if it makes the kiddies dance...

to make nirvana:
1. buy guitar
2. learn power chords.
3. sing some garbage.

*i like nirvana.

really though? the inference that girl talk or really so often when people rip electronic musicians for not doing anything special is really tired (to me).

that dude puts on an excellent show.

brilliant!

yeah this is some jealous/lame shit

steps to be a writer at the Portland Mercury

1) believe that you're witty
2) have no one care about your creative work
3) talk shit on people who get attention for their creative work

girltalk has worked his ass off to get where he's at now. been touring relentless for years. he's really blurred the lines between electronic performer / DJ / original musician. plus, on top of that, he's a totally humble dude if you ever talk to him.

how to be Andrew R Tonry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYlcQtnVnrU

1) be a complete piece of shit
2) play the most generic boring acoustic jam ever (think frisbees on the quad, brah)
3) wear your funky hat slightly tilted so people realize you're funky
4) be a complete piece of shit

I totally disagree with Andrew.

Night Ripper was my favorite album of '06 (proof! http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=106508&category=32741), but I don't think it really translates to the stage.

Every time I have seen Girl Talk live I've been a little disappointed. But then again, when Gregg Gillis looks out into the crowd and sees my non-dancing-ass, he's probably a little disappointed too.

i'd expect this sort of writing from a poorly conceived troll on a backwater internet forum. who's doing quality control for this blog?

seriously, what are you really getting at here? you don't like girl talk? you don't like people using computers to create music? if either of these are true this is probably the stupidest line of argument against either of them i've ever heard.

the funny thing about this to me is that girl talk is actually one of the few artists out there today doing something somewhat original. so the idea of an "anyone can become girl talk" list of steps is ridiculous. girl talk is actually breaking molds and traditions, unlike 99% of the bands/djs out there today. girl talk performs hour-long sets of collaged pop music, who else really does that? it's not like a dj that does remixes and then plays them, he's actually up there doing the collage in real time on audiomulch. he doesnt "play" other peoples' songs live, he manipulates and recontextualizes them. and he does it in a traditional performance context, not at a dance club. there are definitely related artists musically, but the style of performance is kind of it's own world. people seem to forget that. you can see creative dj's do their thing all the time, but when have you ever seen someone with a couple of laptops have a huge following for doing live sound collage? when's the last time you saw someone get rave reviews for his live shows at festivals for doing live remixes on a computer? pretty much never. he's pioneering something here. it's easy to miss that when it seems like it seems so simple and fun on a surface level

also, it's important to note that he's be doing this same style of live sound collage since 2000. like i said in my previous post, no one is really doing anything like it in 2008, and it's already been 8 years!

i like dj stuff a lot and electronic music, but think girl talk is fucking boring... i don't want to hear weezer of smashing pumpkins when im trying to listen to dem franchise boyz! i guess that's just me... this is probably the only case where i've ever agreed w/ andrew tonry's music writing...

i like dj stuff a lot and electronic music, but think girl talk is fucking boring... i don't want to hear weezer of smashing pumpkins when im trying to listen to dem franchise boyz! i guess that's just me... this is probably the only case where i've ever agreed w/ andrew tonry's music writing...

I, too, voted Night Ripper as my favorite record of '06. However, in said write-up, I mentioned that in two years time it wouldn't really hold up. I pretty much stand by that statement. My number two album, So This Is Goodbye, is definitely the better record.

I understand where Andrew is coming from. This was the third time I've seen Girl Talk and it was without a doubt the weakest. Unless he's killing the place front to back, the live show just doesn't translate into being "good". Especially if you don't dance. And especially if the place is half-empty and the crowd seems kind of lack-luster.

Live, Girl Talk is just a party DJ. I respect what he does on record, and think he makes more than just a simple mash-up albums, but pushing play on your laptop and dancing doesn't denote a good live show.

I saw A-Trak at SXSW and thought that was amazing, technically and enjoyment wise. He managed to do what GT does (party jams, indie rock, hip hop, classic rock), but did so with records, and did so in a way that worked the crowd into a fucking frenzy. GT played "Roc Boys" at the Wonder but sped that shit up so it basically lost its weight. A-Trak, on the other hand, mixed it well, faded out during the "thanks to you, the customer" line, and, lo and behold, the whole crowd shouted that line right back at him. He dropped in "Paper Planes" and everyone, simultaneously at the first chorus, threw two fingers in the air for the gunshot noise. He killed it.

Girl Talk at the Wonder: kind of boring. And not technically amazing. And I'm a big Girl Talk fan.

And A, I think there's quite a number of people doing what Girl Talk does, and have been for years. Hollertronix, the whole Baltimore scene, some of the Tigerbeat/Violent Turd stuff, etc.

i'm a fan of all of the artists you mentioned (kid 606, violent turd, hollertronix/diplo, a-trak) but i still think there's a huge difference between what they've done and what girl talk does

when you see a-trak, you plays records, he blends one song into another. he's very good at it, but he doesn't do live remixes. girl talk never plays an un-altered track. he does live collages, he cues each sample by hand. i'm not saying one is better than the other, it's just different. even at kid 606's most sample heavy periods, he still heavily relied on doing original electronic tunes. i've seen him a few times, and it has never been purely a pop collage. it's the same thing with diplo/hollertronix. they may have a similar sound, but they still are DJing in a very traditional sense of the word. they may play multi-genres but it's still blending one song into another.

