I saw Girl Talk perform in Nashville six years ago. It happened by accident; My boss at the time told me that he read about some electronic music show happening downtown at the Ruby Green and wanted to know if I was interested in going. Around that time in my life, I was getting pretty used to sneaking in and out of shows around town, seeing a lot of horrid, pretentious rock bands, and meeting handfuls of dudes who get high and talk about all of the sweet jams they’re going to make. I spent a lot of time taking classes and making little records in my bedroom. I felt a real affinity for pretty much anything that wasn’t considered normal; I was keeping busy making the musical equivalent to pencil sharpeners and rumble grumbles, while basically looking for a scene that wasn’t so uptight.

The Ruby Green is an art gallery in Nashville and that night was my first time being there. It was full of maybe fifty or so kids running the entire gamut of personality and culture. The show took place in the main gallery space, which was mostly empty except for a giant ball of spiral wound phone cord hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room, directly over a giant pile of phone receivers. The show was billed as an electronic music tour, dubbed the Wheels of Steel Tour, as all of those performing were from Pittsburgh, PA, one of the major steel producing cities in the country. The first act was a girl with a keytar who hooked it up with a little computer and proceeded to gyrate around to what was, essentially, horrible white noise. At first this was sort of amusing; you really had to give her credit for really going for it, but it was pretty awkward. Then it became pretty obvious, transitioning from song to song, that this was her thing and that she was going to be doing it for longer than two awkward minutes. The rest of those performing followed suit.

As the night furthered along, we found ourselves inching toward the exit until we were pretty much standing in the lobby of the place, which is when I realized I was standing next to a little scrawny guy in a jumpsuit named Gregg, or Girl Talk.

His first record, which I didn’t buy and haven’t heard, was out that year. It was about four years before his benchmark record, the Night Ripper, was to become the heralded new face of Plunderphonics (which we’ll get into in a minute) and party jam monster mixes for everyone from The New Yorker to Pitchfork Media. As I’m standing there with this dude (who is, admittedly, a pretty nice guy) it’s not really making me any less focused on leaving. I’ve had it with all of this creepy weirdness and I’m tired. Someone up front with the PA has started to play Van Halen, which makes me want to leave even more; in addition to that, I am now struggling with the fact that this dude in the jumpsuit is now putting on a headband and wristbands and taking off most of his clothes– the end result essentially being the look that I used to rock when I played basketball for the Catholic League in 1989. He’s clearly getting pumped up; like really, really pumped up. He’s in the zone. People are starting to clear him a path.

The whole thing turns into the slow clap moment at the end of Lucas.

The little dude, looking pretty determined, races to the front of the room (to his laptop), where he proceeds to shoot rainbow magic out of the speakers like lightning bolts from the able hands of Party Zeus on a Friday night before a three day weekend. There is really nothing that could have prepared me for what he was doing; it was like someone took the radio and shook it like you would shake a maraca before smacking you in the back of the head with it. His music presents itself as a casey casem cut and paste ‘where’s waldo’ jigsaw puzzle.

The crowd, having been prepared for this by the stevie nicks of white noise experimental keytarists, seemed a little confused. It was a lot like sleeping for 15 hours straight before having someone unload a dump truck full of alarm clocks on your face. And I was sold.

Fast forward five years to the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville. I’m standing inside and it’s really hot and already I’m sort of pissed because I hate the Cannery and there’s some dude in an Old Navy visor standing next to me and he’s drunk. I have the worst luck with Old Navy visor dudes, and tonight, there are lots of them at the Cannery. There’s lots of every type of girl and boy at the Cannery tonight; the place is packed from wall to wall. I have no idea what the capacity is there, but it feels like they’ve hit it. The stage is full of balloons and in the wings there’s a little dude wearing a hoodie, drinking a beer and holding a laptop.

It’s Gregg.

Looking back at the Girl Talk timeline, you realize that Night Ripper obviously did a lot of things. Girl Talk is a prime example of a performer who excels because of blogs, who does so without any major advertising. This is becoming more and more common, despite what your local record label owning, private equity firm wants you to think. The record buyer has changed, advertising has changed, and all of it continues to keep changing, which is why 400 people are crammed into the Cannery, spilling beer on one another, waiting to see a Plunderphonics DJ with no light show, no backing band, and, arguably, no music of his own.

