Idolator: robyn

Madonna's Set List May Be Sticking With Some Old Favorites

Maura Johnston — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EDT

News that Robyn is opening a few dates on Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour this coming summer has just crossed the transom, but—surprise!—those shows will all be in Europe, at least as of this writing. (Perhaps this means she'll be opening for Madge on this side of the pond come 2011?) While looking for news on who Madonna's tour support in the States might be, I e-stumbled across what may be a leaked set list for the tour, and even though Hard Candy is far from my favorite album of the year, the older songs she's picked are mostly killer: "Everybody" (!), "Borderline," "Dress You Up," "Rain." Plus, uh, "Girl From Ipanema"? Scan and Robyn/Madonna tour dates after the jump.

Robyn/Madonna:
26-August Nice Stade Charles Ehrmann
28-August Berlin Olympic Stadium
30-August Zurich Military Airfield Dubendorf
02-September Amsterdam Arena
04-September Dusseldorf LTU Arena
09-September Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena
14-September Lisbon Parque da Bela Vista
23-September Vienna Danube Island
27-September Athens Olympic Stadium

Sticky And Sweet Set List? [The Diva Report]

Robyn Shows "The View" Her Cobrastyle

Anthony Miccio — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:30:00 EDT

Robyn's (and some Teddybears') performance of "Cobrastyle" on The View had Whoopi Goldberg so excited that they gave copies of her album to everyone in the audience! Unfortunately most of the middle-aged women present had already downloaded it in 2006. [The Music Slut]

Madonna Does Her Part To Save The Pop Charts

Maura Johnston — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Madonna's Hard Candy was last week's top-selling album, shifting 280,000 copies in its first week of release and leaving every other commercially available offering in the dust. Candy was the only album on this week's chart to break the six-figures-sold mark; Mariah Carey's E=MC², the runner-up to Hard Candy, sold 95,000 copies.

Biggest Debuts: As we mentioned, last week was a pretty great one for new releases, with lots of excellent albums dropping in the pre-paycheck, post-tax-return rush. So how'd they all do? Let's run down the list:
The Roots, Rising Down: No. 6, 54,000 sold (No. 2 digital, 15,000 sold)
Portishead, Third: No. 7, 53,000 sold (No. 3 digital, 15,000 sold)
Lil Mama, VYP: Voice Of The Young People: No. 25, 19,000 sold (not on digital albums chart)
Estelle, Shine: No. 38, 15,000 sold (No. 16 digital, 3,700 sold)
SantogoldNo. 74, 9,500 sold (No. 13 digital, 4,000 sold)
Robyn: No. 100, 7,100 sold (No. 25 digital, 2,800 sold)

All of them were out-debuted by Madge, Lyfe Jennings' Lyfe Change (No. 4, 80,000 sold), and Def Leppard's Live From The Sparkle Lounge (No. 5, 55,000 sold). So what have we learned? You can't stop Def Leppard. The Lil Mama record maybe should have come out when "Lip Gloss" was hot, if only to be the beneficiary of not-as-bad-as-they-are-now record sales. All the Fader covers and Bud Light Lime ads in the world can't help shift copies of an album, even when they do wonders for RCRD LBL's Google Blog Search hits. And holding a record back from U.S. release for an extended period of time, then hoping that Perez Hilton's breathless, syntax-challenged endorsement can be the foundation for a marketing campaign, is a lousy strategy—no matter how good the album is.

Notable Jumps: Natasha Bedingfield's appearance on American Idol last week goosed sales of The Album That's Really Called NB No Matter How Dumb Record Executives Think Americans Are—its sales totals jumped 199% week-over-week, and it shot from No. 97 to No. 24 (19,000 copies sold) on the chart.

Dropping Off: Ashlee Simpson's Bittersweet World was off 64% week to week, falling from No. 4 to No. 31 (17,000 sold); Atmosphere's When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold had a 61% drop, tumbling from No. 5 to No. 41 (14,000 sold); and Flight Of The Conchords was down 57%, although its chart drop was a mere 14 places (No. 3 to No. 17, 22,000 sold).

Nickelback Award For Inexplicable Durability: An executive decision: This category is going to be held down by Alvin & the Chipmunks until they scurry out of the top 20. (They're at No. 14 this week with 23,000 copies sold.)

