Robyn Heart Attack

So I admit it, I was getting overwhelmed with all the new Robyn material and had almost reached by saturation point...but I took the bulk of the winter off and I'm excited to be enjoying this track from her fellow Swedes, Teddybear. Just in time for spring!

  Teddybears f/Robyn - "Cardiac Arrest"

Robyn at Terminal 5

Robyn_terminal_5

So I can't believe I still haven't written anything about Robyn's Terminal 5 show last week. Bad Grant. 
 
It wasn't quite the knockout that the Webster Hall show was and some of that undoubtedly has to do with the venue. I see more shows at Terminal 5 than anywhere else. It's great that it's only a few blocks from my house but the sound and acoustics of the venue are just terrible and the sight lines are weird.
 
Robyn seemed a bit distracted at the top of the show: changing shoes between songs and futzing with her mic pack. She cancelled a few dates due to illness shortly after the concert so I wonder if she was already coming down with something.
 
Vocals were customarily strong and the crowd was absolutely in love. I was thrilled to hear "Dream On" and "Konichiwa Bitches." The finale, a tender coupling of "Dancing Queen" with her old chestnut, "Show Me Love" was dynamite.
 
You'll have to forgive this stranger's singalong....but who can blame him?


 

Robyn - Supertramp inspired?

So our dear Robyn has a new video out from her new album Body Talk (not to be confused with Body Talk Pt. 1 or Body Talk Pt. 2), it pulls the best of the first EPs and adds some new tracks.  Sort of a greatest hits of this year's output. This girl's a machine!

"Indestructible" arrived on Pt. 2 in acoustic form (just as "Hang with Me" first appeared in a stripped down version on Pt. 1, and then ws reworked as a pop version, becoming Pt. 2's lead single ) and while I dig it, I've been totally irritated every time I've listened to it because the verses remind me of Some...Song...I...Can't...FIGURE OUT!

Well the new album has an electro-dance version (it's also the single) and you'll all be relieved that I've finally figured out what my minds been hearing. It sounds so close to me I can't quite get over the similarities and actually enjoy the track. Guess when she's releasing all this material...you're bound to inadvertently rip crib some melodies. Do you hear it too?

Robyn - "Indestructible"

Supertramp - "The Logical Song"

I Heart Robyn+Kelis

So I'm not sure I even have words for the Robyn and Kelis show last night. Could've been one of my favorite concert experiences.

First off. This helps things:
 
Vip

Turns out this was the last show of their "All Hearts" concert and I feel like they (and we) really rose to the occasion.

Kelis looked totally HOT in an Olivia Newton-John spandex suit and Donna Summer wig-- Absolutely ferocious -- and she totally worked the crowd. "Acapella", as usual, reduced me to a screaming lunatic. And her "Holiday" (Madonna, naturally)/"Milkshake" mashup was also a highlght.

Robynkelis_004

But Robyn was undoubtedly the main event and the crowd went absolutely berzerk for her. It was amazing to have a bird's eye view of the main floor, where people (okay, mostly boys) were shouting back, bouncing about, just revelling in the moment. And I'm not gonna lie, I was right there with them.

Robynkelis_005
 
Her voice sounded amazing. And she danced with complete abandon, unselfconscious and lost in every moment and every lyric. (She basically careened across the stage during "Don't Fuc*ing tell me What to Do"). In the other moments...well, what can I say, Robyn epitomizes the best of our current crop of resurging dance floor divas.

Disco's gotten a bad rap over the years -- but in its purest form, disco can be defined as dance music with its emotional core turned up to 11. And I'd say Robyn is our era's purest personifiction of this. Someone must have really broken this girl's heart as nearly all the songs are about rejection or regret or yearning or even the desire for comfort ("Dream On"). During these songs she sang to the rafters and danced as if the emotions of the music were literally taking her over.

The "With Every Heartbeat" finale was completely overwhelming. Hearing this song with the crowd dancing and singing along, it was an amazingly communal experience.

Someone's already posted a video from the back of the house and this gives you a great idea of the energy in the room (without quite doing it justice.

#!

It was a thousand degrees in Webster Hall and we were all sweating like drowned rats. But what an amazing experience.

As a bonus, here's the beginning of "WEH" from Jenn's iPhone. How it didn't pick up my screaming voice singing along - I have no idea.

(download)