My Cultural Tastes Wait for My Health...

I had grand plans for today. I was going to go to the Dumbo Arts Festival and wander around galleries all day, getting lost in the art, the music, the vibe of a warm fall Saturday in Brooklyn.

And then I was going to go see the Eels tonight at Terminal 5. It was to be an event- and culture-filled day.

Sadly, instead I spent the day inside, wiping my nose and lying in bed. I woke up with a wretched head cold today, ironic because I've recently been taking Vitamin C, antioxidants and echinacea regularly, among other supplements. Maybe that is some anecdotal evidence warning me not to put too much faith into supplements. But then again, I've always been exceptionally susceptible to colds.

So, I have been taking it easy, and who knows, if I am well enough, I may even make it to the Dumbo Arts Festival tomorrow. I remember exploring this festival in previous years, and it really is fascinating to randomly explore large buildings with gallery after gallery as well as to find art tucked away in corners and in the park, lurking everywhere, waiting to be consumed by passer-by.

Sigh. In the meantime, I have been reading all about how to craft a perfect pitch letter, lesson-planing for my classes and watching bad comedy.

And now, for my sleep, which together with all the cold medicine I've been consuming, will hopefully have me in better health and better spirits tomorrow.

Rocking, Biking, Hanging and Shopping: Another Delicious NYC Weekend!

It has officially been a NYC weekend for me.

My weekend has featured everything from seeing of Montreal (with an opener by the fabulous Janelle Monáe) on Friday to partaking in a wonderful housewarming party in Park Slope Saturday, to catching up over cocktails and shopping in the L.E.S. today.

Janelle Monáe, as always, was a soulful, sci-fi diva with mesmerizing dance moves ranging from skat to seizure-like break dancing moves. And Of Montreal put on a top-notch, trippy performance, with lead singer Kevin Barnes in a buttless skirt for the first half of their show. Alien-like creatures abounded, and though, unlike a prior performance I had seen, there was no live horse on stage, they did bring out a horse-muppet-dragon creature with Barnes striding on top.


Of Montreal's show featured a heady mix of classic songs and tracks from the newest album: it was definitely a hyped up dance party at Terminal 5. Though I have to say I prefer the intimacy of smaller venues, it was incredible to be a part of the massive energy at Terminal 5 on Friday.

Friday's show ended with several covers of Michael Jackson songs, with Barnes on vocal, and a crew of dancers onstage, including Janelle Monáe.

The funny thing is that the next night, at around the same time as the previous evening, the house party I was at featured a slew of old school Michael Jackson songs. MJ time, apparently. My 45-minute bike ride to Park Slope was well-worth it for the experience of mingling to MJ music at my friend's gorgeous new apartment. When people ask me my line of work these days, I am beginning to add "writer" to my list; hopefully I will shortly be not just a writer but a published one! I am finding conversations with new acquaintances and social networking to be more meaningful now that I am seriously pursuing my writing. I love meeting friends of friends in this city.

So I definitely had apartment-envy on Saturday. My friend's Park Slope apartment features two balconies and the master bedroom has its own bathroom. Meanwhile, I am sharing a bathroom with two guys, in my run-down apartment building in Williamsburg! But, now I know I am a 45-minute bike-ride away from my friend's Park Slope place... It's a small world, NYC, especially on bike.

And today I spent the morning writing, then met up for my weekly writing workshop with my new friend (who I met at the mediabistro personal essay class I attended!). Spending the afternoon over a cocktail at Schiller's Liquor Bar in the L.E.S., discussing writing and life, I felt like a true New Yorker. And of course, I ended my afternoon jaunt in the L.E.S. with a splurge at Steven by Steve Madden! Hello, sale! Funny, and the writing piece of mine that we discussed this afternoon is about how I am learning to balance being thrifty with indulging.

And, in thriftiness, I returned to Williamsburg the way I had arrived into Manhattan earlier today: by bike. And there was my NYC weekend.

Cut Copy Performance at Terminal 5

Cut Copy's sold-out performance last night at Terminal 5 delivered on its electropop, disco-worthy promise of addictively poppy new wave grooviness.

Below, "Hearts on Fire" clip from Youtube (not official video):


During the performance, the Australian electro-pop group verbally encouraged the audience to have a good time and fostered their desired dance party extravaganza through their catchy hooks, bright flashing visuals and the sheer energy emanating from both the band and the crowd.

While I at first wanted to be on the 1st floor of the venue and in the thick of it all, the claustrophobia of not even being able to stand without rubbing against someone's arms or purse was soon cause for exploration to other levels of the venue. Did you know Terminal 5 has an Empanada Mama inside of it? Well, now you do. It also has bars on every level, balconies to see from above, and most appealing of all to me: more space to not only breathe but to dance on the upper levels.

Here are some pictures and a video taken from my phone. (Unfortunately, but not unsurprisingly, videos taken from my phone don't have the best sound quality!) If you like 80's music, electro-pop, new wave or pop music at all, this is definitely music to check out and to even break into a sweat over!

Girl Talk Performance Footage

I enjoyed seeing Girl Talk much more than I had expected to, actually. Originally skeptical of how someone who is sampling and layering music all on his laptop could put on a good performance, I was very soon dispelled of my skepticism to watch the dance party on stage while taking part in it myself to his very fun, danceable mixes.

Pictures and videos below.

Girl Talk: DJ? Artist? Musical Thief?

