I didn’t have nearly as good a time as Sophie at this show, which is to say, I had a good time, but she was having the best time. It was the best part of all of the songs you love on fast forward for two hours. Lots of fun, but I still have some qualms with it- seems like he’s sacrificing depth and meaning by skipping between all of those parts of songs that just get you that frisson of goodness. It’s more pop than pop; a hyperreal pop, if you will. An evening of uncanny moments. I said on twitter last week: “In a world of simulacra, the uncanny experience— one that is just like the real thing— is all we have.” The implication being that ‘just like the real thing’ is insufficient. Girl talk turns that up to 11. It’s a show filled with uncanny moments, the striking sense of familiarity with a track that turns out to be just a little off. He makes music by collaging other peoples’ music: a simulacra of music. It’s fast and complex and hard not to listen to, and hard to think when you listen to. What it is overwhelms what it means, if it means anything. It subverts the ability to grasp why it doesn’t fulfill in the same way as many of the pop acts he borrows from. I’m maybe being too harsh here. It was a fun show. Just don’t expec to be moved to the depths of you soul or anything, and you’ll be fine.
