SLAG PATROL

Robyn – Cry When You Get Older

OMG THE BRIDGE IS SO GOOD

Robyn – Dancing On My Own

Robyn – Dancing On My Own (Chew Fu Remix)

I adore this. I like the original more and more every time I hear it. And the Chew Fu Remix adds a bit of sparkle. So good. And so excited for Body Talk.

Yelle – Qui Est Cette Fille (Robyn cover)

This is part of a ‘foreign exchange,’ where Yelle did a Robyn song and Robyn did a Yelle song. Yelle’s is way better–Robyn just added Yelle’s lyrics on top of Cobrastyle, while Yelle constructed something completely new. The chorus is gorgeous.

Royksopp feat. Robyn – The Girl and the Robot
Davide Rossi – Suite for a Robotic Girl (Reinterpretation)

Speaking of Robyn — this is awesome. I love the synth and strings, and Robyn’s anger, and the fact that they took the song literally when they made the video.

Royksopp – This Must Be It

And speaking of Royksopp — another good track off their recent album.

Britney Spears – Womanizer

OK, so it’s not exactly original; it’s Rihanna’s SOS + Rachel Stevens’s Some Girls + Britney’s Radar mashed together. Still, it’s excellent. The chorus sounds metallic, a touch industrial but still poppy. Good work Britney’s producers.

Christina Aguilera – Genie in a Bottle (2008 rework)

More palate cleanser than full song, this version of Genie in a Bottle is from her performance at the 2008 Video Music Awards. It’s very very sleek, and unfortunately only a minute and a half long–the new song it segued into on the show wasn’t nearly as good.

BWO – Lay Your Love On Me

BWO (formerly Bodies Without Organs) were a Slag Patrol favorite, until they put out about 10 truly awful ballads in a row and put on the worst show I’ve ever seen at the Astoria. Lay Your Love On Me is a very welcome return to form. It’s slick. It’s fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. I like.

Robyn – Handle Me (Ortzroka Death To Disco Dub)

The best mix of Handle Me I’ve heard yet. Everything saccharine in the original has been replaced with an angry, throbbing synth.

Rihanna – Disturbia (Craig C & Nique’s Master Radio Mix)

This remix loses the original’s irresistible melodic Bum-Bum-Be-Ums, but it adds a fantastic ‘destroy everything you touch’ edge.

Coldplay – Vida La Vida (Grant’s Uplifting Club Mix)

I was so over Coldplay, and then they came out with Vida La Vida, one of my favorite songs of the summer. This mix doesn’t change much but adds a good beat.

The Killers – Human

Stuart Price has done good work here. It’s the Killers at their synthy, yearning best. Very excited for this album to drop.

Katy Perry – Hot N Cold

I really shouldn’t like this song so much. I don’t understand why. It just make me so. happy. The Max Martin magic is working.

Robyn – With Every Heartbeat
Static Revenger – Round & Around (Radio Edit)

Robyn first entered my consciousness in 1997 with her single Show Me Love (James actually has this exact CD single on his shelf today–I’m not sure if he should be embarrassed or proud). When her self-titled album came out in 2005, I initially thought it was a different Robyn. It’s absolutely brilliant electropop–Be Mine! and Crash and Burn Girl are two of my favorite songs ever. Poignant, tremendously sad, and possessing a glorious strings break in the middle, With Every Heartbeat makes me very anxious for Robyn’s next album. And Static Revenger–hadn’t heard of them before receiving this on a compilation. It’s 80s-derivative but pulls it off, with a charging synth and catchy chorus.