When most people talk about their first record, it’s something iconic and representative of that specific time in history. If you ask my mother, it was a single of The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar” that she got from sending in some cereal box tops. Most people aren’t going to say it was a soundtrack, but for me, the first record that I purchased with my own money was some time in the late 90s, and it was none other than the soundtrack of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. I was absolutely obsessed with this film. Despite the fact that I was barely ten and only understood about 50% of the humor (probably a good thing), this film sparked not only my anglophilia (I still speak in a bad English accent from time to time), but it also nurtured my already growing love for all things 60s.
I think what I love most about this soundtrack is that it really is the perfect fit for the film. It travels through time like Austin Powers himself, beginning with the delicious 90s Brit Pop gem by Edwyn Collin’s, The Magic Piper (Of Love), and weaves into songs like the psychedelic classic, “Incense and Peppermints” by Strawberry Alarm Clock.
Before this idea of musical time traveling ever influenced me as a musician, I was just a pre-teen with an unusual affinity for an era I had never personally experienced, but desperately wanted to. I was living in Boulder, Colorado, but visiting my family in Southern California one summer and can still remember walking into the store, handing over the (only) $12 in my wallet, ripping off the shrink-wrap, and marrying myself to that CD for the next few hours driving down Highway 1, catching the light from the setting sun glimmering off the Santa Monica Pier. It’s still one of my perfect memories and probably the precise reason why my love of 60s styles, 90s pop, and California culture all seem to come from the same place.
Resulting from a combination of “analog” and “robot,” Anabot is the product of a dualism, of sorts. Crafted by Analise Nelson, she calls her experiment a “pop time machine with a rock engine.” Danceable yet driving, the end result is music that manages to transcend time itself, blending electronic pop with 60s Brit and surf rock. Can’t get enough electro-pop? Anabot releases her self-titled debut just in time to kickstart your summer jams. Be on the look out for it June 12th.
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