What with real essays to write and all, I haven't been able to take a breath and clear my head and get on my once-much-loved side internet project of music and goodness. So now, after 3 in the mo on a Saturday night when I'm not in much of a state to really write all that much (or well) at all, here goes some gushing about some loves.
I have loved Devendra for a long time, and his new album blows my mind a bit. Especially his FUCKING CRAZY as shit videos. I mean, the songs are definitely weird, and they test the conventional expectations of pop-folk-rock songs (though when you're referred to as a "freak-folk" artist, whaddaya expect?). Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that sometimes the videos don't quite match up with the song or the sound. Example A:
FOOLIN'
Shot one: camera closes in on Devendra in a car, looking adorably forlorn and ravishingly gorgeous (yeah, he was hiding a significant amount of attractiveness under all that hair of his). Shot two: he walks up to a door. Shot three: he takes his jacket off for the guy at the door, and weird shit goes down. What follows could be a little shocking, what with the whipping, biracial homosexual eroticism, cutting of fingers, dabbing of bloody fingerless stumps on girls lips, more whipping, bloody Devendra buttcracks, and other events that ensue. Is it odd that none of what's shown really freaks me out? I mean, I did wonder, briefly, just what exactly possessed him to go this route with the video. Because honestly, what he created is the last thing any listener would imagine for this song. But when it comes to Devendra, it's probably best to not have any expectations; it's more amusing that way. And it's more fun to be caught off-guard.
For instance, if I'd just stuffed Devendra in a weird-folk box, what would I have expected from him? Crooning and acoustic guitars? Weird outfits and pretentious performances? No, it's better not to expect anything at all. He might be following a certain vein of music, but ultimately, he's just another person who has room to do whatever he wants. And because my expectations are down, I'm all the more pleased when I find super-rad videos of Devendra being a boss on his skateboard. Who would have thought?
Release Date - July 12, 2010 - Which means if you haven't checked this out, you're late, so get on that.
Have you ever listened to a cover of a song from one of your favorite artists and not hated it? I hadn't, until I heard Bombay Bicycle Club's take on Joanna Newsom's "Swansea," and miraculously refrained from tearing it apart. In fact, I even enjoyed it, and welcomed the refreshing take on one of Newsom's earlier beauties, despite the fact that BBC only included two of the original's lovely verses (and a weird pronunciation of detrain/detwain?). I did miss some of the quirky lyrics that led me to love Swansea in the first place, but BBC didn't refrain from incorporating quirky vocals via frontman Jack Steadman. I would say that the vocals are an homage to Joanna, but listening through the rest of the album leads me to conclude that it's his natural voice.
Swansea:
The rest of the record is more folky-acoustic-weirdness condensed into a truly beautiful compilation. "Ivy and Gold" really makes me wish I could whistle, "My God" almost makes me wish I believed in one (ALMOST), and "Flaws" creates a stunning world where actual flaws aren't uncomfortable, embarrassing, or burdensome. Or at least they don't sound so bad when Steadman is singing about them. And the harmonies, OH MY, the HARMONIES. So gorgeous.
Release date on iTunes: July 27 ...or stream now for free from NPR!
With breathy, dreamy vocals that envy Marissa Nadler's, Jesca Hoop's swirling new songs will undoubtedly stamp a swelling footprint into the movement that is "new-folk." Swiftly, she goes from four-part vocal harmonies (Whispering Light) to poppy banjo tunes (Four Dreams) to ethereal cooing (Angel Mom) with a light ease that makes her music feel free and pure. While Whispering Light's vocal arrangements compare to fellow folkies Fleet Foxes' White Winter Hymnal (only creepier, darker, and stealthier-- although in Hymnal, Michael does bleed from his head into the snow...), Feast of the Heart sounds something spawned from PJ Harvey. The very next track, Murder of Birds, gives strong and beautiful references to Irish folk music even though it sounds unarguably current.
Hoop is certainly experimental, and she takes grand risks and liberties with her work. The result is a beautiful, timeless sound that could be of yesterday, today, or tomorrow. She has fun, though she never turns too far into any box or corner, which keeps the album exciting. Her abrupt changes in sound never feel too unforewarned, uncomfortable or unnecessary. Furthermore, the different styles she samples stretch her gorgeous voice in every direction, allowing her to melt enigmatically through the album from start to finish. The start, however, is hard to shake, for Whispering Light leaves a haunting paw print on the listener's brain that remains long after the album has ended. The song may just be the best first impression I've ever encountered.
