Artist Spotlight: Shit Robot

Do I really need an introduction for the next person whose mix I'm about to share? I've been pretty much obsessed with him since I started loving DDPs, and seeing him live is still on my bucket list. I love his recent (and only) album that was released in 2010, "From Cradle to the Rave" and his song "Take 'Em Up" featuring vocals from Nancy Whang is a go-to song of mine. Always.

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Shit Robot, aka Marcus Lambkin (DFA Records) story is pretty remarkable. After winning a green card, Lambkin left Dublin in 1992 to head to New York City and began spinning at parties in the East Village. His success only began to get even bigger after he was offered a Saturday night slot by owner of the well-known once underground after-hours nightclub, "Save the Robots" (which btw, sounds awesome). Shit Robot met another fellow Dubliner, Dominique Keegan, and the two started the record label, "Plant".*

You may be wondering to yourself how Shit Robot came to be on the DFA Record label since he teamed up with Keegan to start a record label. Well, it's ironic that the duo's office was in the same building as James Murphy. Who was then himself starting a studio in the basement of the same office building. And thus a beautiful relationship was born, and eventually both ended up as front-men, playing at Plant Bar, the "Unofficial DFA Headquarters", that Lambkin and Keegan owned.**

I'm so glad the relationship formed because I truly think that both James Murphy and Shit Robot are some of the most talented DJs and producers out there. I can attest after seeing James Murphy live that it was a dance party; all the while Murphy was making it look seamless. Shit Robot's tour dates are a little less US-based, so it's a little harder for me to justify a trip, but I'm hoping to cross that off my "music bucket list" sooner rather than later.

This particular mix features a lot more of Shit Robot's roots. There are a lot of hard-hitting tracks, including Nick Lawson & Matthew Burton's "Gruff It" that drops around the 23 minute mark. Caribou's remix of "It's a Crime" by Virgo Four brings a more abstract side to the mix (getting weird at 51 minutes in!) that I really, really love. Caribou is one of those bands that I listen to frequently, and I not only love them live, but I enjoy their remixes too. The Bot's segue from Akabu's "Life is so Strange" into the remix was perfectly placed. I'm actually still trying to figure out how/when the transition *really* occurred.

Hopefully this spotlight has schooled you in Shit Robot 101. I expect all of you to have taken notes, and come with me when he's touring near the Metropolitan area. And now that you're dismissed, your first assignment is to listen to this mix.

Shit Robot - dfa radiomix #20 by DFA Records

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