When Robots Go Bad

Although their profile had dimmed considerably from the heights of the late '90s, when Coldcut and assorted associates sat atop the electronica world like a colossus, Robin Brunson and Stuart Warren-Hill continued to produce great material with When Robots Go Bad! Still as propulsive with their rhythms and just as explosive with their programming, the duo might need to be forgiven for thinking that big beat had retained its currency ten years after its peak — at least on the opener, "Red Laser Beam." Still, there are enough interesting ideas here — most of them based in electro, still Hexstatic's prime form of play — to keep listeners interested. The single "Roll Over" finds a beautiful voice, diva Sabirajade, luxuriating in the sort of production that would have found a home on a later Blondie LP, but the track gives way to something quite different — a very Peaches type of chutzpah from guest rapper B+ on "Freak Me." (she reappears, on "A Different Place," singing as well as she rapped). Aside from the female-led electro, two tracks leap to the forefront, both featuring grime rapper Profisee. "Move On" and "Subway" are tracks with the chunky beats and rubbery basslines of the best digital R&B, something that could be called grime with the sheen of prime British 2-step.