Naytronix is an evil dance band cloned from the stem cells of Oakland, CA based multi-instrumentalist/producer Nate Brenner. Deeply rooted in the traditions of the future, Naytronix merges fashionable grooves with found sounds and homemade instruments to unsettling yet familiar effect, as humans play side-by-side with robots, intertwining in a nefarious tango until it's unclear where veins end and circuitry begins.
Though the influence of Brenner's California home is apparent in his relaxed, sun-blasted sounds, he is also a native of the synthetic desert cities of William Onyeabor, the vanguard estates of Charles Mingus, and the family manor of Sly Stone. As the bassist for genrebending institutions tUnE-yArDs and Beep!, he is no stranger to the explosive confluence of varied musical families. He says, "I want to use the full spectrum of available sound timbres including electric, synthetic and acoustic...I like to use non-musical sounds as well." With a horn section and other talent pulled from his Bay Area community, Brenner conducts this mash-up with the exactitude of a subtle supervillain.
Nate describes the process of creating Dirty Glow: "The album took a full year to complete, but during that year I also released a beep! record, and recorded and toured the tUnE-yArDs "whokill" album. I had plenty of time to think about the concepts of what I wanted to do, but not very much time at home where I could do the actual recording... that forced me to be decisive with my choices."The spontaneity of those choices is tangible in Dirty Glow: not over-wrought, just aiming straight for the robot pelvis.
The first single, the mercilessly danceable "Robotic," comes shortly after "Elevator to Tomorrow," more a musique concrete-Gainsbourg collage than a Michael Jackson hit. The groovy "Hangin' Out" dissipates into a swarm of noise; "In The Summer" recalls Snoop with his radio turned to that weird college station that plays nameless experimental jams from 2 to 6 a.m.
