Thank Florian it’s Friday.
To celebrate the weekend, shall we have another music competition?
This week the question comes courtesy of reader Unmutual, who suggests your favourite song that is Retro-Futuristic, enthusing:
“Favorite songs that sound like they could be from the future… Bonus points if it includes ‘Vocoder’ type vocals (aka robotic sounding aka singing into a Pringles tube).”
So there you have it.
Here’s mine.
Reply below to be in with a chance of bagging yourself a €20 Currys PC World voucher redeemable in any Currys store.
The winner will be chosen by my AI robot butler.
(Please include a video link if possible, thanks)
Lines MUST close on Saturday 11am.
Nick says: Good luck!
Last week’s winner here.
Sponsored Link
Was from the future years ago and still is now,Laurie Anderson’s brilliant O Superman
https://youtu.be/Vkfpi2H8tOE
Enjoy!!
I came here to post the same thing, Andy. It was amazing when it first came out, and still is!
Never heard that before… not that I recall anyway…
Bleedin’ deadly :)
Daft Punk – Around the World.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7exajMfNiFQ
I’ve seen the video, so Im fairly sure it’s actually from the future, but it’s a 1990’s take on a 1950s view of the future, so I’m not sure if that’s the same as our present future.
I’m not a quantum physicist, so I can’t be positive.
Cracker!
the original and still the best; bowie ‘space oddity’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYYRH4apXDo
+ 1
actually scrub that, it has to be the dr. who theme tune, made by delia derbyshire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75V4ClJZME4
Still sounds amazing! And futuristic.
Trio – Da Da Da
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNYcviXK4rg
The year is 1982. A young, svelte, hirsute Muchacho and his compadres head south to a sultry location on their first “single, grown-up, forrin” holiday. This strange song is played everywhere….. The rest of this story is still protected by the official secrets act. Needless to say, on hearing it today Muchacho has to resist the temptation to strip to his jocks and strut his stuff in front of anyone who would care to watch.
Great pick :)
black sabbath – ‘iron man’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aQRq9hhekA
Now that’s music!
+1 :)
The only song we’ll need after the robotic uprising of the year 2000.
The Humans are Dead by Flight of the Conchords
https://youtu.be/mpe1R6veuBw
If we’re talking robots, I’m going for Yoshimi , a brilliant song that, I could be wrong but my interpretation was about battling with cancer?
Still a classic track from The Flaming Lips.
https://youtu.be/ZdDHi5SSIlM
Enjoy and happy weekend!!
Classic.
I was thinking along the same lines.
Hurray for the Lips anyway!
Oh that’s a great shout Andy. Hope you’re keeping well pal ;)
All good here missy!, hope you and the Lil’ one are doing well?
“La Rock01” by Vitalic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGOaXphpT7w
It never fails give the boost needed to power though a Friday afternoon.
(Miss Kitten has a great remix of it also.)
New to me….. I fuppin’ love it :)
Thanks for posting!!
Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxhaRgJUMl8
Very futurey song/album/band.
https://youtu.be/xI68A-rntIk
Bee Gees You should be dancing.
Genuinely this was the first song I ever heard that sounded like it came from the future. And it still is the strongest foreboding of the future I ever got from a song. Other songs like Popcorn might have been played with the instruments of the future but this one was so actually from the future it actually frightened me. I was 10 and on holidays on my uncles farm. My older cousin was with me when it came on the radio and I asked him “is this what all music will sound like from now on” and he said “probably yeah”.
Summer 1976. A glorious time.
A total masterpiece
Well done
Futuristic Robot voice, other dimensions and a cheese ball video to boot
Beastie Boys – Intergalactic
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qORYO0atB6g
I just came to say I like your user name
Chicken dinner!
Winner by a country mile.
totally unrelated, seems as good a place as any to ask, but does the Irish barrister working in London still do articles on Broadsheet. He had an article a few weeks back about the Krays. i know its not for me to ask since its a non-subscription website, but i am asking.
D-Troll, he’ll be back next week.
Tks Bodger. I love your website.
Is it from the past? Is it from the future? Is it from an alternative parallel earth inhabited universe where Homer fixed the toaster, sat on a neolithic mushroom and somehow, significantly this happened now in that universe but won’t happen for another 42 years in this one?
