Whatever

Nov 13 2009

Lady Gaga Gets The Geek Treatment

49 responses so far

49 Responses to “Lady Gaga Gets The Geek Treatment”

1. # Jerome Comeauon 13 Nov 2009 at 3:27 pm

   Were I ten years younger, and were she ten years older, I would totally be stalking her. Molly Lewis is a brilliant young artist who deserves all the fame and money she can get.

2. # Bozo the Cloneon 13 Nov 2009 at 3:38 pm

   Her face also seems to bear a family resemblance to our host…but that could just be my imagination.

3. # John Scalzion 13 Nov 2009 at 3:40 pm

   She is:

   a) no relation whatsoever;

   b) cuter than your host by a rather considerable margin.

   Sings better, too.

4. # Jason B.on 13 Nov 2009 at 4:12 pm

   I want her to be my daughter.

5. # Juliaon 13 Nov 2009 at 4:15 pm

   …is she single?

6. # John Scalzion 13 Nov 2009 at 4:17 pm

   I know nothing about her except this video and what I read on her blog, so: Got me.

7. # GregLondonon 13 Nov 2009 at 4:19 pm

   talented and funny.

   oh, and Lady Gaga as Janice from the muppet show’s lost twin sister would have been awesome. Like Mark Hamill playing his own cousin or something on the Star Wars episode.

   I miss the muppets.

8. # Tiffany Martinon 13 Nov 2009 at 4:20 pm

   Ah, wow… being that versatile covering an expensively produced song is no small feat.

   Plus, was that a ukulele?

9. # Ardaniel Collieron 13 Nov 2009 at 4:27 pm

   Yup, that’s a ukulele. Specifically, it’s a Fluke from the Magic Fluke Company.

   Also, having met Molly last month at the post-w00tstock meet and greet, I can attest that she is a gracious and funny person. Her brother James also assisted Adam Savage with his presentation at the same show, and was equally awesome.

10. # Jerome Comeauon 13 Nov 2009 at 4:33 pm

    @Julia:

    Nope, she’s got the most adorable young man in her life right now. They were at PAX together, and he’s done some camerawork for her, specifically in “Two Girls One Uke”, which is a really amusing video, as well:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdGuv6vIiNk

    (Completely safe for work)

11. # Juliaon 13 Nov 2009 at 4:42 pm

    @Jerome Drat and drat and DRAT. Well, he’s a lucky man.

12. # Susan Readeron 13 Nov 2009 at 4:44 pm

    The stylophone! The stylophone! I used to play a stylophone…

13. # Jerome Comeauon 13 Nov 2009 at 4:50 pm

    Oh, and for what it’s worth, she’s also got what is perhaps the most beautiful Mother’s Day tribute ever:

14. # Darth Paradoxon 13 Nov 2009 at 5:10 pm

    I’ve been aware of her musical talents for a while, and she’s only gotten better there – but I was also really impressed with her video editing skills here. That is a well-put-together video.

15. # Laurieon 13 Nov 2009 at 5:22 pm

    To this day her original song MySpace is my favorite internet-created song ever.

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avxpn_MsPYs&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]

16. # Ron Hoganon 13 Nov 2009 at 5:33 pm

    I actually had never heard the Lady Gaga version until I went to go see how faithful this was to the original. Hell, this totally surpasses it.

17. # Jeff Zugaleon 13 Nov 2009 at 5:36 pm

    She was something of the show-stealer at w00tstock. She’s 100% awesome. :)

18. # Andrew Fedgeon 13 Nov 2009 at 7:30 pm

    I didn’t like the more mellow music at first … and then I was like “HEY, it takes TALENT to make a mellow version that works!”

    And then she did some visual gags and I moved into full-on “she rocks.”

    Thanks for sharing, I needed that.

19. # Fredon 13 Nov 2009 at 8:00 pm

    “being that versatile covering an expensively produced song is no small feat.”

