Posts tagged Robyn
music makes the people come together
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So word on “the street” is that Robyn is in the studio right now making new music.. WITH KLEERUP. Amaze.
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Vanbot - Make me, break me.
I love all kinds of pop music, but my very favorite type of pop music is Swedish electro-pop. So yesterday when the fabulous Damian, of one of my favorite music blogs - Swedish Stereo, posted about the new Vanbot song, and compared their music to Robyn and Isabel Guzman, I literally dropped everything I was doing to check it out.
I like this song very much. I was thrilled to hear they have a full album coming out in April. Vanbot are vocalist Ester Ideskog and producer Sebastian Forslund. I’m immediately relying on them to tide me over until we finally get new music from Sophia Somajo and Isabel Guzman/Wolf Box this summer.
Follow Vanbot on Twitter and check out their Soundcloud for a free download of this song.
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LectroLips - My latest obsession! A little Q&A I did with the boys themselves.
I’ve totally fallen for this electo/pop/fun(k) duo from the UK. LectroLips are Leo Tarring and Antony Edwards, I happily stumbled upon them via Twitter, then Soundcloud. Their songs, which they serve up for free right now, have been downloaded over 36,000 times. They are an unsigned act, but I doubt that will be the case for long. Their excellent track Stromotion was recently used in the Wahl UK TV commercial campaign, and Tom Robinson, of BBC6 recently described their music as “a fresh slice of snappy, close to the knuckle computer pop.”
Click play above and listen to their new song, What We Came For, while reading the quick Q&A the boys recently did with me. Oh and look, they are quite sexy too!
Hey Antony and Leo! Lets get right into it. How would you describe your music in three words?
Ant: Electro, Pop, Fun(k)
Leo: Cheeky, synthy, club funk (okay, can I have four words?)
Yes, four words granted. What do you two think is the biggest struggle that new or unsigned artists face these days?
Ant: I think the biggest struggle for new and unsigned artists is to get people to listen to their music in the first place.
Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have made it easier to share our music but the hardest thing we’ve encountered is actually getting people to push the play button once we’ve shared it! We haven’t performed live yet so we’ve had to completely take advantage of these kind of sites. We’re still relatively unknown but the internet has given us the opportunity to reach a wider audience by releasing our music for free download.
There are so many talented, unsigned artists out there, so obviously the competition is a challenge. But if we come across another unsigned artist or band who we genuinely dig, then we’ll tweet and talk about them, share their links, etc. At the end of the day, we’re all trying to do the same thing. We’re big fans of music and we like to show our support.
Leo: I agree with Ant, and also think that getting started is particularly tough. You need pretty decent recording equipment, or unlimited studio time, to get the polished demos people expect nowadays, which all costs money. I truly think that there’s room for everybody in the music industry - it’s just a case of finding your audience.
I really like that point, that there is room for everybody. I think the rivalry and competition between different artists is often dreamed up by the media and even the fans. It’s quite silly too, because often these artists really like and respect each other. So how did you guys get together and decide to form LectroLips?
Ant: I met Leo through a friend about six years ago. He was working on solo material which was a world away from the kind of stuff we’re doing today. I used to write lyrics and poems and one day I was brave enough to show Leo some words I’d been working on. He liked them and sang the melody back to me pretty much immediately, and it ultimately became our first song called ‘Hijacked’. We enjoyed working on music together and something just clicked between us. It was a few years later that we decided to start writing and recording songs as LectroLips.
We put together a demo album at the end of 2009 called ‘Keyboard Sexy’ and have been working together ever since. This album was all about experimenting and finding our feet. Although we don’t dismiss our previous work, it’s our recent EP, ‘Exempt From Classification’, that we consider to be our official introduction. Our sound developed so quickly as we became more confident in what we were doing.
I love how you say you were “brave” enough to share with him some of your stuff, and it ended up starting a great musical partnership like that. Like a little leap of faith.
Leo: Yeah, as time went on, and the partnership grew, we decided to form a proper duo.
How did you decide on the name “LectroLips?”
Leo: We liked the cheeky/sexy imagery of lips, and, as Ant will tell you, I have pretty big lips, so we wanted to incorporate the word ‘lips’ in there somewhere. Originally we were called ‘Electrolips’ but we thought that sounded a bit too much like a hoover manufacturer! So eventually we ditched the ‘E’. We didn’t realize at the time that Lectro Lips meant something else entirely in the porn world!
Hahaha. Oh lord I’ll have to look that up later. Ahem. So, who are some artists that have inspired or influenced your music?
Ant: My biggest musical influence is Madonna. I grew up listening to her music and watching her concerts and videos. She has a determination about her but she does everything with a cheeky glint in her eye. She’s been written off so many times but is still here. You’ve got to respect someone like that. She’s got balls. I admire anyone that is brave enough to take a risk.
Leo: I’m inspired by a huge range of artists. I guess the thing that turns me on most in a song is a strong melody and a bit of drama. And I love a funky groove! I’m a classically trained pianist, and my Dad was a classical music obsessive, so I grew up around a lot of classical music - I still love the romantic stuff like Rachmaninov and Chopin. Then from the age of about 15, I was totally into the Carpenters, Abba and Queen - a lot of classic pop. My musical tastes have expanded as I’ve got older - the Beatles, David Bowie, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Joni Mitchell… I could keep going!
Everything from Madonna to Rachmaninov! Fabulous. What kind of music do you guys have on your iPods right now? I’m always curious as to what my favorite artists are listening to at the moment.
Ant: Robyn, Chromeo, Prince, YELLE & Beth Ditto. I’m also really into Giorgio Moroder and Cerrone.
