15) Royksopp – “The Girl and the Robot (ft. Robyn)”
Perhaps my favorite element of this intolerably danceable highlight off Junior is that the robot aspect doesn’t really play. It’s a song about loneliness, about staying up late, waiting by the phone, and trying to be loved. It brings me joy to no end envisioning the robot’s debaucherous outting, at the bars, flirting, getting kicked out of strip clubs. A scumbag no better than the rest of us.
Be patient with this one (check the running time, 7:56), and definitely don’t skip ahead. Let this one build. Settled three-quarters deep into the mildly underrated Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, you’ve got to appreciate the gusto of heading full on into uncharted territory (remember, this is a band that could sell a lot of records by cranking out a dozen renditions of "Take Me Out"). But it’s more than that. It’s the brilliant execution that lasts beyond the novelty.
Apparently, this year’s “Young Folks” was tense, claustrophobic and whistle-free. In other words, “It Don’t Move Me” is an entirely new kind of success for PB & J. Hearing even a few cuts off Living Thing, it quickly becomes clear that these lads are, for the moment at least, eschewing the mainstream cross-over limelight (“Nothing to Worry About” sounds like indie Sesame Street on acid; “Living Thing” sounds like indie Paul Simon on acid; etc.). Here’s to staying relevant another way: finely-tuned madness.
Talk about a centerpiece. Throw a seven minute acoustic ballad, one which crescendoes into something profound, smack dab in the middle of an eclectic, highs-and-lows kind of album and it’s pretty much guaranteed to stick. Then, toss in the refrain “I don’t wanna cry-I-I-I-I-I-I,” the center of the centerpiece, and you are left with a song impossible to ignore and likely to be sang aloud in front of all your confused and ignorant friends. In a good way.
It was a fairly piddling year for quality radio pop. Lady Gaga tore up the charts with her ubiquitous shitshow, the Black Eyed Peas released maybe the worst #1 of the decade, and the two most interesting figures in pop, Kanye and Lil’ Wayne, were busy interrupting speeches and creating sub-par rock music, respectively. “Knock You Down” is therefore practically a godsend, featuring the rock-solid Hilson, a spot-on Mr. West, talented croonist Ne-Yo, and the best hi-hat usage of the year.
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