Friday, 31 December 2010
This week's playlist
Flyleaf- Breathe Today
Kate Nash- Pumpkin Soup
The Pretenders- Brass in Pocket
The Ting Tings- Be The One
Heather Nova- Wide-screen
Bat For Lashes- Daniel
Bif Naked- I Want
Plastiscines- Barcelona
Daisy Chainsaw- The Future Free
Natalie Imbruglia- Torn
Gloria Jones- Tainted Love
Paramore- Crushcrushcrush
Marina and the Diamonds- I Am Not A Robot
Karen O and the Kids- All is Love
Stars- Window Bird
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump- 100%
Sia- Buttons
Ipso Facto- Circle of Fifths
Penny Broadhurst- Chemist Goods
Portishead- Machine Gun
Heart- Barracuda
Devilish Presley- Hammer Horror Glamour
Palodine- Redwinged Blackbird
Koogaphone- White Trash
Bleech- Flowerhands
Cyndi Lauper- True Colours
Rasputina- Wish You Were Here
Sunday, 26 December 2010
2010 in music videos!
MEN! Jd Samson from Le Tigre fronts this awesome electro punk noise!
The newly revived Hole. I got to see the new line up back in Feburary, and well Courtney Love despite her bad press just oozes rock star cool from her core
Speaking of the Hole I gig I went to, I saw the most awesome support act there, a band who brought out their debut album this year- Little Fish
amazing artist She Makes War..extremely talented lady Laura Kidd makes most of the music herself.
the highlight of Offset festival this year for me- Comanchei-
another great unsigned band Le Monnier
Friday, 24 December 2010
2010 Special Playlist
Hole- Violet
Melissa Auf de Maur- Out of Our Minds
Paloma Faith- Upside Down
Robots in Disguise- Wake Up!
Chicks on Speed- Love Bite
The Runaways- Cherry Bomb
Wendy Solomon- Happy Hour
Dirty Fairies- Get High
Death of the Elephant- 2N2222
Trash Monroe- Venus Envy
Candy Panic Attack- What's He Got That I Haven't?
Little Fish- Die Young
Comanechi- Naked
Wetdog- Evicted
Gramme- Like You
Thomas Tantrum- Shake It Shake It
Chrome Hoof- Leave This Ruined Husk
The Birthday Massacre- Pins and Needles
The Slits- Newtown
Femmepop- Medication
Le Tigre- Deceptacon
The Duke Spirit- Everybody's Under Your Spell
Blondie- Mother
Poly Stryene- Black Christmas
Call the Doctor- For Your Leisure
Fire Bug- Season For Change
Bleech- FairFrusion
Amanda Palmer- High and Dry
Friday, 10 December 2010
This week's playlist
Santigold- I'm a Lady
The Joy Formidable- Greyhounds in the Slips
Garbage- Dumb
New Young Pony Club- The Get Go
Plastiscines- Barcelona
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Isis
Moloko- Familiar Feeling
Bikini Kill- Distinct Complicity
Dresden Dolls- My Alcoholic Friends
Bjork- Isobel
Tori Amos- Big Wheel
Flyleaf- Breathe Today
Kim Carnes- Bette Davis Eyes
Blondie- Mother
Dido- Here With Me
Paloma Faith- Upside Down
Rilo Kiley- The Moneymaker
Regina Spektor- Edit
Miss the Occupier- Short Sight
Moth Complex-Learned my Lesson
Lucid Nation- The World's Guiltiest Pleasure
Little Boots- Stuck on Repeat
Femmepop- Good
Nina Hagen- Spirit in the Sky
Thursday, 2 December 2010
This week's playlist
Lauren Harris- See Through
The Duke Spirit- Everybody's Under Your Spell
Heart- Barracuda
Damone- What We Came Here For
The Runaways- Wait For Me
Hole- Violet
Erase Errata- Tax Dollar
Melissa Auf de Maur- My Foggy Notion
L7- Wargasm
Portishead- Machine Gun
The Birthday Massacre- The Dream
Madonna- Vogue
Banarama- Cruel Summer
Lunachicks- Binge and Purge
Lily Allen- Alfie
Le Monnier- No Power
Meredith Brooks- Bitch
Thomas Tantrum- Pshandy
Ministry of Love- Life in Song
Misnomer- Genius
Lucid Nation- Second Skin
No Doubt- Ex Girlfriend
Driver- Change your Ways
Jessica Allyn- Standing O
Chicks on Speed- Wordy Rappinghood
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Ladyfest Ten Saturday 13th November
finally have found a bit of time to write a review of something I had been looking forward to since I first heard about it- back towards the beginning of the year- that's of course Ladyfest Ten! So called because this year Ladyfests have been organised for 10 years (the first one happened in 2000 in Olympia, Washington). So to celebrate, some lovely ladies in London decided to throw a big weekend's worth of Ladyfest goodness- filled with workshops, music and much more. I couldn't afford to go to all three days so I picked the best sounding day- Saturday.