Are we actually in that alternative mushroom squished precipitating universe and the one we thought we inhabited is the one we don’t inhabit at all except its actually 2063 and not 2021?
I don’t know maaaaaaaaan ! I just don’t know any more … it’s so mind-meltingly head-swirlingly melon-twistingly psychedelic i can’t cope. Think i’ll lie against this enormous monolith here, watch what these simians do with their enormous sticks and try and figure it all out.
C2C – Down the Road …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1uUIJPD0Nk
That be deadly :)
I reckon this works and the video has the past, present and the future, all in one!
Mark Ronson, The Business Intl. – Bang Bang Bang (Official Video) ft. MNDR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM6TCGltfHM&ab_channel=MarkRonsonVEVO
It has to be Autobahn for me. For some reason, whenever I was home from school when poorly, between the flat 7-Up and Lucozade, Roger Mainwood’s animated short for Halas and Batchelor was always sown on the telly. It was weird and trippy, the music was like nothing I’d ever heard before and I absolutely loved it. Funnily enough, in time he would find it his animation embarrassing, but not me. It introduced me to Kraftwerk from a relatively young age in the 70s and today I have pretty much every recording they ever made.
https://youtu.be/ugBX6H0Z2hc
I do have to give a special shoutout to Vangelis and his work on Blade Runner’s OST. You want futuristic, albeit without the robot voices, you got it… Was only two years ago after all…
https://youtu.be/ccJJ0uxigVA
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
Great choices! Autobahn is so good!
Well this was the most futuristic sound in pop music and gave birth to the modern dance music and synthesizer music long ago. It was before my time, but the late 70’s were a goldmine for retro-futurism.
Donna Summer & Giorgio Moroder – I feel Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm-ISatLDG0&ab_channel=SolracEtnevic
Oooh! John Brosnan is up in heaven and leading the angels in dance formation!
Great pick Junk :)
Mr. Roboto – Styx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc6f_2nPSX8
Not bad for a middle of the road soft rock group.
It may only be the two second intro, but it’s worth it.
California love by Mr. Shakur and some fella called Dre.
https://youtu.be/mwgZalAFNhM
Air -Sexy boy-
Nothing says future more than the synths, drum machines and other modulations of the spacey french electronica duet first ever single.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wouKI_myXxk
Ooooooh yeah that’s the business
Used to have Moon Safari on heavy rotation. They actually released a few singles before this which were collected in the EP Premiers Symptômes.
Also another one of my favourites from Kraftwerk. After one minute it becomes so hypnotic and amazing, I could listen to it all day on a loop.
Kraftwerk – It’s more fun to compute
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CLnpjvbXEg&ab_channel=TheDjax51
Probably the best, and only auto correct,down a Pringles tube, song I’ll allow in the house.
Mura Masa, Lovesick. It’s just great and that’s all there is to say.
https://youtu.be/ZJM4AQSbZDk
Gonna throw ‘It’s Chaode My Dear’ by Connan Mockasin into the mix too. All his songs sound like they were produced by aliens.
https://youtu.be/HkNwuY2JUHQ
Sorry to interrupt
but Eoghan Harris has just unravelled on R1
couldn’t happen to a nicer c—-
subtle but very well played Sarah McInerney, take a bow!
Herbie Hancock Rokit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHhD4PD75zY
Complete with creepy, staring robotic mannequins.
Obviously influenced by Kraftwerk, Anthony Rother’s retro futurism shines through and the song has some deadpan robotic vocoder, Biomechanikal lyrics :)
Anthony Rother – Biomechanik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPvnOvbRaMQ
More futuristic sounds from another Rother…
Michael Rother of Neu! (who was also in an early incarnation of Kraftwerk) formed Harmonia with Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius of Cluster. No surprise to see Brian Eno was later to produce their next album.
Harmonia – Deluxe (Immer Weiter)
https://youtu.be/Fd1BH7Nbk8c
I always liked the Rah Band and Clouds Across the Moon – if only they would get rid of the idiotic ‘Insterstellar Operator’.
The beautiful vocals of Liz Hewson, and the paean of her hearbreak really did not need the kitsch of the ‘operator. While a futuristic song, it would stand up still today in any such relationship.
