Robert Hood, the Detroit legend and true originator of minimal techno returns to revisit the Omega project he first began last year. It was inspired by the 1971 sci-fi thriller “The Omega Man”, which may be unfamiliar, but is based on the 1954 novel “I Am Legend.” The original album was released last year, however, this time around, he has given it a makeover in order to suit a live show he will be touring around this upcoming summer. On ‘Omega: Alive’ Hood takes the raw elements of the originals and builds them into a tense and pulsating live show that propels ‘Omega’ into a new light. Opening with new track ‘Bells At Dusk’ Hood builds over a sparse drum pattern before a scatter shot piano riff announces the unmistakable kick sound of the minimal master. ‘Run’ keeps up with soft pads and then Hood drops one of the albums key tracks with the staccato-strobe flash of ‘Alpha: Alive’ as he works the original into a mesmerizing and melodic, string inflected monster. Then we have new track ‘Minimal, Minimal’ whose hypnotic refrain could well be a call to arms across the world’s dancefloors this summer whilst Hood also re-works classics like ‘Who Taught You Math?’, ‘Unix’, ‘Minus’ and ‘Side Effect’ into his unique rhythm of vision. Finally Hood wraps the Omega story up with three bonus tracks including brand new track ‘Atomic’.
The Hipodrome Of Music 