FABLES FOR ROBOTS

A great album by a band from Russia. Very sincere and lively work. For those who appreciate fresh ideas, and not a template and obsession with the affairs of bygone days. One forty-minute composition packed to the eyeballs with bright melodies and refined arrangements. Every detail of this musical canvas is in its place, every sound exactly, like a brick is an indispensable and important element of a huge and beautifully built structure. Here you will find an excursion into all the stylistic richness of progressive rock accumulated over 50 years. Here jazz successfully coexists with space rock, and instrumental fusion with rap, while everything is done very organically and does not cause a feeling of artificiality and unnatural compositional design. Vocals in russian, which is not usual, but it can also be perceived as a positive moment, adding originality and authenticity to the sound. Music that you want to come back to again and again. I highly recommend it.

The debut album of Mister Robot. A very interesting project of a Russian musician. As far as it is clear from the information, everything was recorded by him alone without assistance. The album consists of two long tracks divided into chapters, passing one into the other. "Fables for robots" is a conceptual album and the first thing that comes to mind is a collection of short stories by the largest Polish science fiction writer and philosopher Stanislaw Lem. But as far as I understand from the lyrics the album is about something else entirely - about the degree of freedom of a person, his programmability, the origins of his goals and desires (this is a quote from his biography on progarchives). Texts in Russian. Now about the music itself.

"In The Laboratory" - The album begins with an intro in which the lab assistant communicates with the engineer (Creator). It turns out that the laboratory has received two robots, and although the robots are similar to the old ones, the laboratory assistant does not know how they (robots) work. And when the engineer asks what sounds are coming from the next room, the lab assistant says that they are robots and they are dancing. The lab technician opens the door for the engineer and sees dancing robots.

"Dance of the Robots" - the play of pastiche, an attempt to portray a little awkward dancing robots. Structurally, this is a three-voice two-part keyboard piece based on the dialogue between an electric piano and a lead synthesizer and designed in a swing style.

"Robot Free Will" - the main theme, the leitmotif of the entire album - "You considered yourself free, but this is in vain, because you did not live a day by your will" - an attempt to understand the beginning and end of human freedom, reasoning about the origins of our motives. Musically, a light piano stylization of vaudeville with vocal polyphony in one of the parts. "Every breath and every exhalation here was played not once" - sings the main voice, "every, every, every breath," adds another.

It doesn't make sense to describe all the music, it is very diverse and texturally heterogeneous, and the author easily moves from one stylistic device to another. From the following chapters, we can distinguish - "Robots Talk" - another stylization, an attempt to portray the dialogue of two robots by musical means. Fully electronic - "Image Creation". "What is Life? (Muddy Waters)" - fusion piece with a beautiful guitar, gorgeous bass and rap as vocals. Awesome instrumental "What Does the Robot Dream Of? (Lucifer's Flight)" where you can even hear jazz be bop in the final.

Stylistically, it is a sympho prog, although quite eclectic, a lot of electronics, jazz, flamenco elements. There are a lot of keyboards, guitars, a flute, and even brass instruments. But the vocals are not given much space. It is difficult to name any direct analogies from famous names, in the title theme I heard echoes of Queen (or rather Killer Queen), in a large number of electronic music by a Russian composer Eduard Artemyev and Ennio Morricone, in the dialogues of keyboards and guitars something from Dream Theater, something from John McLaughlin and Al di Meola ( in "What is Life?)". Sometimes I see Pink Floyd (in "What Does The Robot Dream Of?") and Genesis, Yes. Although all these influences are purely fragmentary, Mister Robot's music is quite original and unlike anything I've heard before. The main feature of the album I would call unpredictability, constant change of themes and melodies. For listeners who will be listening to the album for the first time, I would advise them to have a little patience. It's very difficult to get into all the versatility of this album from the first time. About the vocal. It is not enough, it does not strain. Although confidence is a little lacking. Of the weak points, this is probably mixing, it is closer to jazz than to rock, and some of the volume and diversity inherent in progressive rock , in my opinion, is not enough, the sound is quite dry. Still, it's a very decent job. And in compositional and melodic terms, it is absolutely amazing. 4.5 stars. I strongly advise all fans of symphonic and eclectic progressive rock.

This is the second group from Omsk that I recognized. The first became a legend of Russian rock. I hope the same fate awaits Mister Robot over time if, of course, he continues to compose music on the level of Fables for robots.