Now that her live chops have been proven spectacular, check out her visually stunning music video for The Kingdom.
Recently I've been paying a lot of attention to the music I listen to, and I assessed that I didn't listen to enough women. For the longest time (2005-2009 -- it was a dark path, but I was young and foolish) I was completely stuck in the frightening phase that is alt-rock. I sampled bands such as Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, Simple Plan, Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Green Day, Foo Fighters, and the list grows more and more monotonous. And "manly." As in, all the artists I was listening to were men.
As a woman, as a musician, and as a growing feminist, discovering that I listened to no female musicians bothered me. So I went and found some great ones! Now that I've educated myself, I present my compiled list of my favorite ladies:
1. Karen O
Yeah Yeah Yeahs' frontwoman Karen O is my number one bad-ass musician heroine. Her style is totally rad (androgynous mixed with bizarre mixed with hawt) and I kind of want to be her. Last summer, I got the chance to see YYY's, which was incredible-- I mean the best concert I've been to incredible-- and the performance was EXCELLENT. KO was dancing maniacally and gleefully around the stage while screaming into the mic and completely beasting. Speaking of beasting, her work on Where the Wild Things Are shows what wonderfully beautiful music she is capable of making (All is Love, people? So catchy, so adorable). And we've seen Karen magnificently collaborate with children in the past, as well-- I direct you to one of my personal favorites, Y-Control, below.
I want to be corrupted by Karen O.
2. Cat Power
I have blogged my love for Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) before, and I've covered her twice. I find myself drawn to her beautiful voice, her ability to be simultaneously enigmatic, personal, and warm, as well as her back-story, which adds to the complexity of her music. You Are Free might be my favorite recurring message on any album I've ever listened to, What Would the Community Think is as gorgeous as it is sad, and everything Cat Power has ever covered has been stunning. Example:
And I absolutely wish I had Cat Power-hair. But I tried the bangs, and it was not so.
3. Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom is completely odd, gorgeous, and original. I place emphasis on the word "original," because really, how many artists make poppy-medieval sounding tunes playing a harp, and playing it so beautifully?
What I love about Joanna is that she is entirely outside of the box, whatever the box that applies to her would be. You can't really put any sort of label on Joanna, although people have certainly tried. If she received a nickel for every time she was called a fairy or an elf, she could buy everyone in the world a harp. 10 times.
PS. I also want Joanna Newsom's hair, so I am currently growing it out. Oh, and I try to focus more time on perusing the dictionary in order to develop Joanna's incredible vocabulary.
4. Lady Gaga
No longer can I deny my love for this lady. I was completely and utterly turned off by her at first, simply because she wasn't showing me anything I couldn't find in the other gaggle of blonde pop-ladies breezing up and down the charts. But then I began to pay a little bit of attention and became amused at just how bizarre Gaga is. Her job suggests that she should be incredibly fake, yet she knows exactly who she is and has decided to scream it to the world. And the world, and more surprisingly, the mass top-40 world, is listening. Gaga dons sunglasses made of cigarettes and pants made of... actually, donning no pants is more typical of Gaga. She makes epic video after epic video, and with the latest (Alejandro) she shows she is not afraid to shock, awe, and piss off a few people. Now I have never been to church, so I can't say what kind of blasphemous actions Lady Gaga is carrying out. I can say, however, that her face (or lack of face) at the very end absolutely terrified me as I watched the video for the first time, alone, in the dark, at three in the morning.
Below is my favorite (and dare I say, underrated?) jam of Gaga's. I particularly enjoy double fist-pumping to this song, which is bad, for I usually listen to this song while driving to work everyday.
5. Tegan and Sara
Has there ever been a duo who can simultaneously pull of the perfect mix of being adorable and angsty as successfully as Tegan and Sara? Well, I haven't found one, so these two are dubbed the winners. Seriously, I want to be in this music video. I WANT TO DO THIS CUTE DANCE.
I don't foresee myself growing a twin or cloning myself anytime soon, so for now I will just stick to fantasizing over what would be if Olivia and Adelaide (twin name is still in the works) existed.
6. Beyonce
Oh, Sasha Fierce, you have totally won my love, what with being a bamf DIVA and all. I completely believe that she could kick my ass (or anyone's ass) on any given day. In particular, I love just how classy Beyonce has become since breaking free from Destiny's Child. I don't mind all of the collaborations with my other favorite pop-songstress, Lady Gaga, either.
