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“At the height of our disembodied digital era, two disguised femme-bots descend to deliver their funkpunk message to undiscerning humanoids inclined to the sounds of artful proto punk, exuberant electro-pop and new wave expressionism…”
London based electro-punk duo Robots in Disguise are one of my fave fave fave bands, so much so that I can’t believe I’ve never posted about them yet. So I intend to right that wrong today, because their new record “The Sex Has Made Me Stupid” comes out this week on President Records in the UK, and a 6 week European tour kicks off as well. And I’m such a huge fan I just wrapped up not one but *two* official remixes for the new record!
I can’t post any of the new material just yet, but look out for Baron von Luxxury remixes of “The Sex Has Made Me Stupid” and “We’re In The Music Business” coming soon. And in the mean time, here’s an introduction to the band for y’all who haven’t heard them yet.
RID began when Sue Denim and Dee Plume (get it?) met in Liverpool, hooked up with Berlin based producer Chris Corner (Sneaker Pimps, IAMX) and developed the sonic credo “ESG, Elastica and Serge Gainsbourg in a pop clusterfuck.” A self titled debut was released French label Recall in 2002, and by 2005’s followup “Get RID” they’d perfected their sophisticated, smart and sexy blend of dance-pop and art-punk.
Their signature sound comes from their use of dueling female vocals that twist and turn melodically, almost competitively, but always come together deliciously in the end. That sounds dry and pedantic so enough of my yakkin’ and check out three of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands.
“Turn it Up” is an adoring ode to Indie pop music. It references nearly a dozen albums in the lyrics, from The Smiths to Peaches. How many can you identify?
In addition to their fantastic songwriting and relentless touring, another reason RID is so big in Europe (70,000 Myspace friends!) is because they’ve made several guest appearances on the cult comedy show “The Mighty Boosh.” Here’s their hilarious battle of the sexes video for the song “Girl” featuring Noel Fielding from that show (who is also a Robot boyfriend.)
YouTube Video: “Girl” – Robots in Disguise
Did I mention how much I love this band? Go be a Robot friend on their Myspace, or just cut to the chase and buy the tracks on Itunes or Amazon.
Message to Dee and Sue: when do I get one of those radddd new shirts you’re wearing below?
Dave Gahan, of Depeche Mode fame, has just released the next batch of remixes from his single “Kingdom” off of the album “Hourglass”. Heavy hitters Digitalism and Booka Shade are on board as well. Digitalism’s remix is distorted and moody, while Booka’s remix is not quite typical of them but is still a really pleasant surprise.
Health (from LA) sounds like a late sixties garage-psychedelia band combined with the angsty noise of the Velvet Underground. If you enjoy shroom trips in dark forests where visions of rainbow colored snakes slither through trees, then you’ll be enraptured by Health’s perfect mixture of pscychedelia and modern alternative sounds. Interestingly they put three remixes of their songs available for download on a separate myspace (click here). I’ve uploaded them to my server here for you to download. My favorite remix is the CFCF remix of Triceratops. It’s eerie as hell. It’s like a bad acip trip through Miami Vice land.
For those who want to shake their ass the Crystal Castles remix is good for holding your elbows next to your rib cage and swinging your wrists around.
“Eutow” by Autechre has long been one of my absolute favorite songs of all time. This song, along with a couple of other classics such as “Windowlicker” by Aphex Twin, represents a time period in which WARP records was at the top of its game. They are still awesome now, but in the early to mid-90s WARP dragged a lot of kids, including myself, into the electronic music camp. This shit is old enough that when it came out I was still listening to nu-metal. It is about time that it gets a lame dance edit.
I think DJ B.Cause is pretty much the shit. Usually edits of old school songs come off sounding really corny or like 1995 in a bad way. Not this shit,… it’s tight like who knows what. I could only think of really crass things to compare that to. It’s pretty difficult to find a good edit of Stevie Wonder. The bass seamlessly accentuates Stevie Wonder’s catchy as fuck verses.
Also – any excuse to listen to T-Pain is welcomed. Thanx gawd for T-Pain edits and songs about fucking bartenders.
DJ B.Cause resides in SF and plays in the clubs frequently. He plays every Wednesday at Double Dutch in the city.
