Girl Talk (4.0)

This will be my last Girl Talk post before I go expierence the magnificence of his live work tomorrow. Here's another fun little interview except it's a little more interesting because you actually get to hear Gregg answer real questions without being interupted by an annoying sockpuppet. After all this, I'm at my pinacle of excitment about the show tomorrow. Sorry I keep mentioning that, but like I said, I'm ridiculously excited. It should be brill.

Girl Talk (3.0)

Here's a little break from Girl Talk live performances. My friend who I'm going to the Girl Talk show with brought this video to my attention. Apparently there is a local Chicago tv show that basically is hosted by this odd socket puppet and involves kids dancing. Here's a link to the website. In this episode, the sock puppet interviews Gregg Gillis (aka Girl Talk) at this year's Pitchfork. At the end, a bunch of kids dance to one of Girl Talk's songs. It's very odd and the kids look terribly awkward. It gave me a little chuckle so I hoped maybe it would do the same for you. Thanks Bae!

Girl Talk (2.0)

Another excellent example of Girl Talk's live performance. This time he's coming at you from this year's Bonnaroo; the Lalapalooza of the Tennessee. Enjoy.

Girl Talk (1.0)

So in 4 days the greatest concert of my life (hopefully) will occur. The line-up is as follows: Lord of the Yum-Yum, Dan Deacon, and GIRL TALK! I saw Dan Deacon and Girl Talk back to back at Pitchfork this year and let me tell you, I didn't think it could get better then that, but this time around there is no chance of it getting cut short due to an out of control situation because it's at The Metro and the Metro security knows how to get things done. Also, it will be my first +18 show. I think the simple fact that it's at The Metro makes it spectacular; it's the perfect size. Basically, it's going to be a giant dance party-bonanza-shindig-rave. Much like I did for the Rage Against The Machine concert I attended earlier this year, I will be posting only Girl Talk posts every day with new videos of performances of other fun things. Now you might be wondering "Kevin, the show is sold out. Why must you torture us so?" Well my answer to that is that hopefully after you see all these spectacular Girl Talk videos, you'll possibly dig him even more and next time around you'll make sure to get tickets right away. I hope you enjoy this week of Girl Talk and maybe I'll see you at the next show (unless you have tickets for this time around in which case let me know and I'll look for you). I'm going to start this thing off with a video of the show Girl Talk played last New Years Eve (06-07) at The Hideout in Chicago.

Chuckabee

I kid you not, this is a real TV ad. While I must admit it is quite funny and pretty cool, I hope it doesn't make you like Mike Huckabee. The fact that Chuck Norris is touring with him does not make up for the fact that he didn't know who Presidnet Musharraf was or that he couldn't locate Pakistan on a map or that he think that the earth is only 5000 years old or that he thinks humans were alive during the same time as the dinosaurs or that he's crazy. I could list more reason not to vote for my batty, religiously zealous, conservative friend, but I'll stop there. Enjoy the video.

Has Michael Jackson found the Lost Ark?

Oh, Michael Jackson, when will you learn.

Bloc Party

I stumbled across Bloc Party while reading Spin magazine a few years back right after they had just released their debut album, Silent Alarm. The article made them sound interesting, so I figured I should check them out. I listened to a few tracks off the album and I wasn't really impressed, so I just forgot about them. Then earlier this year, they released their sophomore album, A Weekend in the City. It was well received and everyone was saying good things about it, so I decided to give them another listen. Boy was I happy I did. A Weekend in the City is certainly one of the best albums of the year (as you can see in my top 20 albums of 2007 list). It may look like it's ranked a little low, but that's just because everything above it was stellar. I may actually reconsider it's rank though because it was quite excellent. After picking up Bloc Party's new album, I also decided to give Silent Alarm a second chance as well. When I listened to it for the second time around, I was highly impressed.

Bloc Party only has two full LPs out currently, but they have released countless remixes and EPs. They even released all of Silent Alarm in remix form with remixes done by bands such as Ladytron, M83, Death From Above 1979, Fort Tet, and Mogwai. Their most recent example is their Flux EP which contained the single Flux, a remix, and a b-side. Bloc Party is currently in the process of recording their next album, but no release date has yet been announced.

