reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Ghostland Observatory - Robotique Majestique

It’s reviews like this where haughtier critics will ask: What else does Ghostland Observatory have to offer?  With a cape wearing keyboardist/drummer/producer along with a lead vocalist in pigtails and jeans so tight, they would need the assistance of turpentine for removal, an inquiry into more steak with their sizzle can be naturally expected.  But, I come here not to defend Aaron Behrens and Thomas Turner, the duo behind Ghostland Observatory.  I come here to dance to them.  With simpler beats than Justice, but a narrower, focusded sincerity than the ironic shenanigans of groan inducing Cromeo, it is performing that drives Ghostland Observatory.  The thrill of the dance floor is what these two Austin, TX performers seek, after first tasting the sweaty decadence of late 90’s rave culture’s last death rattle.  A lot of comparisons have been made to Daft Punk; a lazy judgment considering, yes, Ghostland as all neo-millennium electronic acts do cites the Frenchies (see the track “Club Soda”) as an obvious influence, but also because le Punk has yet to produce a relevant album in 10 years.  (The recent resampling of their greatest LP, Discovery, by Kanye West and their MDMA light pyramid have yet to inject anything new into the genre, except belated accreditation.)  Whereas, what Turner seeks in the studio, and on stage, is something more atomic, more carnal; a key reason Behrens is there, to keep his cape wielding partner's eye on the prize: to dance.  They understand that electronic music is just one euro-trash light show away from becoming a joke again.  The best example of this is on “No Place For Me” with its rapid synthesizer rhythms and Behren’s siren call, culminating into a feral grunt so forceful, the singer’s hips punch through the speakers.  But it’s with “Dancing On My Grave,” “Holy Ghost White Noise,” and the title track that give a Robotique mellower, groovier early 1980’s Vangelis affair than their previous LPs.  In the machinations of your mind (and your feet) Beherens is your id, Turner your ego, and Ghostland Observatory your subconscious telling you to just shut the fuck up and dance.