I am seeing Girl Talk, whose real name is Gregg Gillis, next Saturday at Terminal 5 (whose shows, November 15th, 16th and 18th, are all sold out, but you can try to buy scalped tickets at the venue, located at 610 W 56th St, or from such sites as StubHub.com). As of now, I have three tickets and am still seeking the two lucky winners to go with me ... I am seeing Girl Talk with Prefuse 73, another experimental band with catchy hooks, on Saturday, Nov 15th.

So what exactly is Girl Talk's music? Gregg Gillis, in an interview with Aural States, says he first became interested in experimental music and, although he samples music much like a DJ would, considers his music much more of a "sound collage." He uses an audio program called Audio Mulch and his shows are simply him and his laptop, both of which apparently rock out pretty hard during a show. He is more interested in de-constructing and re-combining music than sampling the music as such, and especially leans towards mixes of hip-hop with rock and pop loops. Gillis describes his musical project as purely aesthetic rather than political and says he also simply wants to support pop music. This is exactly what he sees himself as doing: distilling the catchiest hooks and riffs of the tunes that he hears and then layering and sampling them to create his own songs, or "sound collages."

New York Times has an article, Steal This Hook? Girl Talk Flouts Copyright Law, which discusses the controversial, possibly illegal aspect of Gillis's work. His music, available at illegalart.net at a pay-what-you-want fee, has been pulled off of iTunes and other CD distributors' stocks because of its potential liability. Gillis, stating that his use of the clips falls under fair use license, has not yet been sued for his use of such short samples of songs. As the article explores, on the one hand, companies may not want to sue him in order to not look bad as well as not to set a precedent in Gillis's favor. He may or may not be technically legally able to use such samples, but that he so far has gotten away with doing so with relatively few repercussions is itself setting a precedent that tells copyright law that it is too restrictive on creativity and can, in effect, be loosely interpreted.

Gillis's music, through his Girl Talk project, is paving the way for creative license with the music of others, for better or for worse. His musical mash-ups are truly the conglomeration of diverse music samples, from bhangra to classic rock to contemporary hip-hop, creating a sound that is at once uniquely his and an appropriation of various musical genres and decades.

It should definitely be an interesting performance.

Art. Music and Parties This Weekend

I am--mildly--bummed. Not that I plan to dwell on it or anything: there are other plans to be made, and believe me, I will make them. But I am bummed because, duh, the weather is so crappy and promises to continue in the same vein for the entire weekend. I had planned to go on a hike tomorrow, Saturday, and I had even sold my Ratatat tickets for Saturday night, figuring I would be slightly exhausted after a long day hike and early morning. (See their Myspace page here.) Well... Ratatat's show had been sold out for some time, and I managed to sell my tickets for slightly more than I had paid for them: apparently they have recently exploded. I saw them perhaps two years ago play live at the Guggenheim, and yes, they were fun, but at the time, their audience mostly consisted of high school/young college kids. Also, the Improv Everywhere event I mentioned on my last posting: still happening in the rain! Hmm... should be interesting. And I have to say, I am mighty curious what the synchronized song is that they have everyone to play tomorrow at exactly the same time.

ANYWAY, so I think I may be going to go to the BAM Takeover event this Saturday night instead of Ratatat, featuring the lovely St. Vincent performing, among other featured events of the evening at BAM. Unless... I end up going to Ratatat after all, with my friend who still has extra tickets... NYC life: part complete spontaneity and flexibility, and part meticulous advance planning... the two are currently uncomfortably and excitingly colliding in my life (but aren't they always?).

Apart from this dilemna, I also plan on going out tonight, possibly to this:
For a full description of this event, see the Going.com write-up. And a snippet from their description:
"No Big Deal is new art/music/remix collective project, and of course, party. Whoever you are, it doesn't matter, come for the love of music and art. Dance with your eyes closed. Go crazy, who cares. It's no big deal."
The party is tonight, at alphabeta, located at 70 Greenpoint Ave in Brooklyn.

Also, ongoing this weekend:
The website gives details of this extensive festival, sponsored by Current. From the website:

For the 12th year running, the entire neighborhood of Dumbo, Brooklyn, will become a multi-sensory art arena, FREE and open to all.

Over the FESTIVAL weekend, art will be happening everywhere: streets, sidewalks, storefronts, elevators, lobbies, the water, the waterfront, parks, nooks, crannies, NY Water Taxi, and more. Along with the 65+ new public art projects, over 100 local artists will open their studios to the public and at the new Galapagos Art Space, video_dumbo will feature a non-stop program of cutting edge video art from NYC and around the world.

The FESTIVAL presents art that breaks the white cube: art that is touchable, accessible and interactive. The appeal is universal: for many of the anticipated 150,000 visitors, the FESTIVAL will be their first encounter with art and artists.

DAC, the big impact small non-profit, has been making the annual 3-day event possible since it was founded by local artists in1997. As New York City's creative edge is increasingly threatened by skyrocketing rents, DAC is committed to preserving what is possibly the last urban oasis of its kind: a site where young artists can test their ideas in the public domain, have unprecedented freedom and play. Visual artists have a long tradition of harnessing New York City as their canvas, seeing no boundaries between studio and street. The FESTIVAL allows artists to act upon that impulse by providing them with a place where the unpredictable, the spontaneous and the downright weird can still happen.

I will let these words from the DAC website speak for themselves.