This retro homage to/mockery of 1950s housewifery makes me swoon. When she dusts off her Grammys = THE BEST.
7. Marissa Nadler
Psst. Hey. Marissa. How do you do that thing with your voice? You know, that thing where you sound entirely too beautiful to be packed into a three-minute song? How your voice sounds like it should just radiate all over the world and end all the evils in existence? Yeah, can you get back to me on that? Thanks.
P.S. About the ending evils thing. Can your reverb block up the BP oil spill? Get on that.
I must give Feist some major credit, for she was one of the first female artists I majorly got into. Her down-to-earth quirkiness first captivated me. But I quickly fell for her voice (I have a thing for breathy singer-song writers, if Cat Power and Marissa Nadler haven't tipped you off), which wears every emotion in the boldest of colors. I just hope she brings us something else soon. She hasn't presented any new solo material since The Reminder (and the iPod commercial) made waves. Her songs make me so happy, even when they are oh so melancholy.
9. Janelle Monae
This girl knows who she is and where she's going, you can be damn sure of that. I love her style, her dancing, her androgyny, her social commentary, her weirdness, her pipes, and her ideas. She's never afraid to just "be," whether that means being herself or being android Cindi Mayweather. Janelle Monae is presenting ideas that are absolutely innovative and sounds that are entirely catchy, and I have definitely been hooked.
10. Joan Baez
Now this lady rightfully stands a cut above the rest, if not for her legendary career, but for those fine vocal chords. I want to play guitar like Baez, I want to sing like Baez, and I want to roam the Earth and promote causes like Baez. I deeply admire this woman, all she does, and all she stands for. I kick myself everyday, for she came through town two years ago to play a show at the local theatre, but I had not yet entered into my pseudo-hippie folk-loving days. Hopefully, I get the chance to see her and take it. I've already seen Dylan in concert, but a live show from Joan is something I certainly don't want to miss. I probably wouldn't breathe the entire way through, just because those pipes amaze me.
Example:
I am kind of ecstatic that I escaped my rut and found all these wonderful female artists to look up to. Because really, now I get to work at emulating all my women idols, whereas before, I was all, "Yeah! I totally want to be... that sweaty dude?" Hopefully, my list will grow, and I'll continue to add to it ladies I love and admire.
By the way, none of these songs are really in any specific order, save Joanna Newsom, who thoroughly deserves the number one spot.
10. Avi Buffalo - Summer Cum
I cannot believe these kids are, well, kids. I could call them my peers.
While this song doesn't have a trip-tastic video like their equally great "What's In It For?", the lyrics are quirky and the melody is oh so sticky. Also, the best line of the song = "And I could taste a robot's fist." Yep... I can relate.
9. Lightspeed Champion - Marlene
Okay, so there are so many good things about this video, which mainly is the amount of giggles it induces. But this video can never reach the greatness that is the tasty guitar hook during the chorus ("Stop being cool! / Uh-oh.")
8. Janelle Monae - Cold War
R&B from space? I think so. And I love it, her, and her style.
7. Jakob Dylan - Everybody's Hurtin'
Yeah, Jakob, you wear those sunglasses indoors. Oh, and KELLY'S AND NEKO'S BACKGROUND VOCALS.
6. Sparklehorse, Danger Mouse, and Julian Casablancas - Little Girl
Technically, this song has just been released, although it was done quite awhile ago (and it has been on my iPod for awhile, too). Danger Mouse apparently had some beef with EMI, though, and Dark Night of the Soul couldn't be released until July 12. Unfortunately, Sparklehorse left us before we could appreciate the fully released project. RIP Mark Linkous, and I hope whatever afterlife you believe in is giving you peace.
5. Jamie Lidell - Compass
Can you describe this song using words other than "beautiful," or "stunning?" Yeah, I can't either.
4. The Avett Brothers - Slight Figure of Speech
These boys are usually a bit more folky, mellow, and heartfelt, but this song just makes me want to jump around pumping my fists in all directions. Especially when they RAP.
3. Laura Marling - Devil's Spoke
Another individual who just seems much to young to be this good.
