Chicagoan would-be wunderkind of electro minimalism Nathan Koch, aka Emulsion, comes up with precious few surprises and twists in his latest oeuvre, to really tip the scales in his favor. The pieces are nice and melodic, but the sequences aren't variegated enough and the melodies themselves never seem to leave the cul-de-sac they're stuck in. Ostensibly inspired by the video gaming idylls of Koch's 1980s upbringing, Blue Sky Objective at first reminds one of nothing so much as early instrumental works by Gary Numan and Kraftwerk (that would be late '70s) that never made it onto a B-side.

Nonetheless Emulsion's particular program of machine-made perfection does possess some craft. Track seven, "All Robots On Sale!" is the liveliest of the bunch, and could use more weird things in it (like the farty noises occurring at the end). "New High Score" is another pleasant moment, albeit all too brief. Following right after is track eleven, "Without," a very downcast piece of genius that finally digs at the Cabaret Voltaire influences which truly gave the Eighties noisescape its bite.

Blue Sky Objective does not deliver nearly all the goods it's supposed to, and when you finally do become interested it's over all too soon. But the CD has kick-ass graphic design and would go over perfectly well at your next LAN party. (And Nathan, I sincerely apologize for the late review -- hopefully your robots have been selling.)