To my annoyance, this was a day that every tube line I was planning to take decided to close, or partly close, meaning there was chaos as the inevitable overcrowding happened. So in the end, we wound up getting a bus to Islington and arrived later than initially planned, so we had a very brief time to quickly scoff some chips down for lunch before heading to the first thing on our agenda at the Resource Centre- a workshop- Women in the Media panel discussion.
We all sat in a circle as we were introduced to the panel- Annette Barlow- writer for The Girls Are (link to blog on my side menu) Jess McCabe- writer for The F Word (another one on my side menu and highly recommended) Ruth Barnes- radio presenter of The Other Woman , Bidihisa and Kira Cochrane, both of the Guardian.
Each speaker provided their point of view about what it's like working as a woman in the media. It wasn't about discussing media stereotypes and representations of women (although a very worthy subject too) but about blogging, the trouble of working for free, how to get your foot in the door. Some was very positive, and some quite negative. It's a sad fact when you learn even the BBC still doesn't feature as many women as it should do in it's programming. The session ended with a Q&A session with many women asking thoughtful interesting question, and made me realise how many there are of us trying to promote things such as female music, writing etc.
Afterwards we had a little look around the stalls and admired the "Lady Garden" an area where you could sit and be creative- some people were crocheting, others were knitting etc. There was some really wonderful mini protest banners hanging up. The stalls were a mix of zines, books and other wonderful things. I came away with a book about making zines, a magazine, and a sash that says "Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History" from a very cool women's environmental group who base their selves on the suffragettes- Climate Rush
We then moved onto Studio La Danza to have a go at a dance workshop! It was called "Riot Grrrl" although the song we learned a routine to was actually Marilyn Manson's version of "Tainted Love". I got tired out pretty quickly but the teacher was super nice and took it us through the routine slowly. It was fun but tiring!
We needed a break afterwards so we went had a lovely Thai curry at a nearby restaurant before making our way to The Relentless Garage for some music! I missed a few of the artists I would have liked to see because they clashed with the other things we wanted to do (which was one problem with so many things going on) but I did at least manage to buy a copy of She Makes War's album (which I highly recommend by the way)
We caught the very last song of Veronica Falls, it sounded quite good but I haven't heard enough to say more than that.
The first band we saw the whole set of was Vile Vile Creatures who were my musical highlight of the evening. They played short, punky songs that were right up my street.
next band we saw was Battant who I wasn't really sure of to start with, but I got more and more into it as the set played. It seemed very electro at the time, but having a listen on MySpace now, they do have an electro tinge about them but it isn't pure electro, it's mixed with garage style rock too.
The next artist was the rather extravagant Nicky Click who took the stage barely wearing anything and a pony tail. She had a large and proud attitude which was good, but her music wasn't really my thing. It was electro/dance, in a Peaches style manner, but personally I much prefer Peaches!
Finally was the headliner MEN who feature JD Samson of Le Tigre. As I suspected, being a fan of Le Tigre, I really enjoyed MEN. The music was quite similar to Le Tigre, funky electro rock you can dance to with a political message. So if you haven't listened to them yet, go do it!
Thanks to the trains and tubes, we barely could stay for the after party although the tunes we did manage to hear the dj's playing at the horatia were awesome, so I'm sure it was a great party! I was so glad that I didn't do any volunteering this year and could really enjoy the festival to it's fullest this time. I can't wait for another one!
