Pop Music Review Thread!

[Chris B]

I think Robyn's Body Talk Pt. 1 is great. It feels a bit imcomplete, but for part one of a three disc album it's decent enough. I'm sure in the end we'll all be able to compile a great album. Dancing On My Own is Robyn at her best. She does those sort of tragic, but strong electro-ballads better than anyone. This one is up there with Call the Shots for me. Fembot is another standout and of course she's on point herself. The radio 1 cover 'Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart' is just sublime. I hate she messed up at the end so I don't have a perfect recording. She outdid Alicia Keys though.

[EricMontreal22]

The thing is, the album has so much IMHO filler--did she really need to release this in three parts, and when it is does that mean I'll actually like a full CDs worth of songs gathered from all three vols?

I admit I'm often a bit put off with how much critics love her--"the thinking man's Kylie" etc, when I really don't see her being on a different level than most of those pop starlets...

[Sylph]

Aha! That's what it was about! I knew there was something fishy about your attitude.

[EricMontreal22]

HA! Well it's more than that--her music is the kinda music I think I should LOVE--it's right up my alley, or should be (I mean that New Yorker critic I like to quote which annoys you basically is in love with her ). Yet I only like her vocals sometime (and when I do I love them--her Royksopp song last year was prob my fave pop song of 2009, and Dacing on my Own is a huge fave at the moment), and I hate half her songs (which is odd because a number of them, again, I absolutely love). So I have friends and critics I trust all telling me I should love her, and some part of appeal is missingfor me (maybe it's the fact that I hated her Max martin hits from the 90s--Show Me Love *blech*)

I was talking to a friend who likes much of the same kinds of music and he said the same thing--he didn't know why but for some reason he couldn't love her. Ultimately he thought she should do the Cathy Dennis route and quit trying to have hits and just write songs for others... Not sure I'd go that far, but...

[Chris B]

Ha! Love it Sylph. Honestly, for 8 tracks I'm not seeing all the filler.

For me...

LOVE

Dancing On My Own

Cry When You Get Older

Fembot

Hang With Me

None of Dem

Like

Dancehall Queen

Jag Vet En Dejlig Rosa

Meh

Don't [!@#$%^&*] Tell Me What To Do (didn't live up to the title)

I guess its all subjective, it is pop music after all, but for me it was a pretty immediate album (much like her previous effort).

[Sylph]

I guess it is because for all her mainstream pop & dance songs, it feels as if she's a member of the... 'alternative' scene. And isn't a dumb b!tch & producers' robot. She is popular and has her base, but isn't HUGE. There's a certain 'vibe' she emits and I think it's a huge part of her appeal (for the critics and fans). It's like: OMG, you're listening to Kylie?! You're dumb. Whereas if you say Robyn, people'll go all: Ohhh, liking that! It shows you have taste. LOL. Even though music may be classified as the same.

The critics love her, everybody loves her. I haven't really read anything baaaaad about her, though I know a piece like that definitely must exist somewhere.

[EricMontreal22]

Dancing on my Own and Fembot and maybe Cry are the only three I absolutely love. Stuff like None of Dem (shame on Royksopp) is exactly what I don't like about Robyn, and I admit I never could get into the dancehall style of stuff like Dancehall Queen

But yeah, of course it's subjective, and I still think your tastes in music are largely spot on. Like I said, mostof my friends who are into Kylie etc LOVE Robyn, so a part of it is probably backlash from me for trying repeatedly (I even saw her in concert--I admit she was great live) and only really loving a few great tracks. I do think it's kinda funny she's had to explain to everyone why it's just an EP, etc, when Gaga's Fame Monster, and Goldfrapp's (awesome) Heads Up are only one track, and scant minutes, longer.

[EricMontreal22]

I think you're spot on--though ever since her live shows showed her singing live and all the work she pout into that (plus, let's face it, cancer sympathy and the fact she's stuck around so long) Kylie is starting to get some of that critical cool factor as well but it's much more in the "yeah she's my fave guilty pleasure" way (I still can't believe she was invited to play the Glastonbury festival though).

The way you describe Robyn's appeal though is I think exactly it and it reminds me of another similar artist--who I *do* love, Annie (in fact many reviews outright call her the alternative Kylie, even if her music isn't remotely indie and in fact she works with some of the same producers). I mean Pitchfork called her single Heartbeat the single of the year a few years back (which I thought was probably accurate--yet another great song produced by Royksopp). And like Robyn, I think part of the cool appeal is, as you say, that she hasn't really become HUGE yet (though Heartbeat and Chewing Gum were UK hits almost on the level of Robyn's similarly titled With Every Heartbeat). It also looks like, like Annie, Robyn's current album may be something of a bigger flop than anticipated.