Pizza FM Previews Pygmalion

By Luke Misiak, Dylan Gray, Margo van Loon, Andres Muñoz, Hannah McCloud, and Ted Loewenthal.Pygmalion. Pyg. Malion. “-Malion,” as defined by Urban Dictionary, is a “mythical creature that appears like a lion. They are also known as the spore lion” (Urban Dictionary, Top Definition 2.) Pyg simply sounds like the barnyard animal: pig. Through a Frankenstein like suturing, we can assume that Pygmalion is a mix between a lion and a pig. A creature like this is something we would assume to come out of the doodles from a brilliant mind like Mr. Dynamite’s (Napoleon) but Pygmalion is much more than a mere beast. Pygmalion is also a festival. A festival in our backyard, our backyard of Champaign-Urbana. Pygmalion began in the year 2005 but has steadily grown into one of Illinois’ most rewarding and eclectic festivals to attend. From the humble beginnings of bands like Ambitious Pie Party (circa 2005) to this year’s star-studded ensemble of talented artists: Playboi Carti, Mount Kimbie, JPEGMAFIA, and more. Pygmalion isn’t solely a music festival but also a place for the comedy of Tig Notaro, the political academics of Safiya Noble, and of course the electrifying science behind the Tesla coil (many have grown slightly bitter to this recurring figure as UIUC hosts a yearly Tesla coil show on campus). Many more people and things of interest will be at Pygmalion this year, head to their website to receive the full scope of events: http://www.thepygmalionfestival.com/. THE ARTISTSFrankie CosmosMy first memory of Frankie Cosmos was hearing a soft and almost ticklish voice tremble over visuals of a highly aestheticized miniature town. The town was quiet, quaint, scenic, and OH MY GOD THERE’S A WOMAN PLAYING GUITAR ON THE DIORAMA’S RIVER. Frankie Cosmos similarly to her music video for the song, “Outside With The Cuties,” finds listeners in the middle of their lives wherever they are. While waiting for a bus in the rain, while eating Eggo waffles on a Sunday morning, and while peeing in a local indie record store. Frankie Cosmos released her first album Zentropy in 2014 and has been releasing an album every two years since; she released the Pitchfork loved album Next Thing in 2016 and her newest album, Vessel, in 2018. Cosmos’s latest album has a slightly grimier and more brutal tone to both its lyrics and instrumentation. Cosmos’s third album isn’t so much a reinvention but a continuation in carving her place next to other indie-pop icons like Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy, and Florist. With still room to grow but an already plainly recognizable sound, Frankie Cosmos continues to tune us into her world. Frankie Cosmos will be playing this Saturday at Urbana Champaign’s Independent Media Center. Diet CigAnyone can tell you that growing up is hard. The transition from toddler to young adult is a painful and embarrassing process, and we’ve all heard plenty of records about it. It’s a lot harder to write an album that actually celebrates the awkwardness of adolescence instead of furthering the coming of age demon’s appetite for trauma, but that’s exactly what two-piece rock band Diet Cig manages to do. Singer and guitarist Alex Luciano tends to croon about lost love, breaking into public pools, and everything in between. Noah Bowman provides anthemic drum beats and together they have found an audience in the lost but optimistic. Despite many of their songs being about losing someone or something, the band never becomes caustic or abrasive. Their lyrics are steeped in childlike simplicity, which makes the songwriting feel more honest and personal. Diet Cig wants you to know that everyone feels lonely sometimes, and everyone gets their heart broken, but that’s no reason to give up on youthful optimism. Diet Cig will be performing at Canopy Club this Thursday.Tig NotaroTig Notaro is the weird mom comedian for kids who have grown up too fast and adults who want to grow, but only a little. No one likes a plant that grows too much and suddenly knocks into your thigh everytime you pass the green sprawling fern by. Notaro’s brand or brandy is composed of equal parts personal reflection, realist, and dark comedy. People often talk about Notaro being the cancer comedian, Notaro then makes fun of the people who call her the cancer comedian, and after that, only some people will continue calling her the cancer comedian. Notaro did have breast cancer. Point is, sometimes she talks about cancer and sometimes she doesn’t, just like how sometimes, we or people we know, may have cancer and then they don’t. To stop talking about cancer, my horoscope is cancer. Tig Notaro is a great comedian for a diverse range of comedy lovers. Tig Notaro will be performing this Thursday night at Foellinger Great Hall. WhitneyIt’s 13:15 Military Time on a Saturday. Grainger Library is filled to the brim with students hoping to cram for their first round of midterms and I am headbanging to “Burnin’ Up” because differential equations can be solved at a later time. I grew up loving the Jonas Brothers. Loving may be an understatement for my infatuation with the trio. But, like most, I grew out of my pop phase after mellowing out in high school and replacing it with whatever was deemed ‘cool’ at the time. There was an itch at the back of my throat though, I needed to satiate my boy band needs with anything but frosted tips and heartthrobs like Harry Styles&co. Queue the end of my senior year, I’m eighteen years old and a little angsty about taking the dive into college. In the distance, I see the release of Whitney’s Light Upon the Lake. I think I needed the piano plunks featured in “The Falls” or the lyrics which hung around my head in “No Woman,” to help me sift through a platitude of changes that summer. It’s humanizing to recognize yourself in music.  