Review of: Girl Talk, Dan Deacon, Lord of the Yum Yum.

Walking through the cold Chicago weather, and wondering when the line into the Metro would shorten, I found myself a bit nervous. I was terribly excited for the Girl Talk extravaganza that was before me and all I could think about was how I couldn’t feel my toes. My friends and I wait in the ridiculously cold (my guess is below 0) weather in order to enter the Metro, in downtown Chicago Illinois. The line for the coat check was just as long and frustrating as we walked through the large wooden doors and heard the faint playing of a beat box. After quenching our thirst for water and diet coke (and rum in my case), we landed ourselves in the front row for The Lord of the Yum Yum. An awkward looking man in a 1980’s prom suit, beat boxing into the microphone, and looping it through his foot pedals. He was absolutely brilliant. He knew the exact timing of every noise that came from his lips, every point in his seemingly random vocal play, and every aspect of his vocal capability. He ended his set with an “musical interpretation” of the scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom where the high priest takes the heart from the mans chest, and it was an amazing feat, let me tell you. Lord Yum Yum looped the chanting as well as his heartbeat over the sound system, providing the audience with an abrupt choir of temple dwellers on stage. He also encouraged his own encore, by looping “YUM YUM!” and running off stage, then immediately running back on stage for the encore. It was hilarious, and an excellent way to begin the evening.

Next up was Dan Deacon. The audience eagerly awaited his walking onto the stage to begin his set, but were pleasantly surprised when a voice rang out over the amps and speakers, and a projector showed Deacon smack dab in the middle of the audience. The dance music immediately hit the ears of the unsuspecting crowd. Beats ranging from what I assume to be “hardcore” techno to “smooth dancing” techno was urging the young audience to dance and move to Deacon’s expertly crafted set. His appearance in the middle of the audience was classic, and created a sense of equality and anarchy at the same time. The crowd did get a bit rowdy in all the excitement though. A giant neon green skull was hanging above Deacon, glowing with his music, and an audience member smacked it down. Two minutes later Deacon yelled, “Don’t shoot that silly string shit, that’s a stupid thing to do!” over the tone of his music as an audience member shot him with silly string. It was overcrowded, way too loud, hot and sweaty, and fucking amazing.

Then it was time. Time for the Girl Talk set. Standing in the front row, I was overly energized and ready to dance forever. The stage hand walked out, grabbed the microphone, and recited a poem he had written about Girl Talk, and the crowd cheered in excitement. Out came the man himself, and immediately began the dance music. The crowd went crazy when the security guards started to let people on stage with Girl Talk to dance. I found myself being pushed towards the stairs, and as I stepped up to join the stage party, two people pushed up against me from both sides… “this is insane” I thought to myself. The security guard reached down to help me as I took both arms out to my side and fell back on the two jerks with all my weight. They fell back, and as the security guard grabbed my hand, he looked at me in a kind of shocked proud way. The way your mother does when you take out the garbage with out her asking you to. The show raged on until two in the morning. The entire crowd was soaking wet with sweat, and still dancing by the time Girl Talk ripped off his shirt and demanded everyone sing with the encore. It was a great show.

Besides the fact that my shirt/jacket/skirt all froze as soon as I walked out the door of the Metro in Chicago, I had one of the best dance nights of my life. Yelling for the cab on the side walk I thought to myself, “Man, I could have been killed by dancing… I could have died from dancing too hard. But I didn’t. I didn’t.”

Concert Review by - Hanna Dillon

Get excited for the newest release from Canada’s Born Ruffians, Red, Yellow & Blue. Relying on minimal, mostly acoustic-driven instrumentation spiked with impassioned, octave-jumping chants, these songs have plenty of breathing room, yet still manage to satisfy, excite, and impress with their charmingly frenetic, post-punk-meets-folk sensibilities.