Try to ignore the ‘operator’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4R97AeM6IE
From his just released instant classic (all his albums are), Private Reasons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcuzAK68ofI
“Nightcall” by Kavinsky. from Drive
Always reminds of ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ when I’m driving through the Mean Streets of Marino of a Friday night. Pure 80’s retro French synth porn
Great pick!
That whole album from Kavinsky is superb.
for something truly out of this world on a cheesy fondue Friday with a bottle of Golden Oktober vino in hand
Bonny M & ” Nightflight to Venus”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJVqPWzunwM
or Uncle Neil Young who must have had a few Geffen record executives on the ledge when he produced this
“Transformer Man”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqdx6dCQLug
“The Raven” Alan Parson Project (dodgy prog rock)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAE1XTvKLXA
“Kelly Watch the Stars” from Air
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62hGO3ptI2c
& to balance things up a bit of early Kraut Rock “Ode to Perfume” Roger Czukay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EH5GFP2Otk
Hahah synchronised
https://youtu.be/XTyZD0XFixs
I play this in the car on the way to work when it”s dark: gets me going and only been stopped by the Federales once.
This is just great
Well done everyone
For the craic I am gonna suggest Believe by Cher
The other one a few people suggested Air and Daft Punk above but my choice is Kelly Watch the Stars
https://youtu.be/urfXM4GkCjo
Yoshimi battles the pink robots by The Flaming Lips. It’s got giant pink robots, bad ones. While the singing isn’t robot their sound is represented more and more as the song progresses. And, what’s more retro futuristic than a job fighting those giant pink robots for the city?
https://youtu.be/sAptY67PcuI
Before there was Daft Punk, there was Space (also from France)
Here they are doing “Magic Fly” from 1977:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKlqJe36jLI
Class!
And in the space between space and daft punk was this…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w1XlYfr_cjY
Fair dues on getting your recommendation for the comp selected this week :)
Found some great tracks!
@clampers
Ah Thanks… I was hoping it might be a bit of a challenge… This comp always worth a peruse… As it always throws up some eclectic stuff.
+1 :)
Love that tune love it.
The The – Three Orange Kisses from Kazan
https://youtu.be/V1bfTNni1Pg
Distorted, robotic vocals – check
Exotic sounds of the souk, the bazaar, lesser known parts – check
Total mind melt – check
This featured on the B Side of Uncertain Smile and the cassette (remember them!) only version of Soul Mining. What an effect this had on the teenage mind. I have heard very little since that compares to the “What Is This I’ve Just Heard?” that rolled around my head. I just kept rewinding and rewinding the tape.
I’m going out on a limb here, but bear with me. From 1970-1980 David Bowie, as essentially a solo artist, created some of the best music we will ever hear. From Soul Mining in 1983 to Dusk in 1992, Matt Johnson, for me, came as near as damnit as anyone has to touch the hem of Bowie’s skirt.
This is how you change the game. A groundbreaking recording and so utterly perfect for the times, popular music would never be the same again.
The Beatles – Tomorrow Never Knows
https://youtu.be/NYFqJBrOZSI
“The most effective evocation of a LSD experience ever recorded”
Sometimes it’s hard to fathom just how good the Beatles were and how much musical ground they covered in a short space of time
For sure. Everything was recorded between 1962 and 1969.
1966 was a pivotal year and not just for The Beatles.
https://link.medium.com/VrheLQZP4fb
The first time I heard this I thought it was Lighthouse Family.
https://youtu.be/dmCZ4f8NhOk
Subject-What happened to you? (1982, Belgian)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzQQsaUERbo
Im just going to leave this here…
Ornette Coleman – Science Fiction
https://youtu.be/XwGJ5VxFjI8
Holy moly! Fingers click in jazzzzzzzzzzzz!
This ^. Great shout.
Acker Bilk, it ain’t.
Revolution no 9, The Beatles
https://youtu.be/SNdcFPjGsm8
Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène Pt.4
https://youtu.be/kSIMVnPA994
Here’s another two from frances very own kaiser ot the synthesizer…
Both sum up the Broadsheet comment section at its best… ;-)
For heated debates… Revolutions
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OVzYAVxcvos
And when the conversation is flowing…
Blah Blah Cafe.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9sDADJ81YR4
“The Korova Milkbar sold milk plus, milk plus vellocet or sythemesc or drencom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of old the ultra-violence…”
Wendy Carlos – Theme from A Clockwork Orange
https://youtu.be/HI-mDTdeKR8
I hate to ask, but Are Friends Electric?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzSM3pRtgcM
Knew this would pop up :) Good pick!