This week's playlist
The Sounds- Running Out of Turbo
Saint Etienne- Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Daisy Chainsaw- Natural Man
The Go! Team- Hold Yr Terror Close
Mika Miko- Capricornations
Soho Dolls- Prince Harry
Santigold- Say Aha
Bikini Kill- Tell Me So
Janis Joplin- Piece of my Heart
Go-Gos- Our Lips Are Sealed
Cyndi Lauper- (Hey Now) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Paramore- All We Know
Eurythmics- Love is a Stranger
Scarlet- independent Love Song
Garbage- You Look So Fine
Kate Nash- Mouthwash
Fever Ray- Triangle Walks (Rex the Dog Remix)
La Roux- Bulletproof
Operator Please- Crash Tragic
CSS- Alcohol
Mancini- Toybox
Lunic- Him
Lucid Nation- Kindred
Little Boots- Remedy
KT Tunstall- Hold on
PJ Harvey- Down By The Water
Suzanne Vega- Blood Makes Noise
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts- Tulane
Friday, 19 November 2010
This week's playlist
Lacuna Coil- Unspoken
Blood Red Shoes- I Wish I Was Someone Better
Tori Amos- Cornflake Girl
Goldfrapp- Ooh La La
Siouxie and the Banshees- Peek a Boo
The Donnas- You Make Me Hot
Atomic Blonde- Under My Skin (Censored)
McQueen- Don't Know How To Break It To You
Alisha's Attic- Barbarella
She Makes War- Scared to Capsize
Femmepop- Kick
The Rayographs- Francis
The Slits- Ping Pong Affair
Dresden Dolls- Backstabber
Imelda May- Big Bad Handsome Man
Amy Macdonald- Run
Regina Spektor- Music Box
Nightwish- Amaranth
Dead Weather- Hang you from the Heavens
Ipso Facto- Six and Three Quarters
Lizzyspit- Little Dan
Brigitte Bardot- Lola Dutronic
Lucid Nation- The Worlds Guiltiest Pleasure
Flyleaf- Chasm
Robots in Disguise- Mirror Mirror
Lene Lovich- I Think We're Alone Now
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Blogging
In the mean time, to whet your appetite for a non playlist related blog, I've nicked this music meme from my friend Rachel :)
This is the premise: They’re about to make a film of your life and want you to provide the soundtrack. Using the random play function on your music player, find 20 songs to fit the following categories:
Opening Credits, Birth, Waking Up, First Day At School, Falling In Love, Losing Virginity, Fight Song, Prom, Last Day of School, First Day at Work, Beginning of Adult Life, Mental Breakdown, Obligatory Flashback, Getting Back Together, Wedding, Birth of Child, Final Battle, Death Scene, Funeral Song, End Credits.
I won't use the same artist twice and I'm also changing it slightly to using my last fm player, as that is what I mainly use to listen to music!
Opening Credits: Barracuda- Heart (pretty epic start)!
Birth: Sex Bomb by Spinnerette
Waking Up: Through the Dark by KT Tunstall
First Day At School: Neon Angels on the Way to Ruin- The Runaways
Falling In Love: Come Out Swinging- The Offspring
Losing Virginity: What's Up- 4 Non Blondes
Fight Song: Girl Anachronism- Dresden Dolls (my weapon is clearly a piano!)
Prom: Sunset Strip- Courtney Love (I didn't have a prom but if I did this would be an awesome song to dance to!)
Last Day of School: City Noise by Scarling
First Day at Work: Personal Jesus- Depeche Mode
Beginning of Adult Life: Inner Smile- Texas
Mental Breakdown: Cold as Ice- Foreigner
Obligatory Flashback: Stop Talking- Helen's Evil Twin
Getting Back Together: Impressed- Natalie Imbruglia
(no video for this one :( )
Wedding Ceremony: Big Wheel- Tori Amos (would be a bit worried if we had chose this song what with the MILF lyrics bit)!
Birth of Child: Can the Can- Suzi Quatro (I'll give birth to a new Joan Jett)!
Final Battle: A Love Song by Amanda Blank
Death Scene: That's Not me- The Beach Boys (oo er)
Funeral Song: Little Sister- Queens of the Stone Age (very odd choice)!
End Credits: We Belong- Pat Benetar
It'd be worth buying the soundtrack for this film I think!
This week's playlist
Horrorpops- Crawl Straight Home
Lily Allen- LDN
New Young Pony Club- Tight Fit
Heart- Barracuda
Shocking Blue- Venus
Ladyfuzz- Kerfuffle
Texas- In Our Lifetime
Isa and the Filthy Tongues- Big Star
Death of the Elephant- 2N222
Peaches- Boys Wanna Be Her
Marnie Stern- Every Single Line Means Something
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Soft Shock
Pagan Holiday- Real Words
Marina and the Diamonds- I Am Not A Robot
The Runaways- Cherry Bomb
Gossip- Yr Mangled Heart
Pat Benatar- Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Comanechi- Naked
Lilies on Mars- My Liver Hurts
Leftover Lucy- Sleep Talking
Jessica Allyn- Professor Harold Hill
Dresden Dolls- Girl Anachronism
Eisley- Invasion
Patti Smith- Privilege (Set Me Free)
Guano Apes- Big in Japan (Space Jazz Dubmen Mix)
Thursday, 4 November 2010
This week's playlist
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts- I Hate Myself for Loving You
Garbage- Androgyny
Blondie- One Way or Another
The Distillers- Coral Fang
The Birthday Massacre- Happy Birthday
Daisy Chainsaw- Love Your Money
X Ray Spex- Oh Bondage Up Yours!