You could argue that Girl Talk put Plunderphonics, or ‘making music out of other people’s music,’ on the mainstream map almost two decades after John Oswald coined the term, but I feel like that’s less important than the cultural and social implications of his work. Wikipedia, which has compiled an incomplete chronological list of samples for each Girl Talk track on the new album, lists samples from 23 different songs in the first track alone. For tracks on the Night Ripper, they point out that some of the sampled material comes tracks where the original artist sampled someone else:

[ “Summer in the City” by Quincy Jones + “Are You Experienced?” by Jimi Hendrix = “Passing Me By” by the Pharcyde, used by Girl Talk on “Smash Your Head”]

This is where Gillis eclipses the academic work of John Oswald; Girl Talk’s central motivation is not to outsmart anybody. He’s essentially making the greatest mixtape ever created, and not because it’s got your favorite TI song over your Mom’s favorite Tiny Tim song, but because it captures what mainstream culture is all about: turnover. Music sales overall were down 25% last year compared to the year before. Physical product is down 20% while internet sales are up 50%, yet the business is still losing revenue. You don’t technically need a slide ruler to figure out that people aren’t buying cds in stores anymore. They aren’t responding to radio or to ads like they used to; and the people who are buying music are online. They’re reading their email, talking to people, reading websites (like this one), and buying the new Lil Wayne single for a dollar on itunes; chances are they’re on their computer, and they’re talking to someone or watching tv, or making dinner, etc, so on and so forth. Keeping this in mind, after you download your new Lil Wayne jam, put it in itunes and on your ipod, about how long will you listen to it before you’re back on itunes, buying more new singles to listen to?

It’s cyclical. Music today has an extremely high turnover rate. It doesn’t matter if you like Top 40 or if you’re digging through crates in the back of Grimey’s, chances are whatever you find will lose replay value as soon as you hear it. This is why Girl Talk and his Plunderphonics bonanza won with the metropolitan Cannery crowd in the same way that he wins with most every crowd: if you don’t like the song the band is playing, wait two seconds, and you’ll get a new one. His records and shows last about an hour. The last record was released as mp3s as soon as he was finished with it. The whole thing comes with all of the bells and whistles, not too fast and not too slow, but just fast enough to simultaneously keep you from being bored and overwhelmed, which is why, in the end, I think Gillis is capitalizing less on the music he’s pilfering than the audience he’s entertaining.

By the end of the Cannery show, everyone was tired and coated in sweat and beer, Old Navy visor dude punched my friend Ben’s sister in the head two or three times with his drunken dance moves, and the stage had been completely dismantled. The helium in the balloons had allowed them to be strewn around the room, clinging to the ceiling as if they were trying to escape the animals below- everyone following Gillis, the Pied Piper of Plunderphonics.

Feed the Animals by Girl Talk is out now on Illegal Art.

I’ve never been a New Kids fan. When they were doing their thing in the 80’s, I was listening to mostly terrible Christian music (Except for Keith Green, Lamb, and 2nd Chapter of Acts… of course) cause I wasn’t allowed to listen to the radio. I did manage to get my aunt to make me a mix tape of The Beach Boys though.

I never really knew any of NKOTB’s songs. Sure I heard “Hanging Tough” a few times and whatnot, but I couldn’t tell you how it goes. It’s 2008 and they’re back with a new album I guess. I haven’t really read much on what’s going on and I think it’s better that I stay ignorant of the whole affair. I should note that I stopped listening to current music on the radio or TV about 4 years ago. I have no idea what’s cool today, but I’m pretty sure it’s not NKOTB.

I do remember something kinda cool about New Kids. My friend David had a slap bracelet with a bunch of 80’s metal bands on it, I believe it had Twisted Sister, Ratt, definitely Poison, Def Leppard, and maybe Judas Priest or Cinderella as well. But at the end of the bracelet was a picture of NKOTB for no reason at all. It looked a lot like this.

Here’s the video and the lyrics to their new single Summertime:

So Donnie who apparently is now a helicopter pilot tells the boys that “It’s on”. We’re not sure what he means yet. By the way he’s dressed it might be a heist

Spoken:

Jones Beach 1988. Come on!

Maybe they’re all going back to dig up a time capsule?