The over all sound of Bloc Party is a kind of dance-pop meets post-punk with a dash of indie and art-rock. They may sound very confusing and that's because it is. There isn't a very good way to describe Bloc Party's sound and that's why you should just give them a listen rather then try to have me list the many genres them encompass in their splendid music. I guess the most basic description would be stellar music with splendid dance beats forming the backbone. I saw them for the first time earlier in the fall at the Hideout Block Party (it was Bloc Party at the Block Party!). The show was pretty good but not as amazing as I had expected. Click here for the full review. I will certainly see them again though the next time they're in town. Again, I just recommend checking them out and making your own judgements. To assist you in this, I have posted the video for their most recent song Flux and an old single from their first album Helicopters below.

Asain Clocks Are My Favorite

I found out recently that my good friend Michael Hansen is a master of flash movies. He has posted some of his work on New Grounds for all to see under the user name of MahjongClock. This may sound like an odd and random name, but it's actually quite logical. Michael Hansen is Asian, hence the Mahjong (sort of like a Chinese card game played with tiles) and most of his movies are posted in a forum called The Clock Crew. Basically what The Clock Crew is is a forum where people post flash videos they make about people with clocks for faces. It sounds a little out there, but I rather enjoyed the videos. Take a look for yourself by clicking right here. Some of Michael's videos have been featured on the front page of the forum. His next video is scheduled for release in early February. Enjoy!

Golden Globes

Unfortunately, due to the writer's strike, there wasn't a big to-do about the Golden Globes this year. This is not to say that they didn't happen, however. Here are a list of the bigger categories and their winners are the ones with asterisk next to the name. I would also like to say that I do in fact support the writers strike. After all, they're the ones that write all those spectacular scripts that make the actors seem funny, dramatic, etc. I just wish both sides could come to a compromise some time soon.

Best Motion Picture - Drama
American Gangster
*Atonement
Eastern Promises
The Great Debaters
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
*Julie Christie - Away From Her
Jodie Foster - The Brave One
Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
Keira Knightley - Atonement

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
*Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
James McAvoy - Atonement
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Denzel Washington - American Gangster

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Across the Universe
Charlie Wilson's War
Hairspray
Juno
*Sweeney Todd

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams - Enchanted
Nikki Blonsky - Hairspray
Helena Bonham Carter - Sweeney Todd
*Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Ellen Page - Juno

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
*Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling - Lars and the Real Girl
Tom Hanks - Charlie Wilson's War
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Savages
John C. Reilly - Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
*Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Julia Roberts - Charlie Wilson's War
Saoirse Ronin - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
*Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
John Travolta - Hairspray
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton

Best Foreign Language Film
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
*The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Kite Runner
Lust, Caution
Persepolis

Best Director - Motion Picture
Tim Burton - Sweeney Todd
Ethan and Joel Coen - No Country for Old Men
*Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Ridley Scott - American Gangster
Joe Wright - Atonement

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Michael Brook, Kaki King, and Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild
Clint Eastwood - Grace Is Gone
Alberto Iglesias - The Kite Runner
*Dario Marianelli - Atonement
Howard Shore - Eastern Promises

Death Cab For Cutie: New Album

BIG NEWS!

Benjamin Gibbard

"I just don’t feel like we really have anything to prove other than to ourselves, just making an album we really enjoy"

That's right, Death Cab For Cutie is coming out with a new album. The rumor is the new album will be released May 2008. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited.

Obama wins!

For those of you who didn't hear then news, Obama won the Iowa caucus. One state down, 49 to go. There is still hope for America. 5 days till New Hampshire. If anyone is politically uninspired, check out this video. People can say many things about Barack Obama, but no one can say that he's not a powerful speaker. I'll see you at the voting booth.

Tourettes Guy

So there's this website called Tourettes Guy (yes I know it's spelled wrong. That's just how he spells it). It's basically just a bunch of videos of this guy who acts like he has tourettes. I found the videos to be quite hilarious. Some people might find them offensive but what isn't offensive now a days? Thanks to Kent for finding this website. I posted one of the videos below. Go check out the others if you like this one. They're all pretty hysterical.