Eurythmics- Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Soho Dolls- Trash the Rental
The Sounds- Running Out of Turbo
Le Tigre- On The Verge
CSS- Alcohol
Paloma Faith- Upside Down
Gloria Jones- Tainted Love
La Roux- Bulletproof
Bjork- Big Time Sensuality
Morcheeba- World Looking In
Dirty Fuzz- Love's a Gun
Koogaphone- White Trash
Lana- Ruthless
Jessica Allyn- Mother God damn
KT Tunstall- Hold On
The Violets- Hush Away
Metric- Monster Hospital
Feist- Sea lion
Chicks on Speed- Wordy Rappinghood
Friday, 29 October 2010
This week's playlist
Santigold- Say Aha
The Slits- Typical Girls
Kate Nash- Merry Happy
Jefferson Airplane- White Rabbit
L7- One More Thing
Flyleaf- Breathe Today
Damone- What We Came Here For
Go-Go's- We Got the Beat
The Go! Team- Bottle Rocket
The Dead Weather- I Cut Like a Buffalo
Ellie Goulding- Under the Sheets
Bif Naked- I Want
The Donnas- You Make Me Hot
Courtney Love- Zeppelin Song
Alanis Morissette- Sister Blister
Dresden Dolls- Missed Me
Swan Island- Crumble
Lita Ford- Kiss Me Deadly
The Joy Formidable- Greyhounds in the Slips
Kennedy's Running for President- Meeting Strangers
Julia Free- Boo Hoo
Jessica Allyn- Iscariot
Suzi Quatro- Can the Can
Lunachicks- Binge and Purge
Operator Please- Crash Tragic
The Runaways- Cherry Bomb
Florence and the Machine- Kiss With a Fist
Ann Wilson- Immigrant Song
Friday, 22 October 2010
This week's playlist
Veruca Salt- Volcano Girls
PJ Harvey- Sheela Na Nig
Horrorpops- Walk Like A Zombie
Heart- Barracuda
Blood Red Shoes- I Wish I Was Someone Better
Tori Amos- Big wheel
Call the Doctor- For Your Leisure
Ladytron- Sugar
Garbage- Queer
Robots in Disguise- She's a Colour Scientist
The Pretenders- Back on the Chain Gang
Siouxie and The Banshees- Spellbound
Goldfrapp- Ooh La La
Melissa Auf Der Maur- Taste You
Thomas Tantrum- Shake it Shake It
Land of Talk- Speak To Me Bones
Paramore- Misery Business
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Isis
Little Fish- Die Young
Hollywood Doll- Gutter Girl
Ianasonic- Bitter
Jessica Allyn- Standing O
Suzanne Vega- Blood Makes Noise
The Ropes- Water and Headphones
Republica- Drop Dead Gorgeous
Amanda Palmer- High and Dry
Thursday, 14 October 2010
This week's playlist
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts- A.C.D.C
Juliette Lewis- Fantasy Bar
Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles- Do It For Free
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas- Dancing in the Street
Echobelly- Great Things
Kelly Osbourne- Coolhead
Le Tigre- This Island
The Kills- Black Balloon
Soho Dolls- I'm Not Cool
Edie Brickell- What I Am
Lily Allen- Alfie
KT Tunstall- Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump- 100%
Sugacoma- What Goes Round
Skunk Anansie- Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)
Regina Spektor- Edit
4 Non Blondes- What's Up
Crystal Castles- Tell Me What To Swallow
Alisha's Attic- Air We Breathe
Helen's Evil Twin- Stop Talking
Grim Dylan- Kids Don't Sleep
Bittybox- Smalltime
The Birthday Massacre- Pins and Needles
Kasms- Don't Hit the Bottom
Karen O and the Kids- All is Love
Blondie- Bang a Gong (Get it On)
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
The Birthday Massacre 8/10/10 Chinnerys Southend
I was both surprised and pleased some months ago when I saw The Birthday Massacre listed as playing at one of my main local music venues. I was even more pleased when I found out of my favourite local bands Trash Monroe were to be one of the support acts. I was so pleased I bought two of my best friends tickets too!
The day soon arrived and as normally when I go to gigs at Chinnerys it never opens on time, we didn't rush to get there at the opening time of 8pm, but unfortunelly for us they actually must have opened on time as we missed Trash Monroe- blast it!
We were just in time for second support act Raggedy Angry who were a group of goth guys who most of them had black eye make up around just one eye which made my friend Ruth think of puppies- and so the whole time we were watching them I was imagining them as puppies! Anyway they weren't very original at all, nothing new, going for the goth metal thing with some electronic noises in between. They also did a cover of Daft Punk's "Robot Rock" but I'm not really sure if I liked that either!