Review by - Kelsey McArdle

Listen to the first minute of the first track on Scifentology II and you'll get the gist of what to expect for the rest of the tracks. The album is a conglomeration of rock-based hip hop beats, Fred Durst-reminiscent rapping, and the occasional singing. The lyrics are sometimes non-sequitur sci-fi raps reminiscent of El-P and sometimes serious criticisms of society. Scifentology isn't an awful album – it even has some real bangers – it's just largely awful for anyone who doesn't like Sage Francis, Atmosphere, or Epitaph emcees in general. This isn't a criticism, it's just that Yak is similar in sound.

Review by - Olaolu Jegede

Troublemakers is a strange album because, despite the solid and sometimes excellent beats, capable emceeing, and nice package, it's really not a very memorable album. The lyrics aren't awful, but they aren't about very interesting topics, nor are they performed memorably. In fact, despite having listened to this album no less than four times at the time of writing this review, the only thing I can remember about Troublemakers is the nifty album cover. Weird…

Review by - Olaolu Jegede

On Nostalgialator, Mike Ladd incorporates rock, soul, and a little blues into his music. The album's earlier rock-based songs are also its worst due to their lack of talented production and a lack of cohesive lyrics. The album's later tracks finds Ladd taking a more mellow, spoken-word direction on many of the songs, which is ultimately the emcee's strength. It's on these tracks that Ladd is able to aptly balance strong musical compositions with crisp, oral imagery instead of one dominating the other.

Review by: Olaolu Jegede

REBIRTH is what you'd expect from the long-time socially conscious rapper: songs with themes of poverty, social injustice, et al. Unfortunately, unlike on his previous albums the subject matter starts to wear thin almost from the get-go. REBIRTH is unable to find a nice balance between important subject matter and the necessary head-nodding beats that should help carry the message. Adding to the imbalance are a few tracks that boil down to self-veneration of his own hip hop skills, which seem out of place given all the heavy topics featured on the album. REBIRTH is definitely a solid album with a couple of gems, but it's simply not as immersive or soulful as his previous efforts.

Review by: Olaolu Jegede

Weezerites, behold! Rivers Cuomo, the often peculiar and always mysterious front man of seminal ‘90s alt-rock group Weezer, has finally come out of hiding to release a long-awaited compilation including works from his early metal years to unheard, unreleased demos from recent albums like Make Believe. Although most tracks have a hard time overcoming their low-fi demo recording, they entertainingly showcase Cuomo’s growth over the years. Including both acoustic ballads and two hip-hop-inspired numbers (one of them being a cover of Ice Cube), all still ring of Cuomo’s famous formula: simple-yet-catchy melodies and sentimental, “June-Spoon” love rhymes that one can’t help but smile and sing along to.

Review by: Kelsey McArdle

Missing their proper place in history by more than 40 years, Canada’s The Whitsundays more than make up for missing out firsthand on the Swinging London mod scene and the ’67 Summer of Love with their vintage hints of psychedelia on their debut album. Filled with mellow drags and dreamy distortion, not to mention a showcase of classic organ accents, this album defies time and effortlessly revives the sound of a lovely decade lost.

Review by: Kelsey McArdle

Acting as metalcore’s newly recruited dream team, Texas-bred band Oh, Sleeper, enlisting former members of bands like As Cities Burn, Between the Buried and Me, and Terminal, is proving that the whole can, in fact, be ten times greater (and better at shredding) than the sum of its parts. Supplying a source of hard-hitting melodic metal, this band continues to up the ante throughout the album’s 11 dynamic tracks.

Review by: Kelsey McArdle

Greenwood has proven himself once again as a viable and talented composer. The score twists and turns, full of typical Jonny Greenwood experimenting and sound-crafting while still feeling very sensible in a movie context. Each track lends itself to the terror and poignancy of the film excellently. It’s like listening to any movie score with a tinge of the insane, the alien, and the insecurity recognizable on any Radiohead album.

-Reviewed by Justin Martinson