Get ready to return to our prime directive - robot sounds - specifically, Electronic Body Music, or EBM for you acronym-minded types. The industrial machinations which began in the latter half of the 80s with groups like Front 242, Frontline Assembly and Nitzer Ebb have continued to aurally impact us through the present day with artists like The Hacker, David Carretta and Terence Fixmer manning the controls.

This playlist combines the classics with the recent offerings, as well as presenting some tangentially related pieces. As you listen, don't be afraid to start stomping along to the music. Keep in mind that the beat is meant to kontrol your body. We're here to let you know that: It's okay...to dance like a machine.

Most people already know that the Swedes are world-famous for their blondes, meatballs and stores of consumer-assembled furniture. What they might not realize however, is that Sweden continues to be a major player in the pop world. Yes, the music of ABBA continues to be a worldwide juggernaut, with countless hundreds of millions of records sold, along with the success of Mamma Mia! on the theater scene and now on the big screen. But post-ABBA Swedish pop music has spawned plenty of other internationally successful bands - A-Teens (ABBA for kids), The Cardigans and Roxette to name but a few (not to mention the fact that chances are pretty good that the hot US chart-toppers you hear were likely penned by a Swede). So, on my recent jaunt through the Scandinavian wonderland, I familiarized myself with the next New Wave of Swedish Pop.

Now, on to the smörgåsbord of...Summer Breeze. Though not all of these songs originate from Sweden, they still keep with the overall warm, breezy theme.

01 Cloetta Paris - Did We Collide
This will appeal to fans of fellow Swede Sally Shapiro. For a more Italo Disco selection, check out the lead single Secret Eyes of Cloetta's debut album of the same name.

02 Annie - Songs Remind Me Of You
Due out in October, here's another one that has the same amped up Stacey Q feel as #1. Pop heaven.

03 Blank + Jones - The Night Starts Here (feat. Stars)
One of the rare occasions you'll hear a Trance artist on RobotSound, this number is off of Blank + Jones' new release, The Logic of Pleasure. Bernard Sumner also sings a track on the LP.

04 Bon Voyage - Monster
Bon Voyage is the new project from Starflyer 59 (Christian alt-rock) frontman Jason Martin and his wife. You might be familiar with Jason's brother, Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric (Christian synthpop). Praise!

05 Zeigeist - Black Milk
More Swedes here. The girl vocalist, Princess, sounds a lot like Karin from The Knife.

06 The Kid - Transient Dance
You can hear the New Order influence in this track from these fresh-faced goth-poptarts straight outta Gothenburg, SE.

07 Grafton Primary - Relativity
The debut LP from these Aussie Indietronica rockers will be out soon-ish. I hear some retro-futurism here [Human League, Gary Numan, New Romantix-era DMX Krew].

08 Morgan Geist - Most Of All
One of the less recent selections, this 2006 track features Jeremy Greenspan of synthpoppers Junior Boys. Disco-tastic!

09 Kuryakin - Still Here
The sunshine pop keeps shining on with this track from Kuryakin's soon-to-be-released EP.

10 Aprilsrain - Left Alone
Representing the Bay Area, Aprilsrain allow for some splendid indie pop enjoyment.

11 The Sound of Arrows - Danger!
All the Swedish Indie record stores had these guys playing on their stereos. Watch out for this hot debut!

12 Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning
This Kiwi girl is sure to keep you cool this summer. Some of her songs remind me of Luscious Jackson's disco-y stuff. Check the video here.

13 Air France - June Evenings
Some people are referring to this as Balearic Beat (what Ibiza Eurobots listen to after the drugs have worn off). To me, it's kinda like clubby Xymox from their later years.

14 Gentle Touch - Once You Used To
Easy, breezy, beautiful, Covergirl.

15 The Daysleepers - Release The Kraken
Venturing into Nu-Gaze territory, The Daysleepers hail from New York City. Luscious, ethereal indie rock.

16 Errors - Salut! France
Changing gears once again, these Glaswegian instrumentalists on Mogwai's label straddle the fence between indie and synthpop. Rest assured though. You'll still get your fix of Melodramatic Popular Song.

17 Jesu - Hard To Reach
Godflesh turned Nu-Gaze. Taking the name from the final track on Godflesh's 2007 swansong, Hymns, Justin Broadrick and friends have shifted into entirely new directions.

Catch the breeze...

