One of the fascinating things about the past is the way people in various time periods have envisioned the future.
Illustrations from the Victorian era show an obsession with flight, from winged firefighters to industrial-era-inspired flying cars. By the 1920s, the future was towering skyscrapers and monorails, while the 50s seemed obsessed with housewives doing everything with the touch of a button…apparently, technological progress was more desirable than social progress.
By the 1980s, the future was robots.
The pop culture I consumed as a kid was absolutely packed with robots. The template for the 1980s robot was laid down by the original Star Wars movies, but not all were comic relief characters like R2-D2 and C-3PO. There were evil robots, like the Terminator. There were the adorable robots of Batteries Not Included. And there were almost-human androids like Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I often wonder what kind of robot Shaw-Han Liem had in mind when he gave himself one of the all-time great stage names: I Am Robot and Proud. Was it one of the Star Wars droids? Robocop? A Dalek?
Or maybe something with more childhood significance: like me, Liem grew up in Toronto in the 1980s, and it was in 1988 that Toronto served as the primary filming location for the robo-comedy Short Circuit 2. I remember seeing Short Circuit 2 (a hilariously terrible piece of cinema, by the way) at a theatre around the corner from one of the filming locations, and it was the first time I had ever seen my hometown on the big screen. It kind of blew my mind.
Whatever the impetus for his stage name, I Am Robot and Proud has forged a career as a solo artist, soundtrack composer, and video game designer. This track comes from his 2018 release, Lucky Static.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The opening moments sound like the demo track on a Casio keyboard designed by Yann Tiersen.
2. 38 seconds in, there’s a wonderfully warm guitar part; a nice organic counterpart to the robotic sounds of the song to that point.
3. Like most of his music, there’s a playfulness to this one that makes it easy to imagine Wall-E listening to it while going about his daily business.
Recommended listening activity:
Opening and closing your hands while making quiet robotic buzzing noises under your breath.