The top 20, with last week's sales in parentheses:
1. Madonna, Hard Candy (280,000)
2. Mariah Carey, E=MC² (95,000)
3. Leona Lewis, Spirit (84,000)
4. Lyfe Jennings, Lyfe Change (80,000)
5. Def Leppard, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (55,000)
6. The Roots, Rising Down (54,000)
7. Portishead, Third (53,000)
8. Mudcrutch (38,000)
9. Now 27 (31,000)
10. Tim McGraw, Greatest Hits 1 & 2 (29,000)
11. Taylor Swift (29,000)
12. Steve Winwood, Nine Lives (26,000)
13. Juno soundtrack (26,000)
14. Alvin & The Chipmunks soundtrack (23,000)
15. Carly Simon, This Kind Of Love (23,000)
16. Jack Johnson, Sleep Through The Static (23,000)
17. Flight Of The Conchords (22,000)
18. George Strait, Troubadour (22,000)
19. Colbie Caillat, Coco (19,000)
20. Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, Best Of Both Worlds Concert Tour (22,000)

This week's top 10 digital albums, with sales totals in parentheses:
1. Madonna, Hard Candy (73,000)
2. The Roots, Rising Down (15,000)
3. Portishead, Third (15,000)
4. Augustana, Can't Love Can't Hurt (11,000)
5. Leona Lewis, Spirit (9,400)
6. Flight Of The Conchords (7,500)
7. Juno soundtrack (6,700)
8. Mudcrutch (6,700)
9. Mariah Carey, E=MC² (6,500)
10. Def Leppard, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (4,900)

Yet another new video for yet another old ...

Jess Harvell — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Yet another new video for yet another ~~old~~ re-released Robyn song. (This time it's "Who's That Girl.") Pretty sure I still had hair when Robyn originally dropped; who knows what's gonna fall off by the time she manages to make another album. [Music Slut via PTW]

Robyn Will Gladly Jack U Off

Maura Johnston — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:10:11 EST

Not to be one of those douchey "I live in New York and OMG I get to go to everything" bloggers, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that last night I saw the first American show by Swedish teenpop star-turned-bloggers' delight Robyn, and my reaction can be summed up by this IM that I got from a friend also in attendance: "Robyn: awesome or AWESOME!!! ?" The answer, of course, is "both, duh!" This surprisingly decent phonecam video of her take on Prince's "Jack U Off"—part of her three-song encore, which also included a reworking of her 10-plus-years-old hit "Show Me Love"—is a little grainy and there's some dude who starts jabbering away at 1:46, but it captures the frenzy that she whipped the crowd into pretty well, and I only hope that she becomes enough of a pop star that everyone reading this will someday have the chance to witness this particular spectacle in person as well. [YouTube]

Dear Universal: Nobody Puts Robyn In The Remix Corner

Maura Johnston — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:30:52 EST

So the Swedish kook-pop princess/Idolator patron saint Robyn is finally going to have a proper release of her album in the States, only three years after she initially self-released it after breaking free from Jive's early-millennium teenpop clutches. This is very exciting news, not the least because she's actually going to be playing shows within the country's decadent coastal enclaves over the next couple of weeks. But yesterday, i observed a somewhat troubling development regarding how Robyn the artist and Robyn the album might be marketed on this side of the world, and it involved her playing second freaking fiddle to Snoop Freakin' Dogg:

Ugh. Ugh. It's not the song, which I thought was fine on first listen, but the fact that a remix—released just as the Rakamonie EP is hitting stores—in which Robyn is effectively reduced to "cute background singer" seems to be the first foot being put forward here. And for an artist with such a singularly awesome persona and vision, this is not good—I mean, people, c'mon, this is Robyn, not Ashanti. Her songs have stood on their own in other countries; can't that happen here? Or is Universal so scared that Robyn's outre persona and twisty interpretations of the "pop music" concept might turn off American audiences that they feel she has to be paired up—and effectively neutered—by an established male star?

Snoop + Robyn [Discobelle]

This Robyn Remix Packs Quite A Punch

mjohnston — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:00:15 EST

I quite enjoyed Ocelot's herky-jerky remix of Robyn's "Be Mine"—it reminds me of the times when, as a socially awkward second grader, I'd rhythmically plug my ears to make my elementary-school cafeteria's lunchtime din sound k-razy—but the video, which the Ocelot guys stitched together from footage shot by actionfigure.com, goes from "oh, that's an interesting slow-mo shot of a bubble" neat to "whoa, I never realized skin could ripple like that after receiving a blow" transfixing at around the 1:48 mark. Uh, did I mention that it's kind of violent, although in a way that will allow you to completely expect what's coming and shield your eyes as need be?

