Girl Talk Tours, Blogs, Eats

Gregg Gillis (a.k.a. Girl Talk) is likely one of the busiest guys in music, what with all the show dates, songs, and samples on his plate, but he hasn’t forgotten the fans. Thus, he has unveiled his new day-to-day blog, which is currently documenting adventures on the road as he embarks on his six-week tour.

Each day, a new video will be added to the Girl Talk MySpace page. Days one, two, and three are already up and feature things like an interview with Gillis’ dad, screaming crowds, backstage footage, and many, many references to food.

In other news, Gillis’ Jordan headband is currently being auctioned on eBay, and is said to be “reversible and in good condition.” Bidding for it should keep you occupied for the next few days, as the physical release of Feed the Animals has been pushed back to November 11. The album can still be downloaded under the pay-what-you-want plan at Illegal Art.

Tour dates are in full swing and selling out quickly. You can even check the weather before heading out to the show.

Dates
10/15 Knoxville, TN – Valarium
10/16 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse*
10/17 New Orleans, LA – House of Blues*
10/18 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live*
10/20 Austin, TX – Emo’s*
10/21 Dallas, TX – Palladium Ballroom*
10/23 Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theater*
10/24 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theater**
10/25 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theater**
10/27 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore**
10/28 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore**
10/30 Salt Lake City, UT – In the Venue**
11/01 Lawrence, KS – The Granada Theatre**
11/03 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue**
11/04 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom**
11/05 Urbana, IL – Canopy Club**
11/06 Nashville, TN – Cannery Ballroom**
11/07 Louisville, KY – Headliners Music Hall**
11/09 Cincinnati, OH – Bogarts**
11/10 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom**
11/11 Pontiac, MI – Eagle Theatre**
11/12 Toronto, ON – Koolhaus**
11/13 Montreal, QC – Club Soda**
11/14 Foxborough, MA – Showcase**

* w/ Hearts of Darkness and Grand Buffet
** w/ CX Kidtronik and The Death Set

Inbox: Girl Talk

Photo by Laura Buckman.

Justice Releases DVD/CD Documentary

Given the giant crosses, light shows, and general mayhem that occurs when Justice gets onstage, one can only assume life on the road with these guys sees few dull moments. Directors Romain Gavras and Ed Banger’s resident designer So-Me were so intrigued by what goes on backstage they trained a camera on the Parisian duo 24/7, for three straight weeks during March 2008, and the ensuing footage will be available to the masses come December 9.

As its press release states, Across the Universe “ain’t how cool Justice’s live show is, but is all about the extraordinary things that can happen when a bunch of frogs get dropped in dreamy America.” The DVD will come packaged with a bonus CD that includes recordings of the duo’s live sets, along with extra show footage.

A select number of screenings are slated for various U.S. cities at the end of the month, though as of yet, only a New York showing is confirmed, for October 30 at the IFC Center. In the meantime, catch Justice in one of these cities:

10/28 Montreal, QC – Metropolis
10/29 Toronto, ON – Circa
10/30 New York, NY – Webster Hall
10/31 Los Angeles, CA – Hard Festival

Photo by André Wolff.

Jake One “Trap Door feat. MF DOOM”

Having honed his skill for crafting solid beats as a producer during the last 10 years, Seattle-based Jake One has finally put out his own debut full-length album, White Van Music. The album features an impressive blend of up-and-coming artists, such as Freeway and Brother Ali, and well-known figures like Mary J. Blige. On “Trap Door,” the apt producer encases rapper MF DOOM’s gruff, deadpan vocals in a low-key, surf rock-tinged backdrop that rolls lazily past like a wave on a calm Hawaiian beach. Lulu McAllister

Trap Door feat. MF DOOM

Madvillain Madvillainy 2: The Madlib Remix

Ever since the 2004 release of the widely acclaimed Madvillainy, hip-hop heads have been waiting for more material from the legendary MF Doom and Madlib collaboration. Although a proper follow-up is supposedly in the works, apparently even Madlib himself got tired of waiting for Doom to pitch in and decided to rework the entire first album in the meantime. Released both digitally and as part of a limited-edition box set, Madvillainy 2 features all-new instrumentals soundtracking MF Doom’s distinctive weed-obsessed superhero raps. As always, Madlib’s production is on point, as he samples a litany of obscure jazz, funk, and soul tunes and once again laces the album with oddball interludes and vocal snippets that keep things amusing. A worthy flip of a now-classic album, Madvillainy 2 will surely please the diehards until Doom can find his way out from behind his iron mask and finish that new Madvillain record.

Dark Captain Light Captain Miracle Kicker

Miracle Kicker is not a bad album. In fact, the debut full-length from this London outfit is a well-crafted collection of folksy songs with gentle electronic elements. The problem is that it’s all been done before. Bands like the Notwist and their Morr Music brethren have long since set the bar for folk-tinged indietronica (or is it electronic-tinged folk?), and Dark Captain Light Captain bring nothing new to the table. While the woozy psychedelic fuzz, delicately plucked acoustic guitars, and no-frills vocals are certainly pleasant, Miracle Kicker remains a rather drowsy affair. Opening cut “Jealous Enemies” is a standout here, but the rest of the album contains nothing especially memorable.

