Robert Ziino- Slaves for the Billionaires

ARTIST: Robert Ziino
ALBUM: Slaves for the Billionaires
LABEL: Experimental Artists
REVIEWER: Matthew J.
DATE: 5-3-08

Prolific sound designer Robert Ziino is back with yet another collection of analog synthesizer jams. Full of retro electronic bleating, it comes off as a bit irritating and unfocused at first; "Stinging the Robots," despite an old-fashioned science fiction feel, seems more like randomized sound than an actual composition. Things pick up on the frantic "Falsely Disturbed," with its nervous beeps and arpeggios giving way to electronic distortion, and "Infancy of Human Reason," a contemplative ambient piece that recalls eight-bit video game soundtracks. Ziino's music is often difficult to appreciate, and his nervous oscillations and knob-twirling tends to be more accessible when it's set to a beat. "Money Is God" is a good example, its beeps and twitters bubbling over a hypnotic rhythm that recalls such German acts as Can and Kraftwerk, and "Police in the Kitchen" is legitimately funky, its primitive electronic manipulations moving in time with a breakbeat groove. Title track "Slaves to the Billionaires" is slower, but retains a tom-tom-heavy electro rhythm for the the buzzing psychedelic noise to spin around. Ziino is clearly making music primarily for himself rather than looking for a wide audience, and his singular focus on sound effects-inspired synth textures relegates his music to niche fans, but this is a solid effort, evoking a vague sense of paranoia as well as a nostalgia for '60s-era science fiction TV shows. Put it on in the background while you read your Huxley and Orwell.

Visit Ziino online at www.experimentalartists.com.