|
|
|
| | Arts Calendar / October 29 / Clubs |
|
|
|
|
|
 Known initially as a vlogger called Meekakitty, Tessa Violet branched out to whimsical pop music in 2014 with a full-length debut called Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled. Over the next few years, she gained momentum within certain social media circles, which helped give her effervescent pop single "Crush" viral traction in 2018. She was drawn to theater in her adolescence and during her senior year of high school in 2007, she began vlogging. As she worked as a fashion model in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Korea, she continued to blog, first focusing on fashion and travel, but slowly shifting toward sci-fi, video games, comics, and other geeky obsessions. Soon, Tessa Violet -- who was, at that point, releasing her videos and posts under the name Meekakitty -- incorporated skits and comedy into her vlogging repertoire. Among these videos were her first stabs at songs: "Star Trek Girl" and "Wizard Love," the latter featuring fellow online personality Heyhihello. These connections were pivotal in her winning a 2009 YouTube competition for the most commented video. Ray William Johnson, a roommate of her cousin's, encouraged his followers to vote for Meekakitty, helping to push her over the top in the contest; she took home $100,000 in winnings. Meekakitty began to creep outside of the confines of YouTube, appearing in a video for Family Force 5's "Cray Button" in 2012, and also directing the music video for Tedashii's "Chainsaw." She saved her biggest reinvention for 2014, when she left behind the username Meekakitty to release an album under Tessa Violet, a truncated version of her birthname. This debut album, Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled, found Violet crafting quirky, EDM-inflected indie pop; it peaked at number ten on Billboard's Heatseekers chart.
RED Club  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Taking their name from the 1998 Chinese film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, Xiu Xiu formed in San Jose, California with Cory McCullough, Yvonne Chen (publisher of the indie zine Zum), Lauren Andrews, and Jamie Stewart. Before forming Xiu Xiu, McCullough and Stewart played in the band Ten in the Swear Jar. Prior to the 2002 release of their first full-length album, Knife Play (released on vinyl through Absolutely Kosher and on disc through 5RC/Kill Rock Stars), the band made appearances on numerous compilations. Shortly after Knife Play's release, Springman released a 10" collaboration between Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof. Vocalist Stewart has earned comparisons to the Cure's Robert Smith, while the band itself draws from post-punk, synth pop, and avant-garde music as well as directors and authors including David Lynch, Todd Solondz, Elfriede Jelinek, V.S. Naipaul, and Yukio Mishima. The band collaborated with Mitski and Merzbow on separate projects, and composed music for an experimental version of Mozart's The Magic Flute as well as an installation by artist Danh Vo. Amidst all of this, Xiu Xiu released 2017's Forget, a more accessible set of songs that featured collaborators including producers John Congleton and Greg Saunier as well as minimalist composer Charlemagne Palestine and multi-disciplinary artist Vaginal Davis. The following year, they reunited with Vo for Deforms the Unborn, an extended piece based on firsthand accounts of demonic possession that they performed at the Guggenheim Museum. In February 2019, Xiu Xiu issued Girl with Basket of Fruit, which featured production by Seo and Saunier as well as some of the band's harshest music since Angel Guts: Red Classroom.
Pravda |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The virtual community for English-speaking expats and Russians
