Friday 22 May 2009

Videos I don't get: Royksopp with Robyn edition

This post definitely falls under the "I was online for over an hour looking for stuff to post about and couldn't find anything and I really wanted to watch The OC/read Dangerous Liaisons and so I just dug something up and made up snarky comments about it" heading. Below you'll find the video for "The Girl & The Robot," the new single from Royksopp featuring Robyn. I am still up in the air about this video/song for the following, sligthly conflicting reasons:

1. I am not really into Royksopp. I remember Radio K, the college radio station I worked at for many years, playing some songs by the group and I didn't hate the tracks--in fact, I found some of them kinda nice--but it just wasn't totally "my thing." Ya know?

2. Robots? Come on. That stuff was funny like ten years ago, when I was still in the infernal depths of high school. This was when pirates and ninjas were funny, too, before they like, "broke." Went mainstream. (They were also funny then because I thought them up. Totally. I am the one who realized the latent comedic potential of "Arrr!" and "Does not compute!" and "Look out dude, there's a ninja behind you!!!!" YOU'RE WELCOME AMERICA. But they are not funny anymore. They are overdone. Ladies and gentlemen, may I now suggest Victorian men with dapper moustaches riding those bicycles where the front wheel is way larger than the back wheel as your next target of, um, whatever it is? You're welcome, again!)

3. I DO kinda think Robyn is pretty cool. Konichiwa Bitches is kind of a jam, and I really like that she was a successful, blandly mainstream pop artist before she reinvented herself as a sassy electro lady who's worked with The Knife, Teddybears, and Basement Jaxx.


But the more I hear this song, the more I THINK I like it. Verdict's still out. The video=meh. It features Robyne looking devastated and bored in a fancy space age pad, waiting for the return of her robot husband, who is either philandering or just totally swamped at work, babe. And that ending--um, ok??? I mean, I get the sense that you're supposed to be depressed that you're not preggo, Robyn, but seriously what did you expect? Your man is a robot. He is inherently sterile, at least in this universe. But hey, it's disco-y, it's got some Moroder moments, and I can get down with that.

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