Known for making playful, melody-rich electronic music as I Am Robot and Proud since the early 2000s, Shaw-Han Liem successfully translated his aesthetic to the gaming world when he co-designed the acclaimed Sound Shapes, which won several awards following its release in 2012. Liem developed Lucky Static, his ninth album, from a series of computer-generated animations, designing audio-visual loops and posting them on his Instagram page. His music clearly lends itself to interactive visuals -- it sounds bright, animated, and polychromatic, and it seems tailor-made to accompany flashing colors and shapes, as well as cute, friendly characters. Yet it works perfectly well on its own accord, expressive and detailed enough to speak volumes without lyrics or visual cues beyond cover artwork. Lucky Static is every bit as unflappably pleasant and chipper as anything else Liem has recorded, and it maintains the seamless blend of acoustic and electronic instrumentation he's long since mastered. Members of his performing group (who have guested on past releases, particularly 2015's People Music, an EP of older compositions rearranged for the full band) contribute, but Liem otherwise plays most of the instruments. Gently strummed guitars complement the blippy 8-bit melodies, and the beats mix skittering micro-blips with more natural-sounding drums. While Liem incorporates subtle glitches into his productions, it's the exact opposite of Autechre's unforgiving harsh-scapes, which sound like the robots have eradicated every last semblance of humankind. Instead, as the moniker implies, this is music for happy robots who peacefully coexist with humanity and nature. While not a grand departure from Liem's past recordings, Lucky Static is nevertheless a fine, effortlessly enjoyable addition to his discography. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi

1		A Small House
2		Ginkgo
3		My Algo
4		A Dot In Air
5		Lucky Static
6		Chime
7		Imaginary Gadgets
8		No New Neon
9		Fischinger's Walk
10		Ta Ti Tu Te To