    Molly’s version and video is great, of course (not to mention adorable :-), but the song doesn’t really depend on heavy production; there’s a whole bunch of acoustic versions by Lady Gaga herself out there, for example. Here’s one:

20. # Joelon 13 Nov 2009 at 8:39 pm

    saw both videos – Molly’s is entertaining. Very.

    Gaga’s is unwatchable.

21. # ravenshrikeon 13 Nov 2009 at 8:42 pm

    Better than the original by far, but still falls short of some of the Cartman remixes.

22. # Leslieon 13 Nov 2009 at 8:42 pm

    this is way more fun to watch than Lady Gaga…….and not nearly so disturbing. I did not spend my 20s as a”feminist” so Lady Gaga could dress like a drugged out porn star and string together words to be as offensive (liberated?) as possible. I did hope that people like Molly would be able to make a living expressing themselves!

23. # Anonymous Sopranoon 13 Nov 2009 at 9:46 pm

    @22 I would hope that you spent your 20’s as a “feminist” so women can do whatever they damned well please. I do believe that was the point of the exercise…

24. # Tumbleweedon 13 Nov 2009 at 10:20 pm

    Seriously cool, and I’m totally in love, but don’t go getting all up in Lady Gaga’s grille, either, until you see HER very different version of her own song:

25. # Tumbleweedon 13 Nov 2009 at 10:20 pm

    Whoops, didn’t see someone had already posted that. My bad. :(

26. # Leslieon 13 Nov 2009 at 10:41 pm

    I know that is what many think it is all about………doing whatever we damn well please

27. # Kevin Riggleon 13 Nov 2009 at 11:57 pm

    That is brilliant. Actually, the original song is brilliant, and both covers of it are as well. I really want to see a full-on Sinatra-style lounge version of it now too. (The staccato bits are out of character for a lounge song, but Lady Gaga’s acoustic cover shows that the rest of it fits very well — shouldn’t take too much to do the full conversion. I can’t decide whether the anachronistic 80’s get-up would work for the lounge-style or not… The cognitive dissonance between costume and setting would be kind of strong, and I’d prefer to foreground the cognitive dissonance which is the subject of the lyrics.) It is also refreshing to discover that, my god, she really can SING WELL without the post-processing and auto-tuning.

    Leslie @22: Well, the song is obviously about sexuality, but (from what I’ve read of Lady Gaga herself’s comments on it) I’m not sure that she’s intending her performance of it to be seen as uncritically affirmative of what you call “dressing up like a drugged-out porn star,” and I am going to call performative heterosexuality for lack of anything better.

    …come to think of it, better yet would be a male lounge version, with the genders in the lyrics switched.

    And, returning from that tangent, Molly Lewis is pretty fucking awesome.

28. # Phillip J. Birminghamon 14 Nov 2009 at 2:50 am

    Dang. Molly Lewis is awesome, let there be no doubt.

    But damn if Lady Gaga doesn’t have a pretty awesome set of pipes herself.

29. # Douglason 14 Nov 2009 at 5:26 am

    b) cuter than your host by a rather considerable margin.

    Sings better, too.

    You, the host, happen to be a hideous creature, extraordinally fortunate in having found a wife as lovely as your own, and a child as talented who is both cut at smart, cuz you are barely smart, and not even a hairs breadth of cute.

    Not to mention that lady gaga is like the trans workd murderers that exist in “The Number of the Beast” from heinlein. I mean, I suggest you don’t run like heinleins protagonists.

    Athena can slaughter them in whole if you just take away her sweets, and my guess is she really doesn’t want to go back to the “salt mines.”

    I think She’s more built for defense, more than flight.

    SIXTH COLLUMN!

30. # The Pathetic Earthlingon 14 Nov 2009 at 1:19 pm

    I love these awesome, talented, nerdy women who so warmly embrace their own awesomeness, talent, and nerdiness.