Now at twenty years old, I still turn to the easygoing style that Whitney created in this album. I go to it for the comfort that change is inevitable and that “it’s a shame we can’t get it together now.” Whitney will be performing at the Cowell Playhouse this Thursday. JPEGMAFIAControversy is certainly no stranger to Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, better known by his stage name JPEGMAFIA. From the late nights he was performing at Tokyo nightclubs while on active duty, to the time he’s spent in interviews giving scathing takedowns of political figures across the American spectrum, JPEGMAFIA is not afraid to ruffle feathers or bash popular performers like Morrissey. While he’s not known for his clean-cut demeanor, he’s certainly known for unrestrained and rowdy live shows, of which, crowd diving, moshing, and shirtless screaming are often the result. Though volatile and unpredictable performances are nothing out of the ordinary in the hip-hop or hardcore music scene, JPEGMAFIA mixes a unique blend with his “dirtbag” attitude and expedient references to internet culture. Angry and controversial rap has been an artifact of rap, from N.W.A and Ol’ Dirty Bastard to Tyler the Creator and MC Ride, but for JPEGMAFIA it’s especially controversial and exceptionally angry. JPEGMAFIA will be performing at Urbana Champaign’s Independent Media Center this Friday.CucoCuco is 20-year-old Omar Banos from LA, an artist who writes sugar sweet songs in Spanish, English, or a code switching mix of the two. Cuco sings songs that are bright, catchy, and fun to listen to. His lyrics speak occasionally to how his latest heartbreak ruined his life or to how he is resigned to feeling depressed about love and life gone wrong; when he’s writing happy songs, it’s a picture of endless and dreamy love, where he could live in someone’s eyes forever and ever. Sometimes, his tunes are merely about feeling good and about it being summer. Cuco provides music to dance to for when you’re feeling intensely idealistic about a crush you have or about a crush you’re feeling heartache-y and sad over. Cuco will be performing this Friday night at Canopy Club with Mount Kimbie. Mount KimbieMount Kimbie is an electronic band from the UK; on first listen, they sound like being at a trendy European club with a mixologist where everyone says they can taste the rosemary radiating from their gin. However, this is meant in the best way possible. Mount Kimbie has an interesting sound, one filled with blips and audio cuts of people speaking—often of which— there’s a consistent weaving in and out of; their sound is overall easy on the ears, rewarding to pick apart, and in fact, is perfectly complementary to being either slightly buzzed on a $9 cocktail in soft yellow lighting or simply sitting in your living room in Urbana, tirelessly chattering with friends as evening passes into dawn. Mount Kimbie will be playing this Friday night at Canopy Club with Cuco.Playboi CartiPlayboi Carti is indisputably a rap icon. From his meditated style to his sporadic stage presence, Carti conducts energy on all fronts. Carti gained mass attention after the release of his hit song, “Magnolia.” Even the song’s music video dazzles with star-studded cameos like A$AP Rocky, Nav, and A Boogie wit da Hoodie as they rock their way through the concrete jungle of NY. Carti’s latest release is Die Lit, an album which boasts features such as Lil Uzi Vert, Travis Scott, Young Thug, Nicki Minaj, and more. Carti has developed an instantly recognizable sound which blends stinging beats, fiery lyrics, and explosive energy. It’s easy to predict that Carti will light up Pygmalion with his infectious vibe. Expect to mosh, shout, and get down. CJ RunOn Saturday night, our local Canopy Club veteran, CJ Run returns to the stage. This will be the 3rd time I’ve seen them live and I can say with experience that their stage presence, their charisma, and their overall show will be a big highlight for Pygmalion this year. Their backing band, the Data Waves have been tearing up the local music scene the past couple months with shows at Chez Bonbon and Portlandia, in preparation for their big venue return. It will be interesting to see what kind of instrumental setup CJ and The Data Waves have prepared for us this time around, but no matter what, this will be one for the books!