Scott Goddard - Cowpunk
Wide Boy Awake - Come Back Friday
Altered Images - Insects
Tim Scott - Swear
Kim Wilde - Cambodia
The Human League - Rock 'n' Roll
Ministry - Same Old Madness
Fad Gadget - Coitus Interruptus
Grauzone - Eisbaer
Psyche - Unveiling The Secret
Strawberry Switchblade - Jolene
Psychic TV - Godstar

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

Since it's clear that I've been stuck in the 20th century for the last couple months, here's an A - Z of 80s videos so that maybe I can purge this inexplicable nostalgia and return to present-day existence. I tried to find live performances or "alternate" versions when available so that you're not stuck watching the same clips that have been in rotation on music video channels for the last 20-30 years.

ABC - Look of Love
Blancmange - Blind Vision
Captain Sensible - Wot
Devo - That's Good
Ēbn-Ōzn - AEIOU Sometimes Y
Falco - Der Kommissar
Go Gos - We Got The Beat
The Human League - Being Boiled
Irene Cara - What A Feeling
The Jesus & Mary Chain - Just Like Honey & Inside Me
Kraftwerk - Heimcomputer
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam - Head To Toe
Midnight Star - Operator
New Order - Love Vigilantes
OMD - Electricity
Pete Burns - You Spin Me Round
Stacey Q - Two Of Hearts
Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me
Sparks - Cool Places
Tones On Tail - Go!
Ultravox - Sleepwalk
Visage - The Anvil
Kim Wilde - Kids In America
Trans X - Living On Video
Yazoo - Don't Go
ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin'

While there's still a few hours left of Christmas (at least here in California), I thought I'd post a few more festive tracks to keep you feeling that holiday spirit. Some of these are from the Christmasasaurus Vol. 2 comp, so I apologize for giving you the same presents twice.

Xmas '07

Tracks:
The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping
Bit Shifter - Winter Wonderland
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Cold White Christmas
Saint Etienne - I Was Born On Christmas Day
Cocteau Twins - Frosty the Snowman
Au Revoir Simone - The Winter Song
Temp Sound Solutions - Dance of the Sugarplum Faeries
Me First and The Gimme Gimmes - Hava Nagilah (Gotta have at least one token Jewish song)
The Sonics - Santa Claus
The Crystals - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Cristina - Things Fall Apart (My pick for best Christmas song ever)
Sally Shapiro - Anorak Christmas
Signaldrift - Dripping Angels
Hai Robotto - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen First Noel
Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe (SMD Space Dub)
Seefeel - Spangle

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

Think of this as a rerun. But this time, there are songs to go along with the post [the songs on the original post ended up getting lost in a site transfer].

No, this isn't the Ubercoolische Minimal Techno we're talking about here - I'm not going to bore you again with that subject. This is Minimal Wave, a term that encompasses early 80's electronic music that heavily emphasized raw analog synths and rhythm boxes. Genres include electro, obscure new wave, minimal synth, coldwave, darkwave and new romantic. Over the last few years there has been some renewed interest in Minimal Wave as today's sonic technicians look to the past for inspiration. The artists on the sadly now-defunct Invasion Planete conspired to supply the underground with very limited minimal wave releases along with a dose of propaganda. In 2003, Gigolo Records came out with New Deutsch, a long overdue compilation that unearthed some lost but not entirely forgotten gems from the German scene. More recently, Vitalic and David Carretta remixed the club favorite Cardboard Lamb from the underrated but highly influential Crash Course In Science, who are currently at work on a new LP.

The Actor - Covergirl
Experimental Products - Clear Images
Guyer's Connection - Dallas
Informatics - Factory Nightlife 03
Profil - 1964 [I think Juice Newton stole this for Queen of Hearts]
Transparent Illusion - We
Silicon Teens - Sun Flight
A Blaze Color - A Means To An End [Sounds like G.D. Luxxe got his vocal style from this guy]
G.K. Agenda - Enyhόles
Nine Circles - Twinkling Stars

Here for your listening pleasure is a recently unearthed recording of a concert given by the Boys of Basildon from 6.27.81. I usually don't post full albums, but seeing as this is probably not an officially licensed recording, I can rationalize offering it in its entirety. Containing tracks never recorded by the band in the studio, along with favorites from your childhood, enjoy the crackly, raw analogue goodness from this seminal robot band.