Results tagged “girltalk”

                  

The Wiliamsburg Pool Parties will wrap up next Sunday with Grizzly Bear and Beach House, but in many ways yesterday's blowout with Girl Talk felt like the real explosive climax to the summer. Fifteen minutes before Girl Talk went on, the line to get in stood still from the entrance at N 8th Street and ran well past the corner of N 11th. Parks officers seemed constantly on the run throughout the set as the hordes of people shut out of the fun became unruly and threatened to push through or turn over port-a-potties. One reader left a report of a chaotic scene from the front gates where allegedly hundreds of people cut the line and were allowed in by security just as the set was getting under way.

Thu Tran is the host and creator of Food Party, quite possibly the only cooking program you should be watching. The show is a labor of strange love between the 27-year-old and her friends, who hand-make the supporting cast, sets and props. In the first two episodes, cardboard versions of Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and LeBron James make dinner plans with Tran, and the artist spends a good half hour whipping up snacks made from common household items like spray cheese, Buffalo chicken wings, and tree-grown doughnuts. Also making appearances on Food Party are the devil (who plays righteous rock hero guitar), and a lovelorn ice cream cone that lives in the permafrost freezer compartment. Maybe just watch some segments here.

For a guy who got his break after the whole mashup thing seemed to have come and gone, PC-user Girltalk's sure got some legs. The barely legal laptop artist sold out 3 nights at Terminal 5 earlier this week, packing that airplane hanger of a venue with enough spandex, neon and sweat to make Randy Savage jealous. But with great crowds, of course, bring the undesirable element out. His shows have always been everyone-on-the-stage rowdyfests, but as the crowds get bigger, the scene can get a bit skeevy. The show more resembles a bridge and tunnel shindig than ever before. Lots of open shirts and miniskirts up there. Now, since Gillis's mass appeal is rooted in his manipulation of the music of mass appeal, his fan base could potentially keep growing through the stratosphere. The patience of those who enjoyed these types of things on a smaller scale, however, may nearly be gone.

R.E.M. stormed through town a couple of times this week, first hitting Jones Beach over the weekend, then MSG last night. The Long Island show was a bust for some when the skies opened up and life threatening lightning struck the upper deck of the amphitheater, delaying the bands start. The soaked and scared fans were left with little direction from management, with many bailing on the evening once it was delayed, assuming the looming lightning would keep the band offstage all night. While the venue's questionable safety standards is a serious cause for concern to anyone considering attending a show at the beachside theater (there was plenty of lightning in the sky even after R.E.M. took the stage), those who stuck it out were treated to quite the special show, with the band starting things off with a cover of "Have you Ever Seen the Rain," and plowing through a nearly full length greatest-hits set that went well past curfew.

Austinist attended a town hall meeting about proposed noise ordinances that could undermine the city's future as the Live Music Capital of the World, and lamented the possible loss of Texas's only feminist bookstore. Throughout the week, they interviewed a bunch of indie fashion designers and D-I-Y websites—Etsy, Ornamental Things, 31 Corn Lane, and Aorta Designs—for the upcoming Stitch Fashion Show. They also did some extensive coverage of last weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest, which featured over 80 indie rock/electronic/punk bands like Girl Talk and Battles—there's also a video recap of the festival, viewable in HD.

MUSIC: If you see a lot of guitar-toting ladies and gents around the Puck Building right now, that's because CMJ has officially begun. This means there is a ton of music happening (including at our own Gothamist House starting tomorrow). Tonight we suggest hitting up Brooklyn Vegan's show at Bowery Ballroom: Voxtrot, The Rosebuds, Dean & Britta...and so many more.

Those who missed out on getting tickets to the electrospazzy one-two punch of Dan Deacon and Girl Talk at Webster Hall last Saturday night fell into a bit of luck as the weekend approached. A last minute, late night show was announced for Bowery Ballroom that same night, and the formerly out of luck were now sitting pretty, seeing the two perform in a smaller room at a better hour and for less money. Great deal, right? Well, not so fast. By the time Dan Deacon came on around 12:45, the place was a total disaster. Puke in every sink, girls crying on the sofas and drunk kids getting hauled out of there so frequently by security it started looking like a WTO protest. While this didn't directly affect the music, Girl Talk in particular, who then followed Deacon's hypnotizing set, relies so much on the behavior and interactivity of the crowd that it really became quite a chore to enjoy. Far be it from us to tell the majority of the crowd at a concert they were behaving poorly, but surely we weren't the only ones who were distracted and annoyed my the amateur antics on display. Then again, maybe we've just outgrown the shtick. (pic via JKART's flickr)

Last Friday, crowds packed into Studio B to see the NYC return of laptop mashup extraordinaire Girl Talk deliver his most satisfying local set to date. 90 minutes of ADD jamz that kept the capacity crowd moving the entire time. This might sound odd, the best parts of a Girl Talk set are the mixes that don't work perfectly. They're few and far between, but sometimes two songs just don't work together. The remarkable feat is that Gillis is able to quickly realize this and seamlessly correct it right there. It's a reminder that he's not just pressing a button and letting the whole set roll, but is actually constructing these mashups on the fly. Nothing made this clearer than when after trying and failing to somehow successfully mix JT's 'My Love' with a variety of songs, finally hitting gold by matching it with the oh so timeless 'Whoop, There it is.' Ever so subtle, the trial and error made the end result that much more rewarding. Getting a peak inside how his head functions in real time gives an added sense of legitimacy to what is an already amazing performance. (Pic via Ben Shapiro's flickr)

Between fake terrorist alerts and scandals big and small, this just might be the Best Best of the -ists ever. We're exhausted just thinking about it.

COMEDY: Sara Schaefer's latest show is at UCB, following up her long running series "Sara Schaefer is Obsessed With You" with a new show called "Video Gaga". The night features Schaefer counting down funny music videos for you (we've been told that tonight will include The Fresh's Myspace video), a live musical act (tonight it's Erin McKeown), special guests and glittery dance numbers! (We hear she has her own version of Fly Girls!).