The Birthday Massacre on the other hand were totally awesome. I was surprised that it wasn't actually that busy but they managed to create quite a buzz in the crowd that had turned out to see them. They played a mix of tracks off the new album Pins and Needles as well as some old tracks. I couldn't believe how tiny, their singer Chibi was! For this reason and the fact that Chinnerys has a lot of poles in front of the stage it wasn't easy to take photos. The highlight for me was probably "Happy Birthday" although I really liked the new songs too. I thought Chibi was great, giving the people right at the front high fives and just generally being cool!
the setlist was:
In the Dark
Lovers End
Video Kid
Falling Down
Goodnight
Always
Red Stars
To Die For
Shallow Grave
Pins And Needles
Control
Looking Glass
Horror Show
Blue
Midnight
Encore:
Sleepwalking
Happy Birthday
Thursday, 7 October 2010
This week's playlist
Girl in a Coma- Their Cell
Rilo Kiley- Moneymaker
Mother Mother- Dirty Town
Roxette- It Must Have Been Love
Lenka- Trouble is a Friend
Polly Scattergood- Other Too Endless
Tiny Masters of Today- Hologram World
The Chalets- Sexy Mistake
Pink- Trouble
Metric- Glass Ceiling
Evanescence- All That I'm Living For
Flyleaf- Breathe Today
Ace of Base- All That She Wants
The Slits- New Town
Feist- Mushaboom
Eurythmics- Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Nancy Sinatra- These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
Garbage- Special
Ladytron- Destroy Everything You Touch
Hazard County Girls- Red Light
Gabby Young- In This Together
Bittybox- Ride
Dead Weather- Hang You From The Heavens
The Distillers- Beat Your Heart Out
CSS- Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above
Heather Nova- I Have The Touch
this show is available now to listen on our mixcloud page!
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Music I randomly discover on the computer Number two: Jesca Hoop
A long over due post as I wrote an "music I randomly discover on my computer" post when I first started this blog! So for the benefit of any new readers I'll explain. We have a lot of music on our computer. We used to spend way too much time downloading (only legally these days)! and we also used to have a subscription to a music delivery service when we paid so much a month and got lots of new releases- some good, some bad. So we have stuff we like and even some stuff we don't like, but also stuff I sometimes just across by accident and end up liking!
That's how I found Jesca Hoop! A singer/songwriter/guitarist from California- she also used to be nanny to Tom Wait's children!
Another lovely thing I've just discovered about her is that she contributed a song to a "Raise Hope for Congo" compilation CD- "Proceeds from the compilation fund efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo’s women a priority, as well as inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in Congo"
Thursday, 30 September 2010
This week's playlist
Alanis Morissette- Eight Easy Steps
Melissa Auf Der Maur- Taste You
McQueen- (Don't Know How To) Break It To You
After School Sports- Almost Left My Boyfriend For His Casio
Slunt- Not About You
Daisy Chainsaw- Dog With Sharper Teeth
The Sounds- Song With A Mission
The Eyeliners- Sealed With A Kiss
The Dollyrots- Because I'm Awesome
Kate Bush- Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
Sixpence None The Richer- Kiss Me
Paloma Faith- Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful?
Patti Smith Group- Privilege (Set Me Free)
Tegan and Sara- Walking With A Ghost
Banarama- Cruel Summer
Robots in Disguise- We're in the Music Biz
Courtney Love- Sunset Strip
Pat Benatar- Heartbreaker
Jefferson Airplane- Somebody to Love
Imelda May- Big Bad Handsome Man
Marnie Stern- Every Single Line Means Something
Femmepop- Good
Even More Vast- Pure
Bittybox- Snake Eyes (artist of the month)
Florence and the Machine- Kiss With a Fist
Gossip- Fire With Fire
The Creepshow- Candy Kiss
The Noisettes- Don't Give Up
Lene Lovich- I Think We're Alone Now
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Wanting to do it all!
Not only all this Ladyfest activity happening in London, but I've been finding out about more and more "female fronted" music club nights, band nights etc, but most of them are in London (and sometimes further- Ladyfest Nottingham also happened this year- and they are doing a zombie beauty queen contestevent over Halloween)!
I also like reading zines, I've been reading my friend Sophia's local music zine "Noisy!" for a few years now, I picked up quite a few when I went to Ladyfest London, and this year I've bought two so far, so I haven't indulged myself completely in it as yet but I'm starting to get quite into it!
What makes me sad, is in my town of Southend, Essex, UK, there isn't much of this type of thing. There is no feminist group, no female music clubs/gig nights (apart from my own earlier this year) there's never been a ladyfest (that I know of) and I'm not really sure about how many zines there are, apart from Noisy!
