Bruce Haack: Hush Little Robot

Bruce Haack: Hush Little Robot
Label: Normal
Release Date: 1998
Recording Date: 1968-1974
Review Date: 2000

Update: At the time this review was written, there was literally no information available on the internet about the Bruce Haack. The very sparse liner notes didn’t provide much help either. The review was written under the assumption that it was a fairly new recording, An assumpton which has since blown up in my face! Rather than rewrite it, I’m taking the easy way out with this addendum. If you quote this review out of context, earwigs will build a nest in your auditory canal!

Hush Little Robot is yet another entry into the retro synth-electric genre that is probably going to get played out real soon. The cover itself is similar to the many retro techno designs that have flooded pop culture lately. The difference with this record is that it actually sounds like it could have been recorded in the era that everyone is trying to copy now. Where most works like this have a definite aural “time stamp” that labels them as emulation with an update, Hush Little Robot sounds like it has been burried in the vault for 25 years or so. The one paragraph liner notes claim that most of the music was programmed on a home made music computer by Bruce himself, who is untrained in electronics. Hush is billed as an “electronic musical- poetic treat for children and high school-people revealing more wonders of our earth ship.” The spare parts from Radio Shack and wacky target audience are molded into a soundtrack that is highly remiscent of some kind of obscure public broadcasting/childrens television workshop experiment from the 70’s made by someone who like to dabble in the legal and ilegal aspects of hemp. An uninformed first listen might be akin to the first time you happened to tune in to the Teletubbies unaware of what the premise was. You know it’s meant for kids, or is it? What age, and what for? It’s just plain bizarre at times. There’s lots of psuedo eduacational bits of info, but it’s a lot more watered down information than your average School House Rock bit. The music is more essential than the message, almost as if the lyrical content is just there to provide a reference point and a bit of flavor. As a whole, Hush is pretty succesfull and highly listenable. Like the early music of it’s genre, it is at time a bit heavy handed an it does have moments of irriation which include an un enlightening live radio interview with the artist. Don’t expect to dance to it either. The best part is that your little brothers and sisters would probably enjoy it, though it seems doubtful that it is actually aimed at them. Made in Germany, where they have the patience for this kind of stuff. Available on line at CD now or wherever.

Hush Little Robot: B+