Robert Christgau's Music Criticism Blog - Expert Witness - MSN Music

Teddybears/Russian Futurists

Pop Heat from Northern Democracies

By Xgau Jul 5, 2011 2:06AM

Teddybears: Devil's Music (Big Beat/Atlantic)

Where the nominally similar Gorillaz are cool and detached, Teddybears want the world and they want it soon. Early in the lead track Eve‑-you remember Eve‑-utters, in fact sings, "I am the robot Elvis rocking my bionic pelvis/I'm Technotronic sipping vodka tonics yeah I'm selfish/I am the Killer shaking up some more rock and roll," at which point a vocodored Patrick Arve, Joakim Ahlund, or (most likely) Klas Ahlund murmurs, "Them drum machines ain't got no soul." Joke or gauntlet? The cheap answer is both, but let's make it gauntlet. Not afraid to be funny because they're having so much fun, Arve-Ahlund-Ahlund are one more electrobeat-wielding​ Swedish cartel bent on proving that rock and roll proceeds from enlightened capitalism like we had in America before our plutocrats started expanding the national income gap up past Colombia's. As soon as Eve is through, here come B.o.B. exulting about how he's gon' "Get Mama a House," Wayne Coyne having a go at "Crystal Meth Christians," Cee-Lo and the B-52's praising a pussycat who happens to be named "Cho Cha." There's also some unusually cheerful Krautrock and the antidrug "Cardiac Arrest," featuring the Teddybears' close personal business associate Robyn, who's why they got to make another U.S. album. Last one was Soft Machine, 2006. Sounded good then. Now it sounds like rock and roll busy being reborn. A

 

The Russian Futurists: The Weight's on the Wheels (Upper Class)

Throwing off his electrofuzz duvet, bedroom-pop solitary Matthew Adam Hart ambles over to a handy recording studio, where he dispenses with comforting layers of echo as if he's finally decided to let the obscure objects of his desire understand his intentions. A few tunes do some stretches, and then a young woman decides it's worth her while to look good too. Soon she and Hart are back in the bedroom, but together, spending "the rest of the night under the covers." Hart suffers his usual second thoughts: "I don't even know what it's like to be honest." But the warmth they shared sticks with him. Maybe he's finally decided that in Toronto you need all the warmth you can get. A MINUS

 

 

< Back to Expert Witness
User Picture
Write a comment...
189Comments
jenny Tay
Sep 24, 2011 1:31AM
avatar
I'm just back from coastal Mexico, where the best music I heard was a Cuban trio performing "Hallelujah" by Canadian Leonard Cohen to an audience of mostly drunk Germans.  
http://bit.ly/dt3ruz​
Greg Morton (GMort)
Jul 8, 2011 10:21AM
avatar

Patrick:  I could go with exactly the same first line, but then would have to add --

 

1.  Bob Dylan -- "Mississippi"

 

I love that song.  I like that song.  I admire that song.  I respect that song.  I appreciate that song.  I luuurve that song.  I loave that song.  I luff that song, two F's.  I esteem that song greatly.  And I nub that song.

same thing backwards - patrick
Jul 8, 2011 4:07AM
avatar
It would take me forever to put together a best-of-21st-century​ list, but #1 is easy:

1. R. Kelly - "Ignition (Remix)"

(BTW, John Darnielle is a huge fan of the song and started a must-read thread on I Love Music in its honor)
same thing backwards - patrick
Jul 8, 2011 3:56AM
avatar
Truth be told, I don't much care for dancehall either, but aren't "dancehall = downfall of reggae" assumptions just as problematic as "disco sucks"?

But they wouldn't have understood Bob in a tutu either, which was how he was dressed the first time I saw him.
That got me laughing and laughing and laughing, and then I realized you meant Bob Stinson.

Someone
Jul 8, 2011 12:03AM
avatar
I actually have it on good authority that Fleet Foxes will, without warning or prior EW review, appear 8th on the Dean's list...just to mess with Alex's mind.

That's not funny Tatum. Not funny at all.

 

John Smallwood (jcsmall63)
Jul 7, 2011 10:57PM
avatar
Don't talk about baseball around Minnesotans like me right now.  We get all depressed
Please, I'm an Mariners' fan. I lost count of how many games we've lost by 1-0.
Joey Daniewicz
Jul 7, 2011 10:41PM
avatar
Don't talk about baseball around Minnesotans like me right now.  We get all depressed.
John Smallwood (jcsmall63)
Jul 7, 2011 10:40PM
avatar
"Frontier Psychiatrist" - The Avalanches
Thanks Joey, I'll risk the 99 cents for that one, you haven't steered me wrong so far. As far as Let it Be, wow Minneapolis sure was a hot bed for great music in the mid '80's. Speaking of Minneapolis, I can't get enough of that Hold Steady/Baseball Project Twinkies song. Oops I just called them Twinkies, sorry Craig
Joey Daniewicz
Jul 7, 2011 10:36PM
avatar
A thumbs down to my list already?  I feel rather punk rock.
Jul 7, 2011 10:35PM
avatar
Cam: Bob in a tutu- A unforgettable sight, I bet. 