31. # Erinon 14 Nov 2009 at 1:24 pm

    @1 I just want to point out that stalking isn’t ever appropriate, no matter how much you like an artist. While I assume you’re not a literal stalker, seeing that word bandied about is a real slap in the face.

32. # Steven Sauson 14 Nov 2009 at 2:51 pm

    I am totally geek-crushing right now.

    Thanks for sharing that, John.

33. # keiforkineticon 14 Nov 2009 at 6:55 pm

    The song in and of itself isn’t a major accomplishment on anyone’s part. Then again most pop isn’t, so what can you do. Synchronizing all the elements on her own, however, is an achievement. The fact that she can play multiple instruments is fairly awesome too. I’d have to hear her do something more complex to be amazed, but she is kind of adorable. Nice find.

34. # Maryon 14 Nov 2009 at 7:09 pm

    Adorable!

35. # Markon 14 Nov 2009 at 8:43 pm

    Now we just need a Shatner version of Pokerface…

36. # Kerryon 14 Nov 2009 at 9:09 pm

    @ 35 In the name of all that is holy, noooooooo!!

37. # Jennifer Ouelletteon 14 Nov 2009 at 9:47 pm

    Nifty cover. Personally, I’m a Lady Gaga fan precisely because she’s so over the top and makes no apologies for it. I eagerly await Molly’s cover of “Bad Romance.”

38. # Gennita Lowon 14 Nov 2009 at 11:36 pm

    Because I now have this damn song earworming me to death–>

39. # Gennita Lowon 14 Nov 2009 at 11:37 pm

    Whoops, since it doesn’t let me embed (how did you guys do it?):

    http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/254168

40. # srpon 15 Nov 2009 at 3:05 am

    If you think “Poker Face” is catchy, you should try “Papparazi.” That’s a Gaga tune that is really hard to get out of your head. On the upside, it’s a fairly pretty tune, especially relative to “Poker Face.”

41. # Tiffany Martinon 15 Nov 2009 at 5:35 pm

    From Lady Gaga’s acoustic video you can tell she can sing but I don’t like it. It doesn’t have the graceful transitions of the original melody.

    The produced version is great! I <3

    I wasn't aware that Molly Lewis was an uberg33k. Even better! Maybe she can join the ranks of Jonathan Coulton.

42. # TimWBon 15 Nov 2009 at 7:03 pm

    May I recommend CocoRosie’s “Turn Me On”?
    

43. # Philberton 16 Nov 2009 at 3:50 am

    Oddly, there is a discussion on wikipedia about whether Molly Lewis is important/famous enough to warrant a wikipedia page.
    Well, now that she has been discussed on Whatever that discussion is over, I’d say.

44. # Chuck Andersonon 16 Nov 2009 at 1:18 pm

    If anybody cares, it’s a balalaika…kind of a Russian ukelele…

45. # Toby Petzoldon 16 Nov 2009 at 6:58 pm

    I love that girl!

46. # Ianon 16 Nov 2009 at 8:05 pm

    What? No auto-tune? It’s not a proper tribute to Gaga without an autotune up the wazooo.

47. # Weavon 16 Nov 2009 at 11:11 pm

    This gal is 4w3z00m. I sat there stunned afterward. I, who have gotten a hug from La Gaga herself. W00t. This Molly Lewis person is one to watch.

48. # Kevin Riggleon 17 Nov 2009 at 6:49 am

    Tiffany @41: Her blog suggests that she performs on the ukelele with Jonathan Coulton on a semi-regular basis, so I think she’s perhaps already there. Would definitely be worthy of doing her own solo thing, though. :-)

49. # Bowie Fanon 21 Nov 2009 at 3:42 am

    “I did not spend my 20s as a”feminist” so Lady Gaga could dress like a drugged out porn star….”

    I, however, as a teenage boy in the early-to-mid ’80s, did spend evenings at home putting on make-up and glam fashion before going out for pretty much the same reasons.

    A lot both previous and current generations at the time had pretty much the same sort of attitude toward me. I guess not all that much changes after all.

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