i think girltalk is really flipping the way people see a guy play a laptop. he's playing the roseland in july. when are you ever going to see a guy trigger samples live on a computer and fill up a place that size? and it'll be a concert, not a dance club. people will come to hear their favorite girl talk songs and new girl talk songs. unlike when you go to see diplo or atrak and you hope to hear "paper planes" so you can fire your finger guns off. girl talk would never play "paper planes," he may remix it and turn it into his own song though

that's the most interesting thing about girltalk to me, he's completely fucking with the standards and how we percieve originality. people treat his albums as albums, not as DJ mixes. that's why all of these people had it in their top albums of 2006. he's forcing people to think of his material as "original," which i feel it is

also, i thought girl talk killed it at the show on tuesday. so much new material, all wound together. he's an engaging live performer too, really confronting the audience. did you stick around for the whole show? i would have loved to see atrak or diplo play to that lame ass crowd. everyone would have been gone before they even knew a "performance" was happening

for those of you who say it doesn't translate live well, did you happen to see the show at last year's music fest? damn, i've never seen portland that insane. clipse were great afterwards, but the show was OVER after girl talk was done

totally agreeing with A. A-Trak is great, Hollertronix is great, but they are doing very different things.

even if they were comparable, it doesn't change the fact that this blog post is petty grade-school level criticism built on absurd logic.

The notion that I hate all electronic music is wearing a bit thin. It's overstated and simply untrue. Remember this?

On one hand, I really appreciate Andrew Tonry's "Once more with feeling..." piece on MGMT in this weeks Mercury. It was well written and well informed. I too was puzzled by why they were so incredibly bad live, despite the hype.

On the other hand, I really think Andrew Tonry should stop writing about electronic music, or at least go to some more (make that A LOT MORE) electronic performances besides bigger shows like Justice and Girl Talk before he starts writing about it. Linking to his weakass review of the Justice show, in order to qualify his opinions doesn't quite cut it. It would be the same thing as if I loved red wine, but didn't drink white, and still wanted to write reviews on it because I get drunk on it sometimes. Leave the electronic music coverage to writers like Ava Hegedus, for instance, who's an avid listener of electronica and whose opinions are well-informed.

Erik-

You're totally right. I am in no way an authority on electronic music and I have never claimed to be. That said, sometimes it is important and worthwhile to look at things from the outside--perspective is good.

My Primer may be satirically written, but to the best of my knowledge, it is technically accurate. While I was watching Girl Talk, that was what came to my mind--how it was done. It seemed simple, and I believe it is. Compositionally, it's not particularly advanced. Take sample artists like the Avalanches-- they're doing something much more original and creative, compositionally speaking. There are some (and I would say mild) creative elements to Girl Talk, but moreover, I saw an exercise in computer processing and thought that it might be an illuminating read for those not hip to the process.

One the other hand, it is an inditement, and one that I stand by.

"Besides their single, “D.A.N.C.E.”, I hadn’t heard much from Justice, and what I had, I didn’t really care for."- Andrew Tonry.

You eventually liked Justice cuz everyone inside did. And while you describe the dancing, light show, and loudness- you don't describe the music and you admit having no idea what they're doing live.

I don't think people care if you like electronic music or techno dance culture, they just want you to do a little homework before giving out deez boring lectures.

"Compositionally, it's not particularly advanced."

do you honestly have any idea of what you're talking about?

have you heard Night Ripper? compositionally, it's advanced as fuck. and as for his live show, he's literally dropping every sample by hand

Dropping every sample by hand? You mean cueing two overlapping tracks? (And if I'm such an idiot, tell me what's technically inaccurate in the primer.)

Compositionally advanced would be, oh, I don't know... actually writing the original musical hooks that people are identifying with?

he doesn't actually play whole songs. at any time, he's dropping individual hand claps, kick drums, vocals, etc. it's constatly moving. different elements are constantly being mixed and matched. i would approximate that he's playing around 4-10 loops/samples at any given time during a set. there's also a ton of original drum production sprinkled throughout.

"Compositionally advanced would be, oh, I don't know... actually writing the original musical hooks that people are identifying with?"

seriously, are you kidding me? i don't even know why i'm replying, i can't take your opinion seriously anymore. are you saying John Oswald's plunderphonics work isn't compositionally advanced? are you doing the Bomb Squad's production for Public Enemy wasn't compositionally advanced? are you saying the Beastie Boys' Pauls Botique wasn't compositionally advanced?

look at how many people had his album at their top of 2006 ALBUMS, not dj mixes. he's making original music out of samples, he's making albums of it. Night Ripper was one of the first ever (maybe only?) albums made completely out of samples that topped every critics list (pitchfork, rolling stone, etc etc etc etc) of ORIGINAL ALBUMS in 2006. he's truly challenging the idea of original composition, unlike many people who are writing "original musical hooks" out of entirely recycled ideas

paul's boutique, i meant

One last bit for clarification and then I'm through with it:

Without any reference to the other artists you mentioned, I don't consider Girl Talks 4/4 march for 15 mins straight compositionally advanced. But, for the record, here's what I do:

Dirty Projectors, who I saw last night. Wild scales, key changes and shifting time signatures.

Or how about the 20-odd chords and key changes that make up "Life On Mars"?

"I am in no way an authority on electronic music and I have never claimed to be."

I think writing about it for a widely distributed newspaper makes that claim implicit.