I just thought that by using the Jamaica story, you were expressing your own opinion on the choice of music. That was my mistake.
Cam Patterson
Jul 7, 2011 10:21PM
avatar
In the course of trying to suss Bob's use of "scheissy", I am led to ask the question "Am I the only person who didn't know that there is something called a Gagapedia?"
Joey Daniewicz
Jul 7, 2011 10:20PM
avatar
Some of the most fun conversations about music I have involve me trying to explain that Let It Be is perfect.
Cam Patterson
Jul 7, 2011 10:18PM
avatar
Matt-- I get Let It Be. It's probably my favorite album ever. I'd listen to it anywhere. I have listened to it everywhere. My hosts in Jamaica just didn't get it at sunset time. But they wouldn't have understood Bob in a tutu either, which was how he was dressed the first time I saw him.
John Smallwood (jcsmall63)
Jul 7, 2011 10:11PM
avatar

Thanks Jacob, I'm buying that Buck 65 song right now, and KRS One as well. I love the obscure songs you picked. It would easy to just take Bob's list and say ditto, which was still half my list. Those Bush bashing songs on Bob's list are pretty sweet, I have to say. But hey, welcome to the future.

Update: I'd heard Buck 65's "Country Cooking" from the Square cd but hearing the food part as a stand alone song is a definite plus.

Joey Daniewicz
Jul 7, 2011 10:06PM
avatar

I love greatest songs of the 21st century lists! "
I suppose I'll do this again.

10. "Maps" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
9. "Question" - Old 97's
8. "Digital Love" - Daft Punk
7. "Runaway" - Kanye West
6. "Frontier Psychiatrist" - The Avalanches
5. "Out Go the Lights" - Spoon
4. "Losing My Edge" - LCD Soundsystem
3. "Hey Ya!" - OutKast
2. "All My Friends" - LCD Soundsystem
1. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" - Arcade Fire

The only one I stand by is the first one, which I cannot be wrong about.
I carry a similar sentiment, but with my top five because I'm cocky.
Robert Christgau (Xgau)
Jul 7, 2011 9:49PM
avatar
Best song of the 21st century--unfortunate​ly--is James McMurtry's "We Can't Make It Here." "Paper Planes" a good second. After that we can think about something purely fun--"Work It." But then it's dark stuff--"I Feel Like Dying," "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country," "It's a Hit," "Stan,' "You Got Away With It." Plus "Get Low" and "Gold Digger" and "Smells Like Booty" if you like. In short, it's been quite the scheissy century IMNSHO. The best music makes that more bearable.




Jul 7, 2011 9:37PM
avatar
Cam- When you live in New England and you're walking on a bike path, some of the songs on "Let It Be", such as "Sixteen Blue" and "Unsatisfied", evoke a sense of a period that is no longer an integral part of my life. The sunset works as a metaphor for that sense of ending and an aid for soul-searching.

Of course, I do understand why you would think The Replacements is an odd choice. Most of the songs seem more suitable for a Punk club than anything else. Just finding a way to take account of my music-listening adventures, not fretting about whether they lend any symbolic significance. 
Cam Patterson
Jul 7, 2011 9:23PM
avatar
Michael-- In my mind, it's a "which came first" thing. Money, outside influences, and tons of snow. I'd blame the money as much as the coke personally. The huge sound systems, the labels-- there were just a lot of corrupting influences crammed into a pretty small, poorly governed island. But post-dancehall Jamaican beats had that white powdery coldness to them that I never related to, you betcha.
Michael Tatum
Jul 7, 2011 9:18PM
avatar
I always thought-- somebody correct me if I'm wrong, or oversimplifying -- the downfall of reggae could be boiled down to one factor: cocaine. 
Cam Patterson
Jul 7, 2011 9:03PM
avatar
Milo-- Understood. I hope we can get back to it though because I'd love to hear your perspective. I'd love to figure out why I've largely lost interest in music from a country that had a really fantastic 25-year run.
Report
Please help us to maintain a healthy and vibrant community by reporting any illegal or inappropriate behavior. If you believe a message violates theCode of Conductplease use this form to notify the moderators. They will investigate your report and take appropriate action. If necessary, they report all illegal activity to the proper authorities.
Categories
100 character limit
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

about the blogger

Robert Christgau

Starting in 1967, Robert Christgau has covered popular music for The Village Voice, Esquire, Blender, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He teaches in New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, maintains a comprehensive website at robertchristgau.com, and has published five books based on his journalism. He has written for MSN Music since 2006.

find concert tickets

 
Find more tickets. Powered by FanSnap

follow msn music

music news

More news

blog roll