I really want this to change, I really want these things to be here! As apart from the usual gripes people have about their hometown, I quite like where I live. There's a lot of great talent here- music by bands like Trash Monroe, poetry and spoken word from Sundown, and more. The talent is there but there isn't much of my type of "scene" as it were. Sure we have a few good music venues like Chinnerys (who have had some good bands play this year, although not often enough)! and Club Riga, there isn't much in the way of alternative clubs anymore though.
Anyway there is a purpose to my ramble, it's that if I want these things, then for one thing I'm probably not the only one, and secondly what am I going to do about it?!
First of all, I'm setting up a feminist group! Southend Fawcett Society is now registered on UK Feminista and we're having our first meeting in October. All year long I've been trying to arrange this meeting with the people who have joined my facebook group, but it's been so much trouble trying to agree on a mutual date, that finally I decided enough is enough, I'm gonna set the date and then whoever can turn up on the day is great, I'd be waiting forever if I waited for everyone to agree on the same date. So I'm looking forward to getting started with that, and I've already had an email from The Fawcett Society asking if we would like to do something on "Equal Pay Day" so hopefully we will even have an actual event to plan!
Secondly, the Ladyfest thing. I've been having a good think about this, and I really want to make Ladyfest Southend happen. The one thing that mainly worried me is the cost of venues. I've been talking to a few people I know that have done events here, and have discovered that some venues will let you use them free if it's for a charity. I'm planning to do it for a charity that either helps victims of rape or domestic abuse so that's covered. My other friend let me know the good sides and bad sides of various venues (sound, amps etc) so I have to think some more first before I decide what venue to approach, but basically I'm hoping to have some sort of all dayer with all female bands, zine stalls etc, sometime next summer, so I'll keep you posted once I've got a bit more info.
Finally, the smallest thing but not necessarily the least, I really think I want to do my own zine. I've just been looking up a about how to do it, and to do a basic one it doesn't sound too hard, I think the hardest thing will be content, but as most zines don't come out monthly/weekly etc, I think I could do it. I don't want to make it the same as this blog though. Again, will keep you posted on it's progress!
oh and I've tried to get involved in LadyfestTen (the london one) by taking part in Wears The Trouser's zine project (I wrote something about Joan Jett) and I made a postcard sized collage for the Ladyfest Ten postcard project, I just have to send it now!
here's a pic of it- it was based on the theme of "X"
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Pigtails Playlist for this week
Siouxie- Loveless
You Say Party- Monster
Goldfrapp- Happiness
Emilie Autumn- Juliet
Blood Red Shoes- I Wish I Was Someone Better
Bif Naked- I Want
Soho Dolls- Trash The Rental
Suzanne Vega- Blood Makes Noise
Meredith Brooks- Bitch
Blondie- One Way or Another
The Go! Team- Bottle Rocket
Bjork- Declare Independence
Lunachicks- Binge and Purge
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Rich
The Cardigans- Marvel Hill
Lykke Li- Possibility
Portishead- Numb
The Birthday Massacre- Blue
Paramore- All We Know
Drive it Like You Stole It- Str8 (unsigned)
Driver- Change Your Ways (unsigned)
Bittybox- La La Land (unsigned artist of month)
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts- I Hate Myself For Loving You
Suzi Quatro- Can the Can
Horrorpops- Walk Like a Zombie
KT Tunstall- Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
Rasputina- Wish You Were Here
Sunday, 19 September 2010
The Runaways Film
Being such a fangirl, it must have been at least a year ago that I heard that there was a film being made about one of the first all girl rock bands. I couldn't wait for it to come out in the UK, especially when I heard that Joan Jett was really impressed with it and how pleased she was with Kirsten Stewart's portrayal of her younger self. That was pretty much a stamp of approval in itself, as not being a fan of the Twilight films (sorry but I don't think vampires should be glittery- as well as other issues I have with those films I won't go into here) I wasn't really sure about that particular actress playing my all time idol.
It seemed to be bloody ages before it finally got released in the UK, it was originally meant to be out in August, and that turned into September, and for some silly reason it isn't showing in my hometown of Southend's cinema (it's in it's second week of release now) so we had to go to the nearest cinema showing it which was in Basildon. There was no way I was going to miss this film! When we intitally planned to go we couldn't go, but luckily we managed to be able to see it a few days later.
Well, not that it's really that much of a surprise at all, but I absolutely loved it. Sometimes when you think you're going to really like something, it sometimes sets you up for disappointment but I was NOT disappointed.