Robyn-be mine (ocelot remix) [YouTube, via antville]
Robyn [MySpace]
Ocelot [MySpace]

Idolator's 2007 Top 40 List Of Awesomeness: The 10 Tunes That Almost Made It

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 11:00:06 EST

Naturally we heard more than 40 great songs in 2007. And so before we get to the top two slots, here are 10 tracks that might have made it into our list of awesomeness on another day, from Radio Disney to Brooklyn art-rock to Euro-techno to Britney:

The Jonas Brothers - "Still In Love With You"

Unlike America's angrier teenage girls, I find it impossible to hate on these curly-headed, social-networking-feud instigators, especially since underneath the bazillion dollar digi-production (see if you can spot the organ bobbing on the waves of compressed guitar) all their non-ballads are just old-fashioned bubble-punk with the sneer swtiched off. (Jess)

Jonas Brothers - "Still In Love With You" [YouTube]
Jonas Brothers [MySpace]

Paramore - "Misery Business"

The best pop-punk track of the year: three cheers for sweet revenge, big "whoooas" that dared you to not sing along with them, and a spitfire frontwoman who took to her Livejournal to disclaim the use of the Lord's name in the song's sing-along-'til-the-rapture chorus. (Maura)

Paramore - "Misery Business" [YouTube]
Paramore [MySpace]

Gui Boratto - "Beautiful Life"

Cheesy, life-affirming trance hidden away in the sleeve of a minimal techno 12-inch, with the bonus of stupidly heart-melting New Order bass twang and the biggest staggered climaxes of the year. (Jess)

Gui Boratto - "Beautiful Life" [YouTube]
Gui Boratto [MySpace]

Robyn - "This One's For You (Remix)"

The year's one truly new(ish) song from the reinvented Swedish kook was the dark underbelly of "Irreplaceable," three minutes and change of post-dumping freakouts over a breezy acoustic guitar stolen from Ne-Yo's arsenal. (Maura)

Robyn [MySpace]

Double Dagger - "Luxury Condos For The Poor

Moving from Double Dagger's native Baltimore back to my own native Philly only underscored the sad universality of this lugubrious post-hardcore lament over city governments refusing to rectify institutional poverty in favor of pandering to developers building "waterfront gravesights, 30 stories high." "If you've lived here your whole life, it's time to get out," but to where? (Jess)

Double Dagger - "Luxury Condos For The Poor (Live At Whartscape)" [Look closely for my big bald head somewhere in the background.]
Double Dagger [MySpace]

My Teenage Stride - "To Live And Die In The Airport Lounge"

Fresh Orange Juice served up in a Brooklyn cafe, with a side order of world-traveler ennui. Plus the video has zombies. Zombies! (Maura)

My Teenage Stride - "To Live And Die In The Airport Lounge" [MySpace]
My Teenage Stride [MySpace]

Shackleton - "Blood On My Hands (Ricardo Villalobos Apocalypso Now Mix)"

A crackling deep house rhythm track and the low-end of dubstep wring their hands somewhere between England and Berlin for the spirits of the 21st-century's political bystanders, a track only about right for gloomy bus rides out of the more blighted parts of your neighborhood. (Jess)

Skull Disco [Official Site]

Blood Red Shoes - "It's Getting Boring By The Sea"

Bitching about a dead-end town, transformed into something constructive by guitars that sound like they've been pulverized. (Maura)

Blood Red Shoes - "It's Getting Boring By The Sea" [YouTube]
Blood Red Shoes [MySpace]

Dirty Projectors - "Rise Above"

Davey Longstreth's musical revamp of Black Flag's Damaged was warmer but no less forbidding (and impressive) in places than any of the year's neo-proggery, but the words of hardcore's most supposedly nihilistic (the element of Longstreth's experiment so often glossed over by reviewers) provided an unexpected humanizing element when stripped and repurposed, a cracked, life-affirming jolt in a bleak year. (Jess)

Dirty Projectors - "Rise Above" [YouTube]
Dirty Projectors [MySpace]

Britney Spears - "Heaven On Earth"

Is the year's most photographed woman even singing on this track? Does it even matter? It's a grand, swooping song that's made for the last dance of the night, an ode to Mr. Right Now that dresses up her tawdry hooking-up-with-paps expoits enough to make them seem almost purposeful. (Maura)

Britney Spears - "Heaven On Earth" [YouTube]
Britney Spears [MySpace]

Idolator's 2007 Top 40 List Of Awesomeness

Robyn Thinks You Look Happy, And That's Great

jharv — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:40:00 EST

Fittingly for the breakup mixtape highlight of 2005's Robyn (which will be "2008's Robyn" by the time it hits the U.S.), the video for "Be Mine" is downhearted and downcast and gray all over. Robyn walks around a darkened town and shoots some pool with her pint-sized pal, spies her former beau with his new lady, and has an "I miss you bad" fit on her bed. Some might complain that this is like yr average Robyn funfest with the color and life leached out, but cmon, did you expect pink puppies and rainbow-horned pegasuses for a song that's the synthpop equivalent of stiff-upper-lip sniffles?