AC Slater “Jack Got Jacked”

Blog villain and Palms Out favorite AC Slater has taken his magic hatchet to the house classic “Can You Feel It? (Jack Had a Groove)” by Fingers Inc. The resulting dance floor return, “Jack Got Jacked” (off of the namesake EP), begins like a plane taking off beneath hits of hyper-funk percussion and dirty pulses. “In the beginning, there was Jack,” proclaims a righteous voice, before the song breaks into frenzied, bouncing pulses of atonal synths and enough satisfyingly aggressive bass to fill the floor. Anyone willing to get jacked would do well to surrender. Photo by Clayton Hauck. Words by Lulu McAllister

Jack Got Jacked

Grouper: Hymns from a Nor-Cal Loner

When Liz Harris, the lone lady behind Grouper, was a kid, she spent most of her days running through the forests of her Northern California home. One afternoon, she and a friend came upon the carcass of a dead deer lying at the foot of a ridge. Her friend asked her to retrieve it. She hauled the deer up the hill only for her friend to lose interest once it arrived. The moment not only provided the title for Harris’ most recent album of acoustic-ambient backrubs, but serves as a snapshot of her insides as well.

“I was more scared of people, of this girl being mad at me, than touching a dead animal,” remembers Harris. “I didn’t want negative attention from anybody–when I was young, I just tried to melt into the background.

“Everyone has something about the way they grew up or their childhood that they drag around with them until this point that they have to offload,” she continues. “If not, it becomes dead weight. I think I was trying to offload that same thing in the songs.”

Harris, who now lives in Portland, grew up north of San Francisco in a Fourth Way “community” founded on the teachings of Armenian mystic G.I. Gurdjieff. Great emphasis was based on communal work and selflessness–her pseudonym is actually a reference to the name by which community members would refer to one another; the fact Harris now writes and performs solo is something of a paradox. Her gauzy hymns are milky watercolors of time, place, and memory. Whether murky or haunting, nearly every second of Dragging a Dead Dear Up a Hill feels like an exorcism of sounds.

“I don’t think I write music in order to perform it,” says Harris. “I write it in order to get this one thing out–a feeling, an idea–and then I’m ready to move on as soon as I’ve recorded it. I remember instances in which kids were in trouble for attracting attention to themselves. I’m still not comfortable with getting attention for things, but obviously not that much if I’m still bothering to put out records.”

MP3: “Heavy Water”

Favorite Portland artist:
Dragging an Ox Through Water

Don’t Stop the Movement

“Don’t Stop the Movement,” off of Bay Area rapper and activist Paris’ forthcoming album, Acid Reflex, touches on issues of black-on-black crime, police brutality, war, politics, and negative influences in the entertainment industry. The style of his video combines the 3D-animated anarchy of Grand Theft Auto with the urgency of a breaking news report from “FOXSNBCNN” news channel. Within this framework, a montage interweaves real footage of soldiers and starving children with spoofs of generalized rapper stereotypes (including a clock-adorned Flavor Flav look-alike). Over these clips, bold phrases mirror a condemnatory speech playing over the funky track. With this complicated audio-visual collage and his honest vocal delivery, Paris effectively captures the apocalypse that is now. Lulu McAllister

Cake Shop Holds Laura Kennedy Benefit

New York’s Cake Shop will hold a benefit show for the Bush Tetras‘ Laura Kennedy on October 26.

It’s become known that the new wave/post-punk band’s bassist and founding member, who suffered a Hepatits C infection, is in need of an immediate liver transplant, which, if you’re at all familiar with contemporary healthcare, will cost astronomical amounts.

The venue will host an event featuring performances by Band of Outsiders, Julian Stockdale, the Bush Tetras themselves, and others, with proceeds going to the Laura Kennedy Liver Fund. Admission requires a minimum donation of $15. Additionally, the money from band merchandise sold at the event will also go towards the fund.

More information on donations can be found here.

Lineup (in order of appearance)
Bell Hollow
Sediment Club
Mikey IQ
Band of Outsiders
Certain General
Command V feat: PAT IRWIN (RAYBEATS, 8-EYED SPY, B-52’S)
Radio i-ching
Julian Stockdale
Bush Tetras w/special guests James Chance & Nona Hendryx
All star jam feat. Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), Ivan Julian (Richard Hell & The Voidoids), Rob Norris (Bongos), Deborah Frost (Brain Surgeons) & more…
DJ dirtytrickpony

Lemonade “Sunchips (Ghosts on Tape Remix)”

The Lemonade boys are currently on tour, and they’ve left their recently released self-titled debut album safely in the hands of one Ryan Merry, known around the Bay Area (and likely soon, the rest of the country) as producer Ghosts on Tape. Merry gave “Sunchips,” which was leaked some weeks back, this dizzying remix that shows off his taste for percussion. Where the original track was primarily concerned with the bass, here, Merry’s added drum machines that could slice through a brick wall, layers of staggered synths, and lots of spooky, um, ghost-like electronic sounds.

Lemonade – Sunchips (Ghosts on Tape remix) 1

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