Rewind! - Single

Cylob delivers a rather gimmicky Top 40 hit that perhaps doesn't put a face on electronica, but certainly a sense of humor. Painstakingly programming his Macintosh computer's voice program to rap his way through a funky drum sequence, listeners should delight at the irony of a monotone robot spitting out phat rhymes, something like a MC Steven Hawkins on the mike. This completely simulated vocalist has gotten work before, on the Radiohead song "Fitter Happier," but here the voice's cold mechanization has a completely different effect with Cylob at the wheel. Chris Jeffs does not usually embark on something so publicly accessible, his darker and more caustic disposition typically being compared to Aphex Twin and the like. In this instant, however, it's all cotton candy and clichés for the moment, expanded further by a "Bonus Beats" track (for eager DJs who want to have a shot at assembling their own mixes), plus a high-school-caliber remix by DMX Krew, another novelty act on the unpredictable Rephlex label. As for public response to the single, it seems Cylob punched a hole into the mainstream, using his computer like a polished "apple." London's Radio One even did an interview with Jeffs after "Rewind" hit the airwaves, and their very cheeky interviewer coined the phrase "chip-hop." Whatever your musical tastes are, this is worth a listen, along with being a fun addition to any mix-tape.