Science fiction, pop music, and reality are chock full o’ artificial intelligences that can carry a tune. Here’s an entire roster of fantastic singing she-bots who can croon circles around The Rock-A-Fire Explosion.
Björk— All Is Full Of Love
In this iconic video by music video director Chris Cunningham, Iceland’s de facto ambassador goes mechanical and gets kissy with a clone of herself. Admit it — if you were a multimillion-dollar cybernetic Scandinavian fjord pixie, you’d do the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHgbzNHVg0c
Janelle Monáe — Many Moons
The reigning queen of android funk knocked this 2008 song and subsequent short film out of the park. “Many Moons” also features a cameo by Big Boi, whose science fiction party track credentials are pretty rock solid too.
Gorillaz — Stylo
On this cartoon band’s third album Plastic Beach, Gorillaz was forced to replace their guitarist Noodle with a robot when she was seemingly killed during an assault on her flying windmill. (Don’t worry, she survived.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnVembkOeeo
Gypsy from Mystery Science Theater 3000
Gypsy once lip-synced this tune from the 1940s juvenile deliquency stinker I Accuse My Parents. Serenade me, you saucy puce chanteuse.
Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager
After disconnecting from the Borg, the cybernetic Seven of Nine kept her dulcet pipes. Yes, the upshot of being assimilated into the Borg is a lovely singing voice. Her and the ship’s holographic Doctor made a fine duet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMMDhGTfV2M
Synergy from Jem
What if The Bangles had a sentient Pentagon-grade supercomputer? That’s the closest real-life approximation of Jem’s plot I can drum up. Anyway, Synergy was Jem’s hologram generator/svengali. Honestly, I gave up on the show after I realized Glenn Danzig wasn’t a recurring villain.
Grace Jones — Demolition Man
Is Grace joined by a mechanical or clone army of herself? Is Grace herself a robot? Her trombone has the power to make the world explode, so we’re not going to ask.
AIST’s HRP-4C
This real-life Japanese robot runs her very own karaoke bar somewhere in the uncanny valley. Here’s another bot performing some robo-Muppet K-pop…
…and here’s a model of the HRP-4C in motion from last year.
Britney Spears in Austin Powers in Goldmember
I honestly forgot Britters was in this movie. Then again, most audience members expunged this film from their long-term memories the moment they left the theater. For a more recent cyberpop starlet, see Christina Aguilera’s “Bionic.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDre36ZW14I
Interplanet Janet from Schoolhouse Rock
Hailing from the famed ABC educational show, Janet was half rocket and all woman. She taught tots about the solar system using the power of song, making her the finest singing spacecraft this side of HAL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EJUCkSMN4k
Robyn — Fembot
Robyn’s 2010 multi-album epic Body Talk has a few scifi-inflected gems (such as the discotheque destroyer “Time Machine”), and “Fembot” delivers the goods bar none. There’s no music video for the track, so I’m using the video for “The Girl and the Robot” — her 2009 collaboration with Norwegian electromeisters Röyksopp — as a proxy.
Hal Featuring Gillian Anderson — “Extremis”
Okay, so Anderson’s probably not a sexbot here, but this 1997 electronica track featuring Dana Scully doing super-serious spoken word about diddling an automaton is absolutely priceless. It’s like watching the world’s most awesomely bad aftershave ad.
Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon — “Remains”
Tancharoen, who wrote for Dollhouse and played the role of Kilo, also penned this track for the episode “Epitaph One” and performed in the song’s music video. It’s akin to “All Is Full Of Love,” but a heart-breaking bummer.
Duran Duran – Electric Barbarella
And we end on a classy note! Sure, the robot’s a muse rather than musician, but this here’s a landmark fembot video. Also see MSTRKFT’s “Work On You” for more fembot foibles.
ADDENDUM: Thanks to all those readers who suggested Garbage’s “The World Is Not Enough.” Surely we wouldn’t want to chagrin Shirley Manson, the T-1001 from The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