The film got my interest straight away, in the first scene you see Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie, get her first period! How often do you see something as taboo as periods shown so explictly in a film???
Anyway, the film goes on to show the story of how The Runaways got together, and the success they had with manager Kim Fowley, before the rock n roll lifestyle eventually ended them. The film deals with drug addiction, problem families, and sexual experimentation as well as what it was like at the time to be a girl and want to play rock n roll music. One of my favourite scene's was Joan Jett going to a guitar lesson and being told she couldn't play electric guitar, but she plugs the guitar into the amp anyway!
All the characters in the film are portrayed very well, and I was very impressed with Kirsten Stewarts Joan Jett. If you compare the film star's version of the japan live performance of "Cherry Bomb" it is almost spot on to the original, I will post both versions at the end of this blog for your comparison.
My only real criticism was at the end credits, when explaining what happened to each member, they didn't say what happened to all of them, only a few, and I feel there should have been a dedication to Sandy West, who sadly passed in 2006 due to lung cancer (RIP). But other than that, I found the film inspiring, and exciting, hoping that the film will lead more people to hear their music, and then look into Joan Jett's music, and beyond. If it's possible, I like Joan Jett even more, her and the other members of the band really were amazing, wish I had actually been able to see them when they were around! But at least Miss Jett is still very much into her rock n roll, and never stops touring (although not in the UK enough- so if anyone to do with her is reading this- COME TO THE UK MORE!!!) and also Lita Ford has forged a pretty impressive career too.
The original Cherry Bomb performance
the film version
Current Playlist
Thomas Tantrum- Shake it Shake it
Delain- Start Swimming
Kenickie- I Would Fix You
Chrome Hoof- Symbolic 180
Gramme- Like You
Wetdog- Evicted
Comaenchi- Naked
PJ Harvey- Snake
The Rayographs- Francis
Grace Jones- Pull Up to the Bumper
Dresden Dolls- Missed Me
Feist- My Moon My Man
Candie Payne- I Wish I Could Have Loved You More
No Doubt- Ex Girlfriend
Fates Fury – Freaks (unsigned)
Buried in Mexico- Down
Le Monnier- Save Yourself
Damone- What We Came Here For
Swan Island- Crumble
Girlschool- Take it All Away
Madonna- Vogue
Le Tigre- On The Verge
Ladytron- Destroy Everything You Touch
Santigold- Say Aha
Corrine Bailey Rae- Steady As She Goes
Saturday, 11 September 2010
Last weeks playlist and what you can currently hear
Go-Go’s -We Got The Beat
Pat Benatar -Love Is A Battlefield
The Pretenders -Back On The Chain Gang
Remi Nicole -Rock ‘n’ Roll
Sleater-Kinney -You’re No Rock N’ Roll Fun
Bif Naked -Ladybug Waltz
Call The Doctor -For Your Leisure
We Start Fires -Strut
The Runaways -Cherry Bomb
The Joy Formidable -Greyhounds In The Slips
Roxy Saint -Firecracker
Heart -Crazy On You
Fire Bug -Eyes Wide Open (unsigned)
Ten Tigers -82 (unsigned)
Le Monnier -No Power (unsigned artist of the month)
Jack Off Jill -My Cat
Babes In Toyland -Blood
Yeah Yeah Yeahs -Heads Will Roll
Client -Price Of Love
Tigerpicks -Disco Punk Electro Funk
Harry -Goddess On The Floor
Lauren Harris -Steal Your Fire
Blood Red Shoes -ADHD
Alannah Myles -Black Velvet
Amy Macdonald -Mr Rock &Amp; Roll
Morcheeba -World Looking In
Garbage -You Look So Fine
Heather Nova -Blood Of Me
Patti Smith -Smells Like Teen Spirit
Current Playlist
Jane Wiedlin -Rush Hour
Giant Drag -Pretty Little Neighbor
Land Of Talk -All My Friends
’til tuesday -Voices carry
Snake River Conspiracy -Casualty
Sneaker Pimps -6 Underground
Sahara Hotnights -Cheek To Cheek
The Dead Weather -I Cut Like A Buffalo
Robots In Disguise -The Sex Has Made Me Stupid
The Sounds -Running Out Of Turbo
Peaches -Boys Wanna Be Her
L7 -One More Thing
The Kills -Tape Song
Tori Amos -Cornflake Girl
Hole -Doll Parts
Keira May -Pins And Makeup (unsigned)
Dirty Love -Baby You Suck (unsigned)
Le Monnier -Kingyo (unsigned artist of the month)
Alanis Morissette -Sister Blister
The Slits -Newtown
Alisha’s Attic -Stone In My Shoe
Fleetwood Mac -Seven Wonders
The Pierces -Boring
Bangles -Walk Like An Egyptian
New Young Pony Club -Ice Cream
Sixpence None The Richer -There She Goes
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Offset Festival 2010
Last year we went in our friend's Dave's car but this year we had to travel down ourselves, so we met our friend Will outside Westcliff station at about 11.30am on saturday, for some silly reason there was no one at the ticket gate so we couldn't buy a ticket from real person, one of the machines was broken and you couldn't see it really as the sunlight was beaming on it, and then we went round to the other side to the other machine that wasn't taking notes! Eventually after much running about we finally managed to get tickets to Upminister, which according to the Offset website was meant to have a shuttle bus to the site, but when we enquired with the train staff, they told us there wasn't one and we weren't the first ones to ask. Apparently we would of had to get two buses from there to get to the site, so we waited for a train to Romford and then we could get a normal bus (again, no shuttle bus) to the site. We were very relieved once we finally got there about 2.30pm! (we live in essex and the journey should have been just under an hour in total) even if we did have to join a fairly lengthy queue to get out wristbands. Luckily Dave was nice enough to have taken some of our stuff in his car.
