Modern News

M.I.A at Creators Project NYC

The collaboration between technology giant Intel and Vice had all the makings of one giant clusterfuck, but much to many’s surprise, after the poorly organized registration, that the event went off without a hitch.  After picking up a complimentary beverage and burger, most of the guests immediately made their way to the loading dock where the U.S.A vs. Ghana World Cup match was being projected while others made it to the 8th floor of the gallery to view the debut of a Spike Jonze project.  This was pretty much the vibe for the 12 hour gala.  There were art installations by a bevy of visual artists and photographers, including Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner, Mira Calix and panels featuring the likes of Graffiti Research Lab founder James Powderly.

Sam Spiegel, Mark Ronson, Alan Palomo and Alex Greenwald

One of the most interesting panels happened around 5pm in one of the 8th floor studios.  Producer and DJ extraordinaire Mark Ronson teamed up with Sam Spiegel aka Squeek E. Clean from N.A.S.A, Neon Indian’s Alam Palomo and Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet to create a pop song in 60 minutes that was to be uploaded to the Creators’ website.  After toiling around for a bit and polling the audience for suggestions and hooks, a houseish/electronic song was in the works.  Look for, what I’m guessing will be the title, “Can’t Delay the Party” on the Creators blog in the near future.

The rest of the night I dedicated to the music.  People packed the 2nd floor gallery for Sleigh Bells, Die Antwoord and special guest M.I.A (all of whom are on the July 24 Hardfest bill at Governor’s Island).  Sleigh Bells had a frantic energy that got the crowd moving, while Die Antwoord impressed seemingly everybody except myself.  I just cringed a little everytime Ninja and Yo-Landi opened their mouths.  In the loading dock, Interpol was debuting some new songs and old favorites.  M.I.A came out to the not so good “Born Free”, and walked her way through some new tracks as well as classics from Arular and Kala with guests including the infamous Ninjasonik.  The last stop of the night for me was Mark Ronson’s DJ set in the 1st floor gallery.  Alex Greenwald and Rose formerly of the Pipettes crooned Radiohead’s “Just”, followed by MNDR belting out the song of the summer “Bang Bang Bang”, as well as “Sparrow” and “Fade To Black”.  The perfect ending of a long day.