No B-52’s, no party!
A staple of indie disco’s back in the day
Planet Claire – https://youtu.be/eOjAzI5zALo
Otis, most weeks you throw up some great tunes, but you’ve absolutely outdone yourself here!
Cheers Ben.
Nothing at all to do with the theme of this competition but here’s Otis’s recommendation this week. Think Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra for the Insta generation. With added profanity.
https://youtu.be/ud5eYbdI9mA
I’m off to pour another Zubrowka.
Bowing down for that, what a fupping tune!
Otis for the win!
Gerry Hologram – Gerry And The Holograms (1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1EgDUTt2iM
New Order’s Blue Monday took heavy inspiration from this lo-fi, retro-futuristic Manchunian track
The future is not white and it’s obviously not very bright..
It’s Country and Western and it sounds like this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Yg9wjctRw
People actually listen to this crap.
Yeah… I know…
Did you see that Confederate flag near the end?
I did.
That’s a line I don’t want to caught dancing in.
If I ever get cryogenically frozen I want to be thawed by a dancing Eskimo
Bentley Rhythm Ace – Theme from Gutbuster
https://youtu.be/X63SXyEEX20
Is this the future or is this how it will end?
Pop Will Eat Itself – Everything’s Cool
https://youtu.be/fxYyTHEwO7U
I know we won the last one, and it has nothing to do with this but this is better than all of them, and if you like a great song, just listen to this
https://youtu.be/ikZgBhSMSUM
Prince.
You don’t even want to know, I had my first kiss, and music made this be my first experience. And then I had to pretend nothing happened. And then she played this
https://youtu.be/teBV0EoJJY8
And……….
Calling occupants of interplanetary craft…,
This beauty that you would never thought possible from a band whose guitar players was not only one of the best guitarists of all time but also one hell of a keyboard/synth player. Van Halen and the title track from their album 1984. The demo of this is over 15 minutes long.
https://youtu.be/rTs4cmiH2yg
California Uber Alles
BS. Just curious where my suggestion went that I posted yesterday? Is “There is only one” a dirty phrase?
Fear Factory. Demanufacture Title Track. 1990s Terminator Metal. Great Cover mash up of Human and Machine Ribs. Every track a winner. Sounded so new and Brutal and Brilliant. Even as a fan of Slayet and Motorhead I was blown away by the Drumming. Sci Fi Death Tech Metal Supreme.
https://youtu.be/H0Q7yaDqLqs
Technopolis – Yellow Magic Orchestra
Featuring the coolest man alive, Harry Hosono (you’ll know him when you see him)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCwvhbhz9zU
Late to the Party, just in time to tidy up at this rate.
Looks like a good time was had by all !
Dee D Jackson – Automatic Lover
https://youtu.be/bTFCwKvlKZo
Happy Saturday
A tune to help with the clean up
Rockets
On the road again
https://youtu.be/TxLMyG_2qJk
Arca interned at legendary hazy Brooklyn club GHE20G0TH1K,the club that shaped the 2010’s.
Arca – Mequetrefe
https://youtu.be/AZKPd3k6O6A
I know this is out of time but I want to throw this into the ring anyway, the ‘singing through mud’ effect always makes me feel a bit woozy. There’s definitely something futuristic if not ethereal about Superstar by Sonic Youth which is actually a cover of The Carpenter’s classic ‘Close to you’
https://youtu.be/Y21VecIIdBI
Telstar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrEPzsx1gQ
(from 1962)
Thatcher’s favourite pop song. Fun fact.
That sent me down a synth-pop rabbit hole :)
https://youtu.be/hm__xDOWxDc
Surprised these guys haven’t been mentioned yet…. Pink Floyd
I’m going with One of These Days…. The opening is well futuristic and there are plenty of experimental elements throughout the track, and of course, there is that one line vocal :)
… And it has some amazing drumming for good measure!
[ I think I posted this for the comp on ‘drums’ :) ]
https://youtu.be/Nw1643T0RD0