Robyn - "Be Mine" [YouTube]
Robyn [MySpace]

Robyn's self-titled album, which has been ...

mjohnston — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:49:09 EDT

Robyn's self-titled album, which has been out in Sweden for three years and was supposed to come out via Universal Stateside Dec. 4, now has a U.S. release date of "an unspecified point in 2008." What, is the OiNK shutdown making the suits at Universal a little cocky about the possibility of import editions being pirated? [Pitchfork]

Robyn Will Not Be Placed In One Of Your Boxes

mjohnston — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:10:32 EDT

It's hard to pick one favorite aspect of the video for Robyn's bubbly new UK single, "Handle Me": Is it the part where she's all dressed up in an outfit that turns her into the greatest pugilisitic jukebox to come out of Sweden in forever, or the way she, uh, manhandles the large stuffed bear that shares her cube for a verse or two? Either way, if anyone can figure out the exact dance that's on the footwork-instruction dress she's wearing, please let us know in comments.

Robyn - Handle Me [YouTube]
Robyn [MySpace]

A ten-minute Robyn megamix—title: ...

mjohnston — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:46:38 EDT

A ten-minute Robyn megamix—title: "Konichiwa No. 1"—that blends together old tracks, new songs, mash-ups, and other rarities. [DontStopThePop]

Robyn's self-titled album is—finally!—coming ...

mjohnston — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:19:46 EDT

Robyn's self-titled album is—finally!—coming out in the U.S. on Dec. 4, and yes, I am going to shell out for a second copy for the sole purposes of supporting the e-scene. [EW]

Listening Station: Fleshquartet Places Robyn In A Slightly Different Padded Room

mjohnston — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:30:54 EDT

Back in January, I found the credited-to-Robyn track "This One's For You (Remix)" on Discobelle and immediately got hooked on it, although trying to figure out exactly what said song—a half-crazy, half-breezy bit of pop sugar—was a remix of proved challenging, thanks to its titular vagueness (no, thanks, I'm not looking for old Budweiser ad campaigns, really). I guess my Google skills have gotten a lot better in the last eight months (hooray for small victories!), because I finally found the original over the weekend. It's by the Swedish string quartet/electropop outfit Fleshquartet, and while it's not as loose-limbed as the version that I've been playing all these months, its glitches and hiccups do provide a pretty plausible alternate soundtrack to Robyn's breakdown.

Fleshquartet Fläskkvartetten [MySpace]

Swedish kook-pop queen Robyn gives "Since ...

mjohnston — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:10:50 EDT

Swedish kook-pop queen Robyn gives "Since U Been Gone" a delicate electro makeover. If you listen hard enough, in the background you can hear the collective brains of the Internet's pop fiends exploding! [Electroqueer]

Robyn's "Konichiwa Bitches" Video: In A Perfect World, She'd Be Hosting A Kids' Show

mjohnston — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:12:23 EST

After watching the Technicolor clip for Robyn's cheeky "Konichiwa Bitches," we'd like to propose a rule for all video auteurs going forward: If you're going to go down the oh-so-serious route of having credits roll before your song kicks in, you must spend at least one verse of the clip either a) dressed up as a piece of candy or b) wielding a four-foot cardboard mallet against someone's feet. Preferably both.

Robyn Konichiwa Bitches [YouTube, via DontStopThePop!]
Robyn [MySpace]

Listening Station: Robyn Breaks Down Her Breakup

mjohnston — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:49:06 EST

Over the weekend, Discobelle posted another new track by the Swedish enigma Robyn. It starts off sounding cheery enough (thanks to some handclaps and glinting guitar chords), but then you notice that she's singing about dynamiting buildings and being unable to sleep at night without leaving the TV on. Things get more unhinged from there, but Robyn recovers just in time to make "This One's For You" nab this week's "Most bittersweet lost-love anthem" crown.

~~Robyn - This One's For You (Remix)~~ [MP3, link expired; via Discobelle]
Robyn [MySpace]

Leak Of The Day: Robyn, "With Every Heartbeat"

mjohnston — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 09:04:18 EST

We were fans of the chameleonic Swede Robyn even before she ditched her label and gave herself a makeover, and she's managed to outdo herself again. "With Every Heartbeat" is a sweeping, sad breakup ballad, full of regret, fuzzed-out keyboards and a stunning string breakdown.

~~Robyn - With Every Heartbeat~~ [MP3, link expired; via Discobelle]
Robyn [MySpace]