Since releasing his cut-and-paste masterpiece Night Ripper in 2006, Gregg Gillis, better known by the stage name Girl Talk, has become the belle of indie blogs. Taking jumbled, sample-based dance music and pushing it to extremes, Gillis upped the ante for laptop performers, bringing the genre a new found credibility and mainstream exposure.

Fame, fortune and globetrotting was the furthest thing from Gillis' mind however when he began taking snippets of top 40 tracks and mashing them up into lively re-contextualized nuggets. Gillis was enrolled in Cleveland's prestigious Case Western University and biomedical engineering was his focus at the time he began releasing work under the pseudonym Girl Talk.

Gillis released two albums while at Case Western -- 2002's Secret Diary and 2003's Unstoppable -- and toured with his sample-loaded project while on summer and winter breaks. He went on to graduate from Case Western and landed a job as a biomedical researcher, all the while rocking the socks off art galleries and house parties on the weekends with his mashups.

"I never saw it as a viable profession," Gillis tells New Times about his sizzling music career. We caught up with the affable computer music whiz when he was relaxing at home in his native Pittsburgh. "I'd book a tour, jump in a van, and aim at breaking even," said Gillis about his early stages. For him, making music was not about "making a dime," but rather "fucking shit up."
More >>

There is nothing South Florida likes (read: loves) more than contests. Be it moronically closely watched dangling chads versus dimpled keypunches, Cubans versus Ozzie Guillen's big mouth, or which douchey nightclub charges more for lackluster VIP setups, ours is a competition-driven society. More >>

What distinguishes the Night o' Ladies, however, is the large-scale cultural-institutional support (usually by way of free hooch) that launches the depravity far past the realm of the lady who leisures and into that of trench warfare.

Tired of gussied-up, completely trashed trollops trying to impale you with their platform heel because you looked at they man? Well, maybe it's time you embraced That Time of the Month. More >>

Sayre Berman

​

Better than: Figuring out the "hipster" application on the new 21 Jump Street film. More >>

​In the '90s, the explosive riot grrrl movement rolled in, banging on doors of the music industry and inspiring woman all across the globe. As this past summer marked the 20th anniversary of events that brought the feminist crusade to life, many of the original riot grrrls -- now in their 30s and 40s -- are paying tribute through books and films, while younger girls are discovering the scene for the first time.

From her earlier days as a zine creator to being the frontwoman of punk band Bikini Kill, there is no doubt that Kathleen Hanna is the godmother of riot grrrl and a feminist cultural icon. But unfortunately, she's also been a lightning rod for controversy, and five years ago she disappeared from the public eye. As Hanna begins to reemerge with a more open mind about sharing her stories, she has agreed to collaborate with filmmaker and Sister Spit founder Sini Anderson on a biographical documentary titled The Punk Singer.
More >>

The Jazz Gals

​

One of the funny things that I find about jazz is that whenever I engage in a conversation about it, 90 percent of the time the talk gravitates toward the men of jazz. Granted, there have been some heavy hitters in the world of jazz, but I feel uneasy walking away with a feeling that the jazz genre is some exclusive boys' club.

Clearly that's a load of bull when you start looking at the fantastic ladies of the scene. Icons like Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, and Sarah Vaughan... those four ladies alone are unquestioned royalty.

More >>

Body art by Keegan

​Today might be the Hallmark-inspired Valentine's Day, but Saturday at the Bubble belonged to Janette Valentine and more than 20 other women (and some men who pretended to be) who transformed the venue into a veritable showcase of talent and entertainment.

Trouble With Girls, in its second year, is the Bubble's only woman-centric event. Curated by Shroud Eater bassist and pin-up photographer Janette Valentine, this year's show was a success both in attendence and in artistic scope. Burlesque dancers teased and grrrl bands Angry Pudding and Prettie Please entertained the sizable crowd outside, while vendors and crafty types sold jewelery and artwork inside.

More >>

​There's hardly a day that relies more on gender stereotypes than Valentine's Day. Lingerie, flowers, and expensive dinner tabs, we're told, make Cupid's aim a sure thing. But thankfully, Broward's foremost indie gallery, the Bubble, will offer an alternative to the endless dinner specials and pink balloons that ostensibly appeal to women this time of year.

Instead, the all-female art show "The Trouble With Girls," in its second year at the gallery, will celebrate XX-chromosomes with much more than stuffed animals and Hallmark platitudes -- though there will be some lingerie, compliments of the burlesque dancers and curator Janette Valentine's photography.

More >>

​Propaganda's first Sapphic Thursday seemed like any other night at the hip hangout. Named after the famed lady lover and muse with the mostest, Sappho, the event catered to lesbians and friends of lesbians, and featured the XX-favorite indie-pop duo The State Of.

Propaganda, now under the auspices of Cecil Lundsford of Black Weather Shaman and his partner Justin, hasn't changed that much at all. In fact, the first time I saw the State Of -- a band I've heaped praise on for the last year -- was at Propaganda, when it was Steve Rullman's joint, who, beardless, also happened to be hanging out Thursday. And although the Facebook page claimed Sapphic Thursday as the first lesbian night at the venue, the previous "ladies' night" on Wednesdays wasn't some sexist meat market as is usually the case with ladies' nights, but a noteworthy celebration of X chromosomes loving X chromosomes.

More >>

​County Grind is counting down the best local albums in South Florida. Monitor our progress here.

While the release of the band's full-length debut ThunderNoise won't drop until January, we'd be remiss to ignore the moody three-song EP by the heavy-rockin', dirty riffin' grrrls of Shroud Eater. (Sure, drummer Felipe Torres is a dude, but we'll deal.)

More >>