I still can't understand how it was possible to compose and record everything alone. It's a lot of work. One of the main advantages of the album is originality, the artist does not try to be like anyone else. I also like good compositional work - the logic of structural construction at the highest level. And of course, bright melodies. Of the instruments, the preference is given to keyboards, guitars are not enough, vocals, unfortunately, too. The texts are in Russian and it's really beautiful. I hope that the next album will be no worse and it will not have to wait five years.

Fables for Robots is one of the best albums of this year in my top list.

This album caught me off-guard. I really did not expect a debut album with almost no recognition to become one of my favorite albums of 2020.

Fables For Robots is the debut album by Mister Robot, a one-man project from Russia. The first notable thing is that this album has the typical Mike Oldfield/Thick As A Brick album structure, one 40-Minute title track divided in two parts. It definitely has strong jazz influence, specially in the solos, and it also has Gazpacho influence in the reflective, atmospheric sections.

The first part is possibly my favorite, it sets up the theme for the whole album as well as some beautiful verses and keyboard solo-ing that will definitely keep you entertained.

The second part features amazing solos and a small Russian-Rap section around minute 9-10 that I like more that I should, followed by yet another beautiful melody that will be stuck in your head for days! Finally near the end the first part gets reprised.

This album has almost no weaknesses, but probably my biggest problem with it is that it stays around the same ideas for the whole album, some variations would have been great. Overall a very strong album, and I really hope his upcoming music stays around the same type of genre. Very close to four stars, but I decided to give it five because I like every second in this album.

A reverently created album by one-man band Aleksei Rusakin from Omsk, Russia--one that he had been working on for some time before releasing it as "finished."

1. Fables for Robots, Part 1 (19:18) a section-by-section rundown or lyrics sheet (with translation) would have been nice. the fact that Aleksei chooses to use the same chordal and melodic structures to dominate throughout this entire composition only tells me that he's probably had training in classical music (composition). The occasional introduction of the odd synthesizer or acoustic instrument, to me, shows his desire to impress--to show off his "skills," diversity, and classical training. The fact that they, each one, appear and then disappear without ever returning shows me his immaturity and lack of multiple perspectives as both a composer and storyteller. Ambitious but unpolished and . . . trite. I hear a lot of Johannes Luley in this work, but none of the Johannes' complexity and maturity that Johannes has attained. (33.25/40)

2. "Fables for Robots, Part 2" (20:24) suddenly the production value is increased: greater complexity, greater layering, greater shifts in tempos, styles, and melodies. Even the overall engineering has tightened up the performances--heck, even the solos are more dynamic, way more emotionally engaging than any in "Part 1." In his brief self-description on his Bandcamp page, Aleksei reports that "The main goal of the project is to compose music that integrates music of various styles and eras as much as possible." He has definitely done this on this second piece as I can finally hear sounds and styles that are familiar to me including those of Tony Banks, Brian May, The Flower Kings, Peter Hammill, and Trevor Horn/Art of Noise. Nicely done--quite a step up from the previous song. (36/40)

Total Time 39:42

Well engineered, the timing between layered tracks is frequently oddly off-kilter. The music is definitely Crossover in that there is little exploration of complex structures or odd time signatures--plus, it's very melodic. The story is light-hearted, presenting a naïve innocence that, I believe, is a tongue-in-cheek representation of the opposite of what the composer really believes. The artist is definitely a pianist first, though his competent vocals show a remarkable sense of self-confidence. Assuming Aleksei did the album's artwork as well, I encourage this would-be Renaissance man to press on--to keep working at his skills--both physical and mental. I like his heart and ambition-- this is a cool concept; he only needs . . . practice . . . and experience. (And maybe collaboration and/or outside input.) P.S. Aleksei is not a born drummer.

B/four stars; a very nice addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially to have when he releases his next project--in order to see how much he has grown.

An artist to watch!

The album Fables for Robots is the best thing that has happened to Russian prog rock in recent times. It's hard for me to imagine it, but the album was made by Aleksei Ruzakin, a musician from Omsk, who composed all the music, played all the instruments, and also mixing the album. His music is absolutely lively, without a drop of falseness and forced, sincere and emotional became a real revelation for me. Two tracks, namely the way the album is divided, fly by in one breath. The music is bright, melodic, well thought out will not make you bored, symphonic prog at its best. I would like to wish Aleksei Ruzakin to continue in the same style and I hope the next album will not lower the level that this album set. Good luck to everyone.