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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Review: Girl Talk at Emo’s
Think of popular recorded music as a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal. About a three-to-one ratio of those mealy oat bits to sugar-loaded marshmallow pieces, which seems to be about the same rate that bona fide thrilling musical hooks emerge out of mostly nondescript sonic gunk.
Therein lies the fuel behind the rise of DJ superstar Girl Talk (nee Greg Gillis); he knows the marshmallows are all that matter on the dance floor.
They were flying left and right Monday night when Gillis took to his laptop on the stage at Emo’s and set to his musical alchemy, creating a bizarro world where samples of tracks by Sinead O’Connor, Lil Wayne, UGK and Rage Against The Machine not only coexist, but dare you not to dance feverishly.
Gillis has said in reports that each minute of his records take about a day’s worth of tinkering and mixing to produce, with his live shows serving as a sort of test tube where he can judge what combinations will and won’t work on record. Judging by Monday’s show, he isn’t cooking up a whole lot of new stuff since his set consisted of lots of familiar moments (with slight tweaks) from his breakout albums, 2006’s “Night Ripper” and the new “Feed The Animals.”
And it worked since fans got to hear thrilling pairings like Avril Lavigne and Toni Basil double teaming T-Pain, or Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy” underlined with Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” at ear-shattering volume.
That last pairing is pretty much Gillis’ “Stairway To Heaven” (which shockingly he’s never sampled. Yet.), a signature moment that’s at the top of fans’ lists when pondering his body of work. It was among the highest peaks he reached during his respectable but still kinda brief 90 minute set Monday, though it wasn’t like too many in attendance were complaining as they left, dazed, sweaty and nearly sugar-shocked from all those marshmallows that got tossed their way.
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Review: Weezer at Erwin Center
That Weezer made room in their set Monday night at the Frank Erwin Center for covers by Pink Floyd (“Time”) and Nirvana (“Sliver”) is certainly a barometer of their admirably catholic taste, but the show indicated something more significant and encouraging: They are, as advertised, having fun again.
This is very good news. Although always a polarizing presence in the indie-pop landscape, there’s no denying that singer-songwriter-guitarist Rivers Cuomo writes irresistibly catchy songs, equal parts sunshine and sludge, and could probably come up with hooks in his REM sleep that REM would kill for. But by the last time they stopped here a couple of years ago, they seemed a little deflated. They were touring to support “Make Believe,” also known as “Worst. Album. Ever.,” and in their co-headlining bill at the Bowl with the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl and his bunch pretty much mopped the floor with them.
Wearing matching white jumpsuits or coveralls (which they later shed to reveal … red jumpsuits or coveralls), the band this time came out of the blocks hard with “My Name is Jonas,” the opening blast from 1994’s so-called “blue album.” Fairly predictable, but soon enough it became apparent the band would be changing more than their clothes, and that Weezer is now not just Cuomo and three other guys. Bassist Scott Shriner handled vocals on “Keep Fishin’” and “Dope Nose,” Cuomo played some drums, drummer Patrick Wilson played guitar — the guy can really play, too — and Tom DeLonge, the singer for opener Angels & Airwaves, helped out on “Undone — The Sweater Song.”
Were some of the songs a little ragged? Sure, but it was plain the guys in the band were having a great time and it was hard not to get swept along — the whole thing felt goofy and audacious, not a gimmick cooked up by a tired and desperate band. Then, in a move that harkened back to their recent “Hootenanny” mini-tour, they hauled maybe three or four dozen people onto the stage, people who played everything from guitar to banjo to trombone and sousaphone — who knows, there might have been a theremin up there somewhere — to play, or rather get through, “Island in the Sun” and “Beverly Hills.” They they shuffled the civilians off and reclaimed the stage, encoring with “Buddy Holly.”
By that point Cuomo had stripped down to his Motley Crue T-shirt, a reminder that he was once a desperate kid who believed in the redemptive power of music. And now he’s a rock star, maybe the first one ever to sing about Rogaine (and if he’s not using it, his thinning crown suggests he should). How cool is that? How cool is Weezer? The answer, although it will not please the haters, is this: a lot cooler than you thought. So there.
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Austin’s Suzanna Choffel named top 10 finalist in rock star contest
Ten finalists are competing to be named Cosmopolitan mag’s “Fun Fearless Female” rock star. And among them is Austin’s own Suzanna Choffel.
The finalists were chosen from more than 500 entrants, we’re told, by a group of music industry executives.
What’s next: The public will vote for a top three, who will go to New York and open for Natasha Bedingfield and Solange Knowles on Dec. 5. A panel of judges will pick the big winner that night; she wins: $10,000; a 3-track demo created with a hit-making record producer; up to 10 performances at Cosmopolitan-sponsored events; and memberships to SESAC (a performing rights organization for music artists and publishers) and FanBridge (a premier fan list management service).
To vote go here. (Voting ends Nov. 2.)
(Suzanna Choffel photo by Rodolfo Gonzalez/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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White Denim: new album in Mp3, FLAC and subscription formats
The new (and really cool) White Denim album is out now and can be purchased in digital format <a href="www.transmissionentertainment.com">here</a>
The record’s available in 320 kbps MP3 for $8.99, in lossless FLAC format for $13.99, and in what they call a “year-long” subscription for $29.99. All subscribers will automatically receive the album in 320 kbps format, a 12” copy of the album, a 7” copy of the (also excellent) “Let’s Talk About It” EP , and a collection of unreleased digital live tracks to be released throughout the year.
Dear music makers: THIS SORT OF THING IS THE FUTURE. Or at least one way to make the future look less like the present, a present which seems to be working for a smaller and smaller slice of working musicians.
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Minka, Derek and….Dan Dyer?
Read all about it in People, of all places.