Do you remember,
Or should I rewind,
To that summer when you caught my eye,

Oh, it’s not a heist. He’s talking about a girl

I played it cool,
The weather was hot,

Wow, the lip syncing is really bad already

You had the beauty and the beach on lock.

They really should have done the heist video instead, we had the guy in the fancy car, a helicopter, a big boat, running through the jungle, it could’ve been a really neat high concept video, I have a feeling it’s only going to get worse from here on out

With your flip flops, half shirt, short shorts, mini skirt,

Hold on! Short shorts AND a mini skirt? Who does that? If anyone can prove to me that a female has EVER worn short shorts and a mini skirt in 1988 on Jones Beach I’ll eat my hat

Walkin’ on the beach, so pretty,

I guess the guys lost their pitch along with their fan base. Autotune?

You wasn’t lookin’ for a man,

He changed clothes in the helicopter I guess, why didn’t he put on his beach clothes and put his suit in a suitcase instead, I’m sure it’s no fun trying to change in a cramped copter.

When you saw me in the sand,
But you fell for the boy from the city.

Is he talking about himself? I think it should be obvious, but I’m unclear on this part

I was like, “hey, girl, can I get your number”
I remember what you told me too,
“Don’t call after ten”
But you know that I did,

Yeah, I’ll bet her dad totally didn’t mind at all. Good job, now she’s not allowed to see you or anyone else.

‘Cause I couldn’t stop thinkin’ ’bout you.

I’m sure she won’t forget you either since you’re the reason she’s grounded for 2 weeks.

I think about you in the summertime,

Only in the summertime? What a romantic.

(Oh oh)
And all the good times we had, baby,
Been a few years and I can’t deny,
(Oh oh)
The thought of you still makes me crazy,
I think about you in the summertime,
(Oh oh)
I’m sittin’ here in the sun with you on my mind.
You’re my, my summertime.

Wow, that shindig is sporting a really great girl to guy ratio for him. I wonder where all the dudes are.

Do you remember,
I’ll never forget,
Touchin’ your body all soakin’ wet,
The water was cool,

The bouncer is wearing a Misfits hoodie, I’m sure he listens to them all the time

The feelin’ was hot,
Kissin’ on you while the ocean rocked.

That’s gotta be gross. I can’t stand the taste of salt water on my lips.

In your strapless sundress,
Kickin’ back, no stress,
As long as we was together,
‘Cause we were feelin’ young love,

She might be feeling young love, but I think that boat has sailed for you boys.

And we couldn’t get enough.
Baby, I could reminisce forever.

Icky

And now I’m like,
Hey, girl, don’t you know I miss it,
And I wonder if you miss it too,
Never thought it would end ’til it did,
Now, I’m here and I can’t stop thinkin’ ’bout you.

So, is she there too, or is he just talking to himself?

I think about you in the summertime,
(Oh oh)
And all the good times we had, baby,
Been a few years and I can’t deny,
(Oh oh)
The thought of you still makes me crazy,
I think about you in the summertime,
I’m sittin’ here in the sun with you on my mind.
You’re my, my summertime.

What kind of party is this? This never happens!

Spoken: Break it down.
Summer ended,
Winter started,
It got colder,
When we parted ways,
(Spoken: I like this part.)

You do? Well that’s just great, I almost did until you ruined it. Again, why the auto tuned vocals? I’m pretty sure Joey knows how to sing for real.

As the seasons change.
(Spoken: Bring it forward, bring it back)

Quit talking over Joey!

Winter melted,
Spring I felt it,
Summertime will never be the same,
(Without you. My summertime.)

I’ve never understood dancing like this

My summertime.

I think about you in the summertime,
I think about you
(Oh oh)
And all the good times we had, baby,
We had baby
It’s been a few years and I can’t deny,
I can’t deny
(Oh oh)
The thought of you still makes me crazy,
Makes me crazy
I think about you in the summertime,

What’s with the dancing? I don’t understand synchronized dancing. It totally distracts me from the song! …Oh.

I’m sittin’ here in the sun with you on my mind.
On my mind,
My summertime.

They threw in a fake crowd?!?! Lame.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, oh yeah.

You’re not convincing me that any of you guys had a fling in the summertime with your totally unnecessary vocal runs.