2. MGMT - It's Working
I must say, I simply love MGMT's new sound, maybe even more than their old sound. I think this is because their new sound is a little bit 60s-tinged, and I'm such a sucker for the 60s. Another great new band with another great, new, innovative video is also a plus-- the highlight has to be their drummer coming out of the ground wearing a rainbow sombrero.
#1 by a grand-spankin' mile. Joanna Newsom - Baby Birch
Joanna Newsom might just be my favorite person in the world right now. I kind of want to be her. Was I ever surprised to listen to her new album and hear her new voice style. I still love the old warble, but these buttery smooth vocals are so stunning that I'm speechless. Her whole album is great-- the arrangements are BRILLIANT. But Baby Birch, without a doubt, is one of the most emotionally charged tracks on the album, and I could listen to it on repeat all day.
I meant to write about Joanna Newsom's crazy, brilliant, stunning, ambitious triple-album when it came out in March, but I wanted to listen to it through and get a good feel for the entire work before I criticized it. And then I listened to it on repeat for days and days and days, but never got my thoughts out. So here I am, with a belated reaction to the beautiful Have One On Me.
So where to begin, where to begin... just to talk about this massive work is difficult for me to approach. Because it IS massive, and quite long (over 2 hours), so listening to this thing all the way through, multiple times, was no easy challenge. I first downloaded it to my iPod and just played it on shuffle, which is stupid, lemme tell you, because you really should listen to the songs in order.
Starting with Easy <3
The album begins with a soft bang, as Joanna quietly coos "Easy, easy/ My man and me," and goes on from there with a calculated rhythm and melody, while the song swiftly and steadily grows. My very first thought was something along the lines of "Holy vocal chords!" because if you know anything about Joanna, you know that she has a wild, warbly, untamed voice. But here, it is so smooth and stunning, in the best of ways. I mean, not even was I halfway through the opening song when I deduced that Joanna has grown and matured incredibly since the last album.
Up next is the exceptionally complex title track. And it is a stunner.
The song starts out beautifully and quickly livens up ("Here's Lola, tada! to do her famous spider dance for you") and lacks no quirky lyrics. While the song is so adorable that you just want to hug it, it's also so complex that you're a little intimidated. Seriously, to achieve what Joanna's achieved with only 2 songs blows my mind. And there are 16 to go, most over 6 minutes long... Most of the other songs, also, are layered with instrument upon instrument, textured with backing vocals, filled with wild percussion, and obscured with clever lyrics.
Take Baby Birch, for instance.
Possibly the most personal song on the album, with somber lyrics that point to losing a child, either literally, metaphorically, or just in a futuristic sense ("This is the song for baby birch, oh I will never know you, and at the back of what we've done, there is this knowledge of you," and "I wish I could take every path, cause you know I hated to close that doggone door on you.") I've read more than a few reviews that are sure the song is about abortion, and this is further evidenced by On A Good Day, which follows. The lyrics certainly don't rule this theory out, especially when you regard the very end of the song where she talks about catching a rabbit and skinning it quick, or laughing at a mother goose for thinking she wants a "little baby fussing all over my legs." So when I listen to this song, sometimes I follow that story line. Other times, I just believe the song to be a line of stirring metaphors that address loss in general. Either way, the song is so brooding and melancholy, so beautiful, and so easy to get lost in. And I could listen to the line, "Do you remember staring, up at the stars, so far away in their bulletproof cars?" over and over and over again until the song wore thin.
Anybody who's feeling ambitious enough to take this gargantuan listen on really needs to be in the right mood. This album is LONG, and quite testing, because Joanna, clever girl that she is, has intertwined all the songs into a complex and purposeful line. On the first few listens, certain songs really stood out for me (the ones I've listed, the shorter songs "On A Good Day" and "'81," "Good Intentions Paving Company," and "Soft as Chalk"). Others blended together. It probably took me 4 or 5 listens through for me to make the connection between "In California" and "Does Not Suffice": both songs follow the same melodic line and coincide with each other astonishingly. Listening can just become plain overwhelming, too, because you want to take everything in all at once, which is just impossible. But the effort is more than worth it. The songs are beautiful, the album is gorgeous, the musicianship is incredible.
And I'm going to keep telling myself that, because I shelled out 30 bucks to pick up the vinyl edition at my local record store.*
*I do not regret this, though-- the setup of the record is kickass.
