Tune Tuesday: Floex/Tomas Dvorak

As the new editor of Topless Robot, I’ve given my staff one major direction: Write about the things you are passionate about. Write about the things that give you goosebumps when you think about them. That, to me, is the definition of being a nerd for something. That something moves you so much that someone could pull out a podium and you wouldn’t hesitate to step upon it and proselytize. For me, there are many topics that stoke that fire within me, but chief among them is music.

With that, I present to you this first installment of Tune Tuesday. Every Tuesday, I will share with you music that moves me. Sometimes it will be linked to another nerdy medium like games or movies, sometimes it’s just damn good music. Hopefully it will inspire you to explore your musical appetite.

This week, we’re going to take a look at the work of Floex.

Floex has a very distinct style, often incorporating clarinet and other traditional orchestral instruments with electronic music styles, such as synths and complex beats.

If you’ve ever played a game by Amanita Design, you’ve likely heard some of his work. He provided the soundtracks to the quirky point-and-click adventure games Machinarium, and the Samarost series. This is actually how I found his music. I fell in love with the work he did for Machinarium and I needed more.

In my search for more of his music, I learned that he performed under the name Floex and discovered the album Zorya, which quickly became one of my favorite albums.

Finding videos of live performances showed off the full experience of some of the tracks, such as this one featuring Musetta. This would only serve as a harsh reminder that I live nowhere near Prague, and would likely never get to see Floex live for myself.

Floex ft. Musetta “Nel Blu” Live in Akropolis from Matteo Curcio on Vimeo.

As one does when they find a new obsession, I went down the internet rabbit hole, rabidly consuming any and all media I could find, to learn that Floex was also a multimedia artist. Creating interactive art installments such as the Archifon.

Floex is still releasing music today, with his latest album being A Portrait of John Doe, A collaborative effort between Floex and John Hodge.

If any of these raised the hairs on the back of your neck, or gave you that warm feeling in the pit of your stomach, or just plain sounded nice, check out Floex’s website, and buy his albums on his bandcamp.