It's time once again to revisit that wonderful decade which, besides questionable fashion choices, gave us, in my opinion, some of the most innovative music of our lifetimes: The 80s. As you know from previous posts (Vol. 1, Vol. 2), this robot tends to enjoy cover songs from this particular time period. Not only do they make for nice trips down memory lane, but they intertwine your memories of the past with the modernized noises of the moment, while validating your particular musical tastes.

Our first selection is the lead-off track from the just-released Bowie tribute compilation, Life Beyond Mars. Performed by the lovely and talented girls of Au Revoir Simone, Oh! You Pretty Things originally appeared on Sir David's 1981 LP, ChangesTwoBowie. Other artists trying their hand at The Thin White Duke's catalog include Joakim, Matthew Dear, Susumu Yokota and The Emperor Machine.
Au Revoir Simone - Oh! You Pretty Things

Track two comes to us via the French "bodypop" trio known as Celluloide. Originally released by Sushi & her Banshees back in 1980 (!), this tune can be summed up thusly: Quirky, analogue bleeps and beats with goth-y undertones = Happy robots dancing in the shadows.
Celluloide - Happy House

Now is when we crank it up several notches (to 11) by going with Cursor Miner's version of Van Halen's Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love. Technically not an 80's cover (the original saw its debut on Van Halen's eponymous LP in 1978), it still retains that trashy, metal vibe of early 80s Sunset Strip.
Cursor Miner - Ain't Talkin About Love

Getting grungier still, we progress to a cover of a cover with Electronicat's interpretation of Soft Cell's Tainted Love. Fred Bigot (aka Electronicat) gets double bonus points for changing the vocals to French (the language of love) and fuzzing out to the max (tainting, if you will) the melody. Akin to watching Pier Pasolini's Salò.
Electronicat - Amour Salé

The first of two songs on this list penned by his Purple Highness, this one came out during the height of the Electrocla$h frenzy, on Larry Tee's Badd Inc.: Luxury, Excess, Extravagance comp. Featuring a gay, robotic Prince (judging from the name of this artist).
Prance - Controversy

More Siouxsie, more guitars/synths run through the fuzzbox, more detached android vocals, lyrics about chicken chow mein and chop suey...
HKC - Hong Kong Garden

Co-founder of XLOVER, Bryan Black (also of MOTOR) used to be Prince's keyboard tech back in Paisley Park's heyday. This one features a guest appearance from yet another sexy member of the royal family, Princess Superstar.
XLOVER - Darling Nikki

Seems like the summer heat has rendered the 'bots at RobotSound HQ lethargic as of late. It's evident that they'd rather sit around watching bad Reality TV programming and getting their snack on than producing anything in terms of meaningful content for y'all. Nevertheless I've managed to coax them into uploading my set recorded live at the recent Hot Box Summer Solstice event. A potent synthesis of love and war, this mix attempts to address the uncertainty of the times in which we live by incorporating both the chaos of today with (hopefully) the promise of a brighter tomorrow.

HotBox 6.21.08

Shit Robot - Lonely Planet
Water Lilly - The Sleepwalker
Franz & Shape - Forgotten Days (Memory Boy Remix)
8-Bit - The Robots
Hell - Suicide Commando
Kano - It's A War
GTO - Love Is Everywhere (Live & Love Mix)
Steril - Electrostatic
The Clone Machine - Clone Machine (Empire Mix)
Der Zyklus - Roche Limit (v3)
Millimetric - Where
David Carretta - Shocktreatment
Nitzer Ebb - Murderous (Phil Kieran Mix)
6blocc - Digits
Anthony Rother - Mathematik
MOTOR - 1X1 (Phil Kieran Remix)
Kiko - Slave Of My Mind
Romina Cohn - The Night
Ectomorph - Lost Angles (Manyangles Version)

Today's RobotMix™ comes to us courtesy of Mark Archer, of Nexus 21/Altern 8 fame. Mark kicks it wayyy Old Skool here with Thee urban jams of the early-to-mid 80s. Let me be the first to witness that the robots who krafted these songs had some serious soul indeed.

Listening to this mix, I was transported back to my childhood, when I'd tune in to local radio station KDAY when it was still 1580 on the AM dial. I'd eagerly await each day's top hit countdown which for a time nearly always included one of the countless "diversions" of Art of Noise's Beat Box, Egyptian Lover - Egypt Egypt, Newcleus - Jam On It, Cameo - She's Strange, and invariably, something from the LA Dream Team. KDAY was responsible for bringing the sounds chilly most of West Coast Hip Hop (Electro-hop in particular) from the other side of town to the ears of suburban, fat lace wearin', robot mimes like myself.

