Luke Vibert's fourth album of 2020 is a return to his longest-running pseudonym, Wagon Christ, which he last used on 2011's Ninja Tune release Toomorrow. Regardless of what name he's using, Recepticon has all the hallmarks of a Vibert record, particularly a 21st century one: smartly constructed rhythms that are easy to relax or dance to, and loads of clever samples. His sampling has only gotten sharper and denser over the years; one of his favorite tricks is to assemble several different voices saying a similar word or phrase and patch them all together to a beat, as on the cheery opener "Hello." He does have a tendency to over-use some samples -- it seems he'll never get tired of that "Can you feel it!?" shout, or Michael Jackson's "Rock with You" -- but for the most part, it's because these samples are so ingrained in the fabric of dance music culture already. The way he piles on sound bytes can also verge on silliness overload, and he seems keenly aware of this on "Boogie Serious," which features a cartoonish goofball asking "Is this serious or is this a joke?" As the track progresses, though, the samples disappear for a while and a surprisingly melancholy melody emerges, temporarily wiping away any trace of a foolish grin. Reflective moments such as this are rare, but they indicate that Vibert isn't all about gags and grooves. Of course, there's no shortage of those here. Among the highlights, "Special Designer Song" is built around bits from the introduction to Negativland's Escape from Noise; "Same Ol', Same Ol' Recording" juggles Ken Nordine and William S. Burroughs clips over a classic Ninja Tune-style trip-hop beat; and "Recepticon" is a playful jumble of sci-fi and Jamaican culture, with Lee Scratch Perry popping up alongside dialogue from vintage robot movies. Elsewhere, the faster, horn-heavy "Lunderneath" leans closer to oldskool rave music, and "Alright" is somewhere between acid house and electro, and mostly upbeat, except for a few shades of suspenseful synth. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi

1		Hello
2		Boogie Serious
3		Hazlehertz
4		Alright
5		U R Here
6		Never Odd or Even
7		Special Designer Song
8		Bleep Me Out
9		Same Ol', Same Ol' Recording
10		Likewutchyadoo
11		Innosynth
12		Recepticon
13		Lunderneath
14		Lavengers
15		Bleep Me Out
16		Same Ol', Same Ol' Recording
17		Likewutchyadoo
18		Innosynth
19		Recepticon
20		Lunderneath
21		Lavengers