist.



'The Fake (Zombie Nation remix)' by My Robot Friend