Gong : Robo-Warriors

Last time I posted two robot songs by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard; a band I've been listening to a lot of in recent months, but it took me a while to realise that they'd done a handful of robot songs (I really must pay more attention when listening to music).

This time I'm posting a robot song by a band I've been listening to for the best part of thirty years, and I've only just noticed that they've got a robot song tucked up their sleeve... and they only released it eight years ago! Gong mostly sing songs about pixies and teapots and all sorts of new-age stuff and apart from Mother Gong's Robot Woman LPs, proper Gong just don't do robots... or so I thought.

Gong formed in the fields of northern France in the late nineteen-sixties and despite numerous line-up changes, splits, reformations, disbands, rebrands, reunions and far too much mortality, they're still going strong. Gong are arguably my favourite band of all time, and it's only a handful of their early albums that keep me going back to them. My big brother introduced me to Gong in around nineteen-eighty-eight, and I was happy in nineteen-eighty-nine when Gong (under the banner of Gongmaison) came to play in Morecambe of all places, and the tickets were a mere £3. As mentioned, they've been my favourite band ever since, although their output after the Gongmaison album has (in my mind) not been great. The Shapeshifter album (1992) disappointed me on so many levels so I wasn't expecting much from their next release; Zero to Infinity (2000). It sounded like a poor impression of themselves. They'd long lost the spark that they once had way back in the early seventies, and only frontman, founder and driving force Daevid Allen remained from their classic line-up. I'd briefly listen to subsequent recordings but never returned for a second listen until I heard 2014's I See You, which was by far their best LP since Gongmaison (1989). Daevid Allen died aged 77 in 2015, and I guess I was just as surprised and bewildered as anyone when it was announced in early 2016 that Gong would continue.

In September 2016, Gong released Rejoice, I'm Dead! which far exceeded my expectations. It's arguably their best LP since 1989 and along with I See You, is the only one since Gongmaison that I've given repeated listens... which explains why it's taken me so long to discover their robot song.
Robo-Warriors is tucked away on their 2032 LP, released in 2009. After several disappointing albums, I'm not sure if I ever gave 2032 a proper listen before today, and it's actually quite good.

The Robot Song : Project: Out of Bounds

As a warm-up for Ska Sunday, here's a reggae influenced robot song by San Diego's Project: Out of Bounds. From their Facebook page...

"Project Out of Bounds is a progressive reggae-fusion band that has been taking California venues by surprise for the last five years. In a musical age where success is manifested through kissing ass and blasting social media sites, P.O.B. is the band that lets their art speak for itself. Their music is creative, edgy, and hip. They usually sneak under the radar right before sucker punching the crowd with an explosion of energy. They have accumulated a fan-base of true music aficionados that don’t buy into hype. Yes, this is a band for the true music fan, not just the reggae fan."

Need I say more?



See you tomorrow on Ska Sunday!

This Gigantic Robot Kills : MC Lars

It's 'Ska Sunday' here on 101 Songs About Robots, and what better way to celebrate than with a chunk of that modern punky pop the kids call ska? This song may well be a long way from the authentic sixties ska that laid the foundations for rocksteady and reggae, but it's got the jump and the jiggle and the jaunty brass, and it's bang up to date with a bad ass rap.

This Gigantic Robot Kills is written & performed by MC Lars and features Aquabats frontman MC Bat Commander singing the chorus, along with LA based third wave ska band Suburban Legends providing the trumpety jumpety backing track. Taken from his 2009 album of the same name, it's MC Lars with This Gigantic Robot Kills.




I might be back later on with another song for Ska Sunday, or I might be back next week, but right now... I'm off for a bath.

Robots : Dan Mangan

Today's robo-ballad is made even more charming thanks to its wonderful video... reminiscent of those gang movies such as West Side Story, The Warriors and Colors, but with a heart warming robotic twist. Dan Mangan, I salute you. This is a perfectly realised robot song and a perfectly crafted video.

Machine : Regina Spektor

Today's robot song is by the kooky yet loveable Regina Spector... born in Moscow, she relocated to The Bronx, NY with her parents at the age of nine where she continued to study classical piano. Gaining recognition as part of New York's anti-folk scene, Regina Spektor self-released her first three LPs before getting a publishing deal with Sire Records in 2004. Taken from her fifth studio album 'Far' is Machine. Is it about robots or isn't it? I think so... otherwise it wouldn't be here!

Robot : KRS-One & Buckshot

Woop-woop it's the sound of da police, woop-woop... is by and far KRS-One's best known tune. Here he's teamed up with fellow NY rapper Buckshot to bring us a rap about robots titled Robot and, just like Sick Symphonies, Aqua and TV On The Radio, proves that swearing is neither big nor clever.

[PARENTAL ADVISORY : EXPLICIT LYRICS]

I Am Not A Robot : Marina & The Diamonds

Whilst David Zed seems pretty damn certain that he is a robot, Marina Diamandis appears to be fairly confident that she's not a robot. Better known under the moniker Marina and the Diamonds, this Welsh singer/songwriter first released the video for I Am Not A Robot on YouTube in 2009, followed by the official single release in early 2010 where it peaked at number 26 in the UK singles chart. My only problem with this song is that it repeatedly states 'I am not a robot' which makes me wonder if it qualifies for 101 Songs About Robots at all... either way, here it is.