Love all of them. Especially Robyn and Beth Ditto, her EP blew me away. Leo?
Leo: At the moment I’m listening to a bit of Lady Gaga, Chromeo, Black Eyed Peas, LCD Soundsystem, Scissor Sisters. Ant and I have listening sessions when we listen to everything from Donna Summer to ZZ Top and Van Halen. I guess you could say we’re into our pop more than anything.
There’s nothing wrong with that. Long live pop music! So what are some of your goals as a band for the upcoming years?
Ant: We’re in the process of finishing our new EP called ‘Disco Brief’ which we’re excited about. We released the first track ‘What We Came For’ last month. We also want to write and produce for other artists and start performing live this summer.
Leo: I’m really keen for us to start performing live together. I’m used to doing gigs as a piano vocalist, so performing as LectroLips will be a whole new experience! I want people to see Ant’s dancing - he’s unique!
I want to see that! Hopefully I’ll make it back to the UK soon so I can. Here’s the final question boys, and it’s a deep one so brace yourselves. I ask everyone this, because I think you can tell a lot about a person by their response: Who is your favorite Spice Girl and why?
Ant: Geri all the way. She wasn’t afraid of making fun of herself. She isn’t the greatest singer or dancer but she knew it. I think she had the most ambition.
Leo: Same as Ant - Geri for me. To me pop music is about having fun and being a bit cheeky, and I think Geri had that licked!
Amen you guys. I’m Geri all the way myself. Thanks so much for your time, I can’t wait to hear the new EP!
Leo: Thanks again. You’ve got a great site and we’re flattered by your interest in our music.
So there you have it. Now, I highly encourage all of you to follow the boys on Twitter, because they’re quite a bit of fun (@LectroLips, @LectroLeo). Also do yourself a favor and go to their SoundCloud, they have over 40 great tracks for you to download for free. My favorites are the dancefloor-ready What We Came For (above), and This Record Sound. As well, there are some really stunning slower and more introspective tracks, like Glimmer and Alien (LV-426 remix). If you’re still in 2008, LectroLips can also be found on Facebook and MySpace. ;D
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Haha! I hope Robyn is thinking to herself: “I’m way too good for these stupid, American, late night talk shows.”
Because she is!!
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ROBYN “Bodytalk”
I was skeptical about the whole “Body Talk” three-album situation that Robyn began rolling out at the start of spring. I liked most of part one, but it kind of scared me. I LOVED part two, and started to feel better. Now, with the final album and five brand new Robyn songs, it all makes sense.
I’m getting the bad over with first. I don’t agree with the final tracklisting that was decided on for the last “Body Talk.” But surely, everyones opinion will be different here. I never cared much for the Diplo-produced “Dancehall Queen.” It flat-out sucks that the radio version of “Dancing On My Own” is what we get here. Great songs like “Cry When You Get Older” and “Criminal Intent” were left off, cleverly encouraging people to purchase all three albums. But whatever. I happily did.
What’s seriously lacking in the whole “Body Talk” project is a proper, slow, Robyn pop ballad. Something in the vein of “Robot Boy” or the amazing “Eclipse” both from her 2005 release. We never get that sparse, stripped down moment, which I think added so much warmth to her self-titled album five years ago. And that’s a damn shame.
Whatever, on with the good.
The five new songs are all stellar. The Max Martin co-written/produced “Time Machine” is great. I had heard that Sophia Somajo had actually been working with Max Martin on songs for other artists. Well guess what? Sophia Somajo wrote the lyrics. This makes “Time Machine” like the holy grail of pop music to me. The song-writing is clearly Max, but the production, Sophia’s lyrics, and Robyn’s delivery make it unique, and far more interesting than the generic Britney Spears and boy band songs Martin’s become famous for cranking out. (On a side note, if you like Robyn, and have never heard of Sophia Somajo, check her out NOW!)
Obviously, the trilogy of the first three singles “Dancing on my Own,” “Hang With Me,” and “Indestructible,” are huge album highlights. These are three of the most emotional, addictive, and chilling electro-pop songs released to radio this year. While I wouldn’t have picked the Diplo, Röyksopp, and Snoop Dog collaborations to make the final cut, they do add a certain spunkiness and edge to the album, which is so much what Robyn is about. The new “Konichiwa, bitches” songs like “Fembot” and “Don’t fucking tell me what to do” are fab fab fab.
I’m thrilled “We Dance to the Beat” is on here. I heard a lot of commentary saying “Love Kills” was Robyn’s new sort-of “gay anthem.” Although I love that song too, I think “We Dance to the Beat” takes that prize. It’s just soooo gay-ravey-dancefloor-poppers. It’s not the sort of anthem/song that comes to you right away, it takes a little while. “We dance to the beat of your brain not evolving fast enough,” and “we dance to the beat of bad kissers clicking teeth,” are my favorite lines.
“Stars Forever” is a great way to end the album. I love this kind of song. It’s upbeat, but also very relaxed. It glides along happily, but also with also a touch of melancholy. A message to a lover, or perhaps friend, about being far apart, yet somehow “connected through the stars.” It sounds like it should be very cheesy, but manages not to be. And isn’t that what Robyn does best? Uplifting pop, that’s not so sugary you can’t swallow it.
Amazing. I adore her.
So, had it been up to me to arrange the final track listing, this is what it would have looked like.
In my eyes
Include me out
Get myself together
Fembot
Don’t fucking tell me what to do
Dancing on my own
Indestructible
Hang with me
Time machine
Love kills
We dance to the beat
Criminal intent
Call your girlfriend
Cry when you get older
Stars forever