This second cover of mine was a lot of fun to do, mostly because we didn't have to go looking for a guitar player. I just quickly threw together the keys on GarageBand and imported it to ProTools and sang. The whole project took about 5 days, maybe spending 30 minutes to an hour on it each day.
A few months ago, WICB (radio station of Ithaca College, the only station that saves me from a Lite Rock station, a Top 40 station, and 15 Country stations) began to play "Slight Figure of Speech" by The Avett Brothers. It took me awhile to figure out what the song was called and who was singing it, but after a few intense listens where I tried to make out several lines of the fast-paced lyrics, I made a successful Google search. Thus, I fell upon The Avett Brothers.
Was I ever surprised to see that they would venture to Ithaca's own State Theatre. When I discovered this lovely piece of news, I got to work doing my research. Luckily, I'm a pro at research. I headed to their Myspace, and sure enough, the band had posted a slew of albums, which I in turn downloaded. Their sound is right down the alley I'm currently trapped in-- folk-rock alley, I shall call it. I am running down the alley, for surely there is a way out, but the alley grows ever longer, and more and more artists pop out of the shadows and throw themselves in my face. And I oblige, take their CD, and listen.
The show is the 26th. It's the first show I'll be going to alone (I've been to 2 Foo Fighters shows with a friend and my mother, The Bob Dylan Show accompanied by my mother again, and a Yeah Yeah Yeahs show with my family and family friends, which was interesting...) so I hope I can just get loose and have fun all on my own. There won't be any hangups, and I won't feel obligated to find any souls I lose in the sea that is General Admission, so I'm pretty excited at the moment.
"They say don't take your business to the big time/ I bought us tickets there."
On December 24, I finished all of my Christmas shopping and headed into Borders to pick up a CD for myself. Cat Power's "The Greatest" jumped out at me because I'd remembered her performing the title track on "Jools Holland". The show had left me amazed at her gorgeous howl of a voice, and she'd made an impression. After listening to the album over and over in awe, my impression was solidified. "She's like a darker, more soulful Feist," I told myself.
How utterly incorrect I was.
The famous Jools Holland vid that awed my ears.
I was completely ignorant to Chan Marshall's past. Had I known that "The Greatest" is the sound that came after Chan emerged from a long tunnel of darkness, my perceptions of the artist "Cat Power" wouldn't have been so... wrong. When I downloaded the earlier works of Cat Power, expecting the music to be in the same vein of the soulful "The Greatest," I was a bit shocked at just how sad pre-"Greatest" really is. On the albums "The Greatest" and "Jukebox," I desire nothing more than to curl up in Chan's vocals and drift away to a peaceful sleep. Listening to the albums "Dear Sir," "Myra Lee," "What Would the Community Think," "Moon Pix," and "You Are Free," however, makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and cry. It's not that the songs aren't beautiful, for they are, and quite a few leave me entranced. But I'm also hit by all of the sorrow and pain reflected in the repetitive guitar lines and in Chan's delivery-- her voice reflects this emptiness and hopelessness that draws you into her half-glass-empty world. Yet after some research, I find that Chan's glass always used to be full; that is, up until around five years ago, she struggled pretty heavily with alcoholism, as well as depression and suicidal thoughts.
Her lyrics scream of all three of her issues, and I've assembled a handful of her more self-disparaging songs with the heaviest of statements.
ICE WATER "I feel just like/ Some great big disease." Chan's lyrics, though self-depreciating, are pretty relatable at times.
COLORS AND THE KIDS "I could stay here, become someone different/ I could stay here, become someone better" Apart from this line, where I imagine her throwing her head back and shouting to the sky, this song is filled with a conversational whisper.
ENOUGH "They can't find/ Enough to take from me" When Chan sings this song, I almost think it's about all that is expected from artists-- how everybody wants a piece of what the artist has. But Chan is so down that she feels she has nothing to give.
GOOD CLEAN FUN "Hey, I'm run down on my luck/ Hey, can I have something from you/ It seems I have nothing to give/ It seems you have nothing to give" She not only feels that she has nothing to give as an artist, but also feels as though she has nothing to offer just simply as a person. No one has any desire to help her out, either.
METAL HEART "Losing a star without a sky/ Losing the reasons why/ You're losing the calling, you've been faking/ And I'm not kidding/ It's damned if you don't and it's damned if you do/ be true 'cause they'll lock you up in a sad sad zoo" This song always makes me picture a person's downward spiral. He or she really has nothing left but their own depression, and they're a bit afraid they'll be caged, possibly in a madhouse.
