Today I've got special treats for you androids out there. No, they're not Ding Dongs, those round chocolate cakes with a flat top and a white creamy filling...Nope, I don't have advance copies of Google's forthcoming iPhone challenger, the G1 "Android" phone (Sorry, I know, that would've been nice)...What I do have are your very own RobotSound™ Ringtones!

A couple friends appreciated my Galaga ringer, so I thought why not make a few more to share amongst like-minded folks. Since most commercially available ringtones don't cater to my tastes, I tried to find sounds that kept the robot in mind which worked well in the cell phone context. Most are arcade game-centric but the few that aren't still sound like they could have been from games. All were made on Cellsea, which also lets you to upload wallpapers, video and games. If you want to make your own from your favorite coin-op game of choice, Digitpress has a great stock of vintage mp3s and sound effects you can use.

Game Ringtones
Computor Rockers - Galaga
Computor Rockers - Burgertime
Computor Rockers - Pengo
Tapper
Berzerk [My current ringtone]
Steve Claydon [ex-Add N to [X]] - Arkanoid

Non-Game Ringtones
Dis*ka - Being Boiled
Dis*ka - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Frederik Schikowski - Rubik's Cube
Frederik Schikowski - Utopia Brasilia
Le Car - Audiofile 10
Le Car - Flame Job

All of the above, plus several more can be found on this page. If your phone doesn't allow you to visit the site (like mine didn't), you'll have to find a program that lets you copy files directly to your phone, via USB. For my now-ancient RAZR V3 I used P2K Commander, which also allowed me to make space by deleting some of the crappy default ringtones the phone came with...

And so let freedom ring from the pixelated screens of Silicon Valley.

Let freedom ring from every byte and kilobyte of your carrier's Coverage Area.

...and sing in the words of the old robot spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank Bot Almighty, free tones at last!

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

Well, the Orange Box came out last week to much rejoicing for us gaming droids...Not only does this mammoth compilation contain the award-winning and utterly great Half Life 2, but also Half Life 2: Episode 2, Portal, and the long-awaited (i.e. since 2000) Team Fortress 2...a ridiculous crazy ludicrous bargain at $49.95...

While Half Life is something that needs to be seen (or experienced) to be believed, and Team Fortress 2 is currently the best team-based shooter on the PC, bar none, the cute and crazy surprise comes in the form of Portal. A simple enough premise: you, a maze of laboratory corridors, and a gun that makes dimensional portals, anywhere you want. Add in a psychotic, but cute-sounding artificial intelligence, rocket turrets, and of course, moist delicious cake, and you've got a helluva game.

And a cool as hell song, too. Click here to download "Still Alive", the thoroughly catchy endgame song from Portal, sung by everyone's favorite AI antagonist, GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System)...written by a real cool cat named Jonathan Coulton...and since dr™ wouldn't be happy if this post didn't include a cover tune, listen to Mr. Coulton's wonderfully white-ified cover of Sir Mix-a-Lot's Baby Got Back here.

Henceforth,

Time for another post of retro covers of choons from that oh-so-glorious decade, thee 80z. The long-awaited second installment of RobotSound™s I <3 the 80s has arrived [for Vol.1, click here]. So bust out your best modern romantic get-up and dance to some 21st century re-imaginings of these Alternative (back when that actually meant something) Rock hits.

Chromatics - Running Up That Hill [Demo]
Enjoy this Kate Bush classic, then pick up the Chromatics Shining Violence 12" out on Italians Do It Better. Better yet, get the After Dark comp.

Scratch Massive - Three Imaginary Boys
These sexy Parisians just did a soundtrack album which has their cover of Marianne Faithful's Broken English. Here they re-interpret an early Cure track. Massive!

Travelogue - Europa
Travelogue [aka Jon Sonnenberg] has carried forth the synthpop torch from pioneers like Thomas Dolby. Don't be one of the "pirate twins" Dolby sings of -pick up some of Travelogue's releases here.

Dirty Sanchez - U Got The Look
Who better than Dirty Sanchez to cover the artist currently known as Prince's duet with Sheena E (who used to shill for the gym I belong to). Take a look at a recent video they made for their ode to the kids in Saigon and the punks in Taiwan, Youth In Asia.

lb - Be Near Me [Backup Read Error]
The last release Atom™ made as Lassigue Bendthaus was 1998's Pop Artificielle LP, featuring this ABC synthpop anthem, as well as songs from David Bowie, John Lennon, and The Stones. What's your reputation?

CMYK - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?
I usually don't post two tracks from the same artist in one post, but given that he's mr. prolific (and he's done his fair share of covers), I couldn't resist including Atom™s Senor Coconut-esque vibraphone rendition of this time-honored Culture Club number. Yes, George, I REALLY WANT TO HURT YOU! j/k

The Robot Invasion consists of machine musicians from all over the world - from the trendiest, megalopolitan glamour-bot to the unlikeliest, backyard, garage-dwelling rustbucket. Today's installment of RobotSound™ takes us deep into the heartland of the US, namely, the OKC. Seems like our Dust Bowl co-conspirators really show that they can shake a transformer and get down and drrty with the kind of aplomb that impresses even a jaded LA denizen like myself. John Bourke, one half of Trash Yourself! [**retinal damage/seizure alert!**] and co-founder of the Dance Robots, Dance! collective has been garnering his act a fair amount of press in the electro/new wave/indietronica blogosphere; So I suppose I too will have to jump on this squalid bandwagon and promote his brand of brain-scrapings to y'all. Also check the serious hoedown throwdown from DRD's resident b-girl, DJ Kylie.

**note: You may want to treat your circuitry to a hot-oil soak after listening to this nastiness.

Unclean in the OKC
John Bourke - What Is Love?
Trash Yourself! + The Toxic Avenger - Song 2
Kylie - DirtyDirty

Bonus Garbage!
Ascii.Disko - Dirty! Filthy!
Dirty Princess - Marine
Rustie - Pendulum

Avoid Excessive Listening
Use Only In Moderation
Use With Caution: May Be Habit-Forming
May Cause Sleeplessness
Energy Drinks/Caffeine May Intesify This Effect

Coco Electrik - Sex Shooter
(We Are) Performance - Free Fallin'
Datashat - Don't You Want SID + How Does It Feel
Boys of Scandinavia - Bela Lugosi's Dead
Overproof Soundsystem - The Model
Busy P - It's More Fun To Compute

Given my affinity for posting covers of the music I was raised on, it was recently brought to my attention that I should profile the cpu-felt New Wave renditions of mr_hopkinson's computer™. Previously featured on RobotSound™ by way of My Robot Friend's Virtual Mixtape, this pensive laptop's fondness for covering indie classics of the 80s and 90s [think Stephen Hawking synthesizes Nouvelle Vague at the Sci-Fi convention] is matched only by his earnestness for proving that he is indeed, a sentient, if sentimental, machine. Personally, I think he should do a version of Joy Division's Isolation [only he should entitle it Pixelation]. And to prove that he's not just stuck in the past or in one particular genre, he also faithfully reproduces [I would daresay improves upon] some more recent pop offerings [Gnarls Barkley's Crazy and Kelis & ODB's Baby I Got Your Money] in connectivities with his female counterpart, The Audrey 3000™.

Please take the time to point your browser over to his myspace page and his bonus tracks page to experience for yourself the music of the silicon sensation that is mr_hopkinson's computer™.