Chop off your hands and replace them with lazers for Detroit: 313 words about Harmonic 313

Edit: This album is mentioned in my top ten electronica albums of 2009.  (And no, this paragraph *doesn't* count.)

Here are 313 words about Harmonic 313 on the occasion of the release of his first album When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence. And yes, this paragraph goes toward the word count.

When Warp Records are spreading their tentacles into strange and wonderful genres, Harmonic 313 is the root of the tree trunk keeping the label rooted to its past. I could replace 'tentacles' for 'branches', but I like mixed metaphors.

313 is the dialling code of Detroit, a clear reference of intent when you consider this sounds like the daughter of motor city band Drexciya.  But this is not Put Your Hands Up For Detroit. This is Chop Off Your Hands And Replace Them With Lazers For Detroit.

This is the siren song of a cyborg calling from the distant shores of the future. It's the disturbance you get on the edges of hip hop; the fuzzy lines at the side of your vision.

A Speak and Spell machine is the gimmick, but in the android hands of Harmonic 313, it becomes something more sinister.  The desolation rips through me, like someone has whipped the bottom end of my spine and sent a shockwave up into my cold, cold brain.

When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence works better when things are kept simple. Like mashed potato. So we don't need the rapping that appears in small doses. Like mashed potato. I hate mashed potato with raps. Hey, Vanilla Ice, get out of my mash. That's what I'd say.

This absurdly cadillac-themed Harmonic 313 tribute on Hipsterwave amused me no end. It seemed non-sequitur. I have been getting friends to post non-sequitur comments on this Aphex video (edit: some bugger deleted them) - please join in.

Where was I?  Oh yes, 313 words.  Just enough remaining to say Harmonic 313's When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence can be bought from Piccadilly, Boomkat or Bleep.