So, depending on your flava, break out the linoleum/carboard, don those Adidas tracksuits and Kangol hats, or dig out the rollerskates for the smoov sounds of:
Soul Electro

(Tracklisting after the jump)

After countless attempts by dr™ of trying to convince me to impart some of my vast musical knowledge by contributing to RobotSound™, I've finally decided to discuss one of my favorite dance music genres, New Beat. This was the sound created primarily by Belgian producers from '87 to '89 that forged a link between the EBM and Acid House of the mid-to-late 80s with the Rave/Hardcore Techno scene of the early 90's.

According to dance lore, New Beat was inadvertantly created when a deejay played an EBM 12", Flesh by A Split Second, at 33rpm instead of it's intended speed of 45rpm. Besides their slower tempo, New Beat hits were also characterized by their use of sexually explicit samples, especially those taken from NYC shock performance artist Karen Finley. After a couple years, New Beat morphed into the even shorter-lived Skizzo and Hard Beat sub-genres, which in turn were the precursors of early 90's Rave/Hardcore...

With that cursory introduction, I present:
Vodka Ed's Top 10 Jams of New Beat.

Warning: Some of the videos and/or corresponding audio may not be suitable for the workplace environment ;)

10. A Split Second - Flesh
Since this is the track that supposedly started the whole shebang, it's inclusion on the list is essential.

9. 101 - Move Your Body
One of the MANY projects of Praga Khan and friends. Though there were seemingly lots of different New Beat artists, in reality most output was created by two (or maybe three) groups of producers. This was 101's 2nd hit, after their anthemic Rock To The Beat, though I always thought this was the better track.

8. Moments of Ecstacy - You and Me
Another alias of Praga and crew. Like I said, they used LOTS of different names to make you THINK there was a whole scene.

7. Erotic Dissidents - Move Your Ass And Feel The Beat
This is the full 12" mix from the ultra-productive (one could even say robot-like) Morton-Sherman-Belucci, the New Beat equivalent of Hi-NRG's production whizzes Stock, Aitken & Waterman, who also brought us such classics as Shake Your Hips and Jack To The Air Of The Underwear.

6. Taste Of Sugar - Hmm Hmm
Some cheesy dancing here in another Morton-Sherman-Belucci production. Note the dancers are wearing proto-typical New Beat fashion. Many of these 12"s came with inserts where you too could mail order the clothes.

5. Space Opera - Mandate My Ass
This one gets included for the title alone. Some members of Space Opera included CJ Bolland, David Morley and R & S Records founder Renaat Vandepapeliere.

4. Technotronic Feat. Felly - Pump Up The Jam ("Live")
Easily the biggest and most instantly recognizable hit of the New Beat era. As everyone knows, Felly was just the blue-lipped lip-synching model, whose presence record execs felt would likely sell more records. In actuality, Ya Kid K was the uncredited singer/rapper. Here's the original video for a laugh (dig the fannypack).
I don't want a place to stay
Get your booty on the floor tonight
Make my day

3. Lords of Acid - I Sit On Acid
'88 + 303 = Sit on your face...I wanna sit on your face. Soulwax put out I Sit On Acid 2000, an electro remix a few years back.

2. Major Problem - Acid Queen
New Beat doesn't get much hotter than this. Perfect for your Robot S&M parties (don't ask me, dr™ asked me to include that line). Now I want you to get down on your hands and knees...

1. Miss Nicky Trax - Acid In The House
Don't ask me what pumping iron and women's wrestling have to do with this masterpiece of the genre. As part-time New Beat revivalist V/Vm so succinctly puts it, I Wanna Fuck Miss Nicky Trax.

Performing live in the US for the first time, Absolute Body Control stormed LA and NY this past weekend. This was a super-rare opportunity to see two originators of Minimal Wave, Dirk Ivens & Eric Van Woternghem (also of Dive, The Klinik, Monolith, Sonar, and Blok 57) definitively rock the house with body-controlling jams from throughout their lengthy 28-year existence. For the mainly 30-something crowd at Club M/R/X, ABC's long-overdue visit was fully welcomed as evidenced by the chant-along with Dirk on several songs. Despite getting hassled by the overzealous security, the RobotSound Krew enjoyed the vintage analogue goodness after downing some Duvels (in honor of the visiting Belgians of course) and ogling the local talent.

Here's a clip of ABC performing the Suicide-esque So Obvious in NYC on 4.4.08