NOT WHAT YOU WANT "I am not what you want/ There's no telling how long I'll be here" Chan pretty much yells the whole way through this song, and it makes me cry.
CROSS BONES STYLE
"Oh, come child, in a cross bones style/ Oh, come child, come and rescue me/ 'Cause you have seen some unbelievable things"
Though Chan is singing of horrors unseen by her listeners, the video pretty much kicks some 90's ass. She looks rather content as she enters her trance-like dance and as she rollerskates around. Yet the video, while Chan stares head on into the camera accompanied by the odd collection of back-up dancers, is indescribably creepy. The tune definitely cannot be described as happy, while the video can't be described as sad. What's weird, though, is that the video perfectly complements the song.
After playing all five albums on repeat for the past three days, I kind of want to die. She's emitting such an amount of pain and depression that is transferred directly to the listener. As beautiful as Chan Marshall's voice is, I don't know why I keep putting myself through all this misery. But I don't despair too much, for I know that Chan emerges from her black hole and finds a bit of light. Comparing her older live performance videos to her current ones show a significant change in demeanor; for one, she is engaged with the audience, and she has happiness in her eyes. I've read articles (as well as many Youtube comments) in the past few days, claiming that Cat Power was overall a better artist as a depressed and suicidal alcoholic. This ignorance made me laugh. Of course her music doesn't sound the same as it did when she was struggling with heavy, personal problems. She got sober, she got happy, and her music reflects her change one-hundred percent. She needs to be appreciated as the gorgeous phoenix that she is: yes, she burnt out for awhile, but she reached back up to greatness, and both sides are beautiful.
PS: I'd totally been pronouncing her name, "Chan," as it looks. Then I read an article that taught me it's pronounced "Shawn." This reminded me of when I kept calling Bon Iver "Bawn Eye-Verrrr."* It's supposed to be Bone ee-VAIR, I believe.
In the past month, two new female artists have come into my life. One is a superstar pop-icon who's pushing the envelope and blowing up the charts. The other is a gorgeous harpist with a not-so-gorgeous voice who made waves a few years back on the freak-folk scene. Both are, for the most part, polar opposites of each other. Yet I inexplicably love each of them, and each has turned into a new obsession.
The pop-star I am referring to, of course, is Lady Gaga, my new and favorite guilty-pleasure. I remember when I first heard about Lady Gaga-- she made a cameo on "The Hills" (a past guilty-pleasure) a few seasons ago. Lauren of "The Hills" was helping Lady Gaga with some funky, shiny, spacey get-up, and I just remember thinking, "Who the hell is this weirdo?" I didn't really give her another thought, because I figured she would disappear back into obscurity. Yet she soon appeared on So You Think You Can Dance as a guest and later on American Idol to sing another hit. I just kept dismissing her, though. I saw her as another pop-artist flooding the charts with the same dance-beats we hear over and over. This first impression remained with me for awhile, even while her singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" were sky-rocketing. Truth be told, I don't listen to much radio, for I prefer to pop in CDs. I suppose this is why I haven't really learned about Lady Gaga, and what she's all about, until recently.
When I did figure out what her whole shtick consists of, I kind of fell in love. I was taken by surprise, too, for I pretentiously reject much of pop-music (though I have recently been trying to get over this mindset, telling myself that there is no bad music, there is only better music). I got a taste of her persona when she was on the cover of Rolling Stone, and when she performed her startling performance of "Paparazzi" on the VMAs. But I still thought she just was being weird, in her bubble suit and her red-mesh-face-mask with that red Alexander McQueen crown, to gain fame What happened to change my mind? SNL.
Before the episode aired, I was sooo skeptical about what her performance was going to be like. I was still hung up on my pre-conceived notions of her-- that she was putting on an oddball act in order to gain attention.
And then she performed her first song.
As Lady Gaga started, wearing a fantastic red unitard that makes her look like a superhero, I became intrigued. I remembered the song as the one she'd performed at the VMAs, and I had to admit it was catchy. Soon she's belting out all her lines-- I guess when I'd judged her, I assumed she was another girl who couldn't sing. Yet she's incredible the whole way through, and I also secretly want to be able to do her little knee-gyrations she starts during the first chorus. After she plays her keytar and starts to freak out on the left side of the stage, I was fully loving the performance.
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