CMJ Madness: Fools Gold @ Hiro Ballroom
Crap. So this happens to everyone at one time or another, and tonight it's happened to me. I typed up a big long review of last night's show, and as I was proofing it, the whole thing went up in smoke.
OK, here it goes again.
I went to the Fools Gold showcase last night, with Lane and Sara (this is important, because I will be jacking their quotes later in this review). The room filled up pretty quickly, and even though I didn't know what to expect from the night, I was ready for fun.
Nick Catchdubs warmed up the crowd spinning rap mixed with vintage and modern rock beats (I particularly like the ones that used samples from The Zombies' "Time of the Season" and Gary Numan's "Cars").
Next up, is what may have been an impromptu set by Kid Cudi. Not that he wasn't prepared, but it seemed as if the show wasn't ready for him, so they just tacked a short set on the front.
My take: Fast paced rhymes that were gleefully boastful.
Sarah: "It sounds like bad karaoke."
more after the jump...
The Cool Kids took the stage next. They were rough in an endearing way that brought to mind old school rap, when you were allowed to be silly and fun. Which makes "The Cool Kids" seem to be kind of a misnomer — they enjoy what they do too much to be called "cool."
They left us with a round of "So if you're ugly keep your hands by your side/ if you're not, put 'em up in the sky..." Words to live by.
Kid Sister was next, and kind of unimpressive. Not to make the obvious analogy, but it really was like she was the actual kid sister, tagging along with the big kids, because mom said they had to let her play with them.
Lane: "She had me and then she lost me."
Sara: "It's like she's into hip-hop, but is really pop."
Her thing was ultra-femme cutsie rap about boys and pedicures (in different songs; it would have been cool if she was rapping about boys getting pedicures).
Lane: "This is a huge cultural moment — we have a light-skinned black woman, in a blond wig, rapping about boys over a club beat. This is the first time this has ever happened."
It was also the first time I've ever seen someone invoke Kool Keith and fail to get the crowd going. If you can't win 'em over with "Let Me Clear My Throat," you're doing something wrong.
We amused ourselves for the rest of the set taking funny photos of each other with the work camera. No, you're not going to see those pictures.
Then it was A-Trak's turn. DJing, in my opinion, is generally bunk, but there are a few souls out there who open your eyes to the skill involved. A-Trak really got the crowd going. Even I danced, and I never dance — the only move I've got is T-Rex Arms, and that's not so cool.
The music ran all over the place from obscure to popular, vintage to current. He even rocked "Thriller," which at this point must be some sort of DJ cliche, but it worked. There was an accompanying video montage of people dancing in movies and on TV — he even had that "Not the mama" dinosaur baby from "Dinosaurs" (remember that? (the whole aesthetic, both aurally and visually, seemed to be "Remember that?" — actually, that's kind of applicable to DJing in general. It's a whole "artform" of sewing together cultural touchstones.)).
The party was still going strong at 2 a.m., but we decided to call it a night. We had already heard "Thriller" and "Stronger" (word is that A-Trak and Kayne go way back), how could the night get any better?
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