Fans of Midnight Juggernauts and Cut Copy’s disco-rock beats, sweeping synths, Beatle-esque harmonies, vocoders and laser beams: we need to talk about Electric Light Orchestra. And not the ELO who brought you “Evil Woman” or even “Don’t Bring Me Down”, but specifically their hugely influential and yet under-the-radar 1981 synth-heavy experimental space-disco/rock concept album, “Time.” So I asked Ken Robin, a S.F.-based attorney, to talk about it, because he is my dad. He wrote this:
“When I first heard of Electronic Light Orchestra in the ‘70s, I immediately pictured polka playing Lawrence Welk and his Champagne Music Makers. What else was one to think of in the early to mid 70’s when one’s idea of rock was anything but an “orchestra”? The whole idea of what became known as “symphonic rock” was not just a little bit off-putting to those who thought of the Beatles and Stones as something quite different from their parents’ music. But there was simply no denying the infectious nature of ELO and the genius that was Jeff Lynne.
So what was one to make of “Time” when it came out in ’81? Certainly this was a ”concept album” that had some “central theme” — but what was it? Space travel? The world changing so fast it was becoming unrecognizable? The dark side of technological advances? And was it more silly than academically stimulating in its presentation? I saw ELO perform the album live in the Oakland Arena when it first came out and it started with a midget sized robot doing the Prologue on stage as the band itself arose from under the stage in a huge plastic bubble. But we in the audience did not laugh or jeer. We were astounded. We cheered and yelled out in joy. Does this mean we were naïve? Unhip? I don’t think so. Nonetheless the passage of a quarter century forces one to pause and ask: Was it silly?
This video for Electric Light Orchestra’s “Twilight” conveys a bit of what it must have been like to see that laser-riffic 1981 show – shades of Daft Punk at Coachella, anyone?
Most people would likely include very few “Time” songs on their “ELO’s Greatest Hits” list, other than “Hold on Tight”. So what makes the album stay with me? Maybe it’s just a recognition that the ‘80s were here and we were not who we had been in the 50’s and 60’s and 70’s and that this new 80’s decade, which would bring us PCs and glam rock and the rest of its “look at me” cultural icons, had changed us forever. In a wistful look at the situation, Jeff Lynne invited us to see a future of IBM computer robot lovers (“Yours Truly, 2095″) and other technological tools for escapists (“Twilight” and “Ticket to the Moon”) and to try to envision that world with both its possible benefits (“21st Century Man”, “Here is the News”, “The Light Goes Down”) and detriments (“Rain Is Falling” and the probing question of “The Way Life’s Meant to Be”).
“Time” didn’t prevent war or ensure justice but it was a decent and memorable effort, all the same.
My favorite song from “Time” is the opening track “Twilight”, with its huge, simple synth line, massive, bombastic drums and crazy falsetto harmonies: MP3: “Twilight” – Electric Light Orchestra
The album’s biggest hit was essentially a 50’s blues/rock song with updated production (but then again, that pretty much describes The Ramones entire catalog). This song was also used in a bizarre series of jittery commercials in the 80’s, the theme of which was “Be a Coffee Achiever!” MP3: “Hold on Tight” – Electric Light Orchestra
Music is a time machine. It puts events, things, and feelings in a tangible vessel. Today the Proustian madeline is working its devastating magic on me with this band.
We went to a Blonde Redhead concert at the Knitting Factory. It was probably 1996. Ian Svenonious was there too I think. We went backstage. It made me think about fame. Jeremy was still friends with James. But he didn’t trust me yet. I bought La Mia Vita Violenta.
My friends Ari and Ethan are twins. Devin uses an MPC. My childhood idol, the Svengali, has fallen from favor. Spencer and I plan on punching him in his traitorious mouth at the opening next month.
This band is so beautiful. These songs makes me cry.
Gucci Soundsytem might be known to a lot of you as the guys that brought you the awesome remix of Tiefschwarz’s “Wait and See”. This joint, “Acarpenter”, is a bit different. Let’s call it minimal disco. This record sounds like Moroder teamed up with (insert something stupid here) and made a record in this modern day and age.
“Acarpenter” came out on “Bugged Out” in 2006, but James Murphy, of DFA and LCD Soundsystem fame, loved it so much he picked it up. As a bonus, the new Joakim remix is included. If you thought the original was dated from the start (in a good way), then wait until you hear this one.
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