Let that Robot Sing!
M. Calicoat | SEATTLE , WA | 12/11/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the only collection of Bruce Haack's music availible on CD that I know of, sadly -as this is great stuff! Like Raymond Scott before him, this man was one of the true musical geniuses of electronic music. Bruce was obviously years ahead of his time musically, creatively (he built his own keyboards) and perhaps even spiritually. His music continues to inspire artists even today (e.g. Beck, Add N to X). Six of the tracks are taken from his brilliant 1970 "Electric Lucifer" record. The robot-voiced "electric to me turn" is his best song ever. Overall this CD is a good example of Bruce's work. My only complaint is that some of the included songs (from his records that were originally made for children) seem a little out of sync with some of the darker spaced-out sounds from his Electric Lucifer concept album -which would be best suited heard it's own, in it's entirety on CD. (Hopefully it will be someday...) On the other hand, you get the best of both worlds here by getting to sample some of his "kids stuff" too. By all means this is highly recommended. Get it on CD while you still can!"
A hack Haack was not...
boeanthropist | Cambridge, MA | 05/24/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Wherein Bruce goes out on his own, sans Miss Nelson, and gives us what appears to be a children's record for robot-children from sometime in the dark, distant alternaverses of the future. Beneath that conceptual scrim, however, it's a Bruce Haack album through and through -- goofy electronically re-done nursery rhymes ("This Old Man"), freakazoid oscillator death-dirges ("Electric to Me Turn" -- one of his scariest, finest moments ever), ballads beamed back from dehumanized societies of the future ("Death Machine"), and strange electronic kiddie-dances ("Rubberbands") not so very far from what Raymond Scott might have come up with had he continued his "Soothing Sounds For Baby" project past the 18-month mark. As good as "Listen Compute Rock Home," if less overtly nursery-school."