Those who work with music know that 63bpm is awfully slow for typical remix music, and heaven forbid using anything not in standard 4/4 time. Again, this is probably a nod to kids with Reason or Fruity Loops who are used to their program defaults and not used to a challenge.

Considering this, electronic music artist James Houston decided to play with the challenge a bit, or “take the piss” in his words. Check out his creation below: Houston took pieces of obsolete computer equipment and programmed them to “play” the song. The effect is chilling, considering how eerily similar a stack of hard drives (hacked into speakers of sorts), an old printer, a scanner, and some antiquated electronic bits sound like Radiohead — especially Thom Yorke’s vocals.

Check it out: Big Ideas (don’t get any) from James Houston on Vimeo

I love the concept of turning old into new, especially when it comes to bending rules in an otherwise boring remix competition. Head to the Radiohead Remix website to hear the most popular submissions (sadly, the above isn’t even on the site), but be warned: it’s nothing as good as a dot matrix printer jam.

Photo by Brittany Pyle

Elsinore, of Champaign, Illinois, does something new in a surprisingly familiar way. Maybe new is the wrong word to use, but there are only a handful of bands¹ doing something similar to what Elsinore does.

The band is not afraid to embrace the lost art of harmony. At times they have more part harmony than I’ve heard since my high school choir days. Thank heavens the pitch is perfect or this would be intolerable. They really pull it off.

Their song Landlocked is close to 7 minutes long. Though I’m not a fan of big, fluffy, lengthy and epic song segments without epic vocals to match, I listened to this whole song on accident without realizing it was happening. I think that means they did a good job. Speaking of vocals, Ryan Groff’s lead vocals are crystal-clear and pleasantly high. They’re especially enticing when you catch some of their smarty-pants lyrics².

Listening to Groff’s vocals coupled with the interesting sound of their instrumentation, I can’t help but imagine I’m watching a new Wes Anderson film. Like most of the other parallels I’ve drawn, it’s more of a tip of the hat than a full-body check.

Here and there they get this weird old-timey feel. Sometimes I fancy I’m listening to Elton John pretend to be a player piano somewhere in the old west.

Really neat band, I’m looking forward to seeing what comes of these guys.

1. See The Snake, The Cross, The Crown, The Shins
2. “landlocked by cash crops” etc.

My first interaction with Midwest Dilemma was a myspace message three years ago. Front man, Justin Lamoureux (Vocals, Classical and 12 string Electric Guitar), asked my band to open for him on his way through Nashville. Last week, I got an email suggesting that I mention MD in my next unsigned artist piece.

MD is an Omaha based band much in the Saddle Creek style. Lamoureux is the classic artsy mastermind behind the melodic, symphonic -and original- sound that is MD.

Omaha is notorious for exceptionally creative and dark indie rock and Midwest Dilemma fits the bill. MD stands along side artists like Bright Eyes, Cursive, Elliott Smith and brings to mind artists like Joanna Newsom and Sufjan Stevens.

When I played with Midwest Dilemma years ago, Lamoureux was alone. I really enjoyed his folk/indie rock vibe back then. However, while the progress he’s made with the band he’s pieced together holds true to his old style, it exhibits major growth and polish.

Look out for the new record to be released on May 17th, Timelines & Tragedies. Lamoureux gives credit for the album’s full-bodied feel to his band. “I sort of outlined the sound and the band filled in the rest, making it dimensional and complete. They have helped me create something real and lasting.” says Lamoureux.

That’s why I am so astounded by Gone City. The first time I saw them play I totally lost it. There set feels like 5 minutes of a good dream to me. I danced and clapped and completely forgot that my aging bones start to ache when I’ve been standing for more than 10 minutes.

Mike Flynn, Paul Brantley, Jesse Palmer, and Billy Gemmill seem to have a firm grasp on killing it. This band specializes in catchy, thick, straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll and I cannot get enough. They only have two songs up on their myspace; I guarantee you will be moving within the first measure of their song Devil’s Got My Soul. At first glance, the message seems a little sketchy, but upon closer examination the song isn’t nearly as evil as it lets on. Devil’s Got My Soul is featured in a yet unreleased independent horror film.

Take a look at their EPK. Seriously, somebody sign these dudes so I can single handedly buy all their records.

Send me an email about your favorite unsigned artist and maybe I’ll feature them next week.