We met Dave and our other friend Paul once we got our wristbands and then found the campsite to find a spot to pitch our tents up. The campsite was already quite full but they were expanding it as more people were arriving, it was about double the size of last year, indicating ticket sales must have been better and they were also selling tickets on the door this year. We managed to find a nice spot just in the corner. We got all pitched up, helped Will set up as it was his first time camping at a festival then had the joy of inflating our air bed! Soon after RX Kitten arrived, she hadn't been able to come sooner as she had college that day.
When we had a look at the arena we could see straight away that there was a bit more going on this year. There was a small fair this year, we didn't actually end up going on any of the rides, but at least there actually was this time, as they promised one last year and there wasn't! There was also cash points this time, and a special security van where you could store stuff or charge your phone, we didn't personally use it, but I thought it was a good idea. There was several clothes stalls including the vintage clothes tent again, this year I got a pretty necklace from there, it's silver and has a heart charm that says "You Rock and Roll" on it which cost me £5. I saw a gorgeous dress that had guitars all over it but it was £40 :( There was a stall selling Offset merchandise (we got a program from there, but they also had t shirts and bags) and another one that was selling some of the band's music and merchandise.
There was a selection of food stalls but we spent all eating time at one that was called The Wide Awake Cafe which we discovered all their food was vegan- including cheese and everything! We sampled Chili, Pasta, hot dogs, sausage sandwiches, and best of all a full vegan cooked breakfast on Sunday morning :)
Anyway, Saturday. The first band we saw was on the Loud and Quiet stage called Teeth!!! fronted by a slightly mental Japanese female singer, they were electro/punk/noise and fun to dance to.
We hung around as we wanted to see the next band on this stage, who had a interesting write up in the program comparing them to Bikini Kill and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This band was Comanechi another band that was fronted by a mental japanese woman. She was not only the singer, but also the drummer. She was awesome, the epitome of a riot grrrl. There was a small mosh pit and the security was being really over the top. The slightest movement and they were going in to tell people off but really they were just making it worse, at one point the singer/drummer was telling them to get out the way (they were standing right in the middle of the stage at one point) so she could see her fans, and she got the crowd to start putting their middle fingers up at them! At another point she was drinking straight vodka and then she gave it to someone in the audience. This band was truly the highlight of my weekend, it was very much modern day riot grrrl, I felt this may be the closest I'll ever be to what it was like to see Bikini Kill. Expect to be hearing a lot more of this band on my show soon!
The last band we saw on Saturday was Thomas Tantrum, I thought they were quite good musically but weren't anything special live really, but then again I had witnessed some really amazing bands that day so it was hard for them to compare to them!
We didn't do much else that night really, we did have a boogie in the dance tent at some point and a brief walk in the woods.
Sunday morning we went to the petting zoo type thing that was just across from the forest and got to stroke horses and goats, and look at chickens, donkeys and rabbits. The conditions were by no means perfect, but it was nice to be able to do something like that.
The first band we saw was Wet Dog on the main stage, they were pretty good although to be honest I think either being on a smaller stage or at a later time of day would have been better as there wasn't much energy. as they were first on, most people were just sitting chilling out to it.
The second band we saw on Sunday was Blue on Blue unfortanely as I had so little sleep I couldn't really enjoy them properly but I did really like them, and there was some speculation, which I've now discovered is correct- is the female vocalist was indeed the same vocalist of a band that played last year- who I enjoyed but sadly split up An Experiment on A Bird in the Air Pump
Went back to the tent for a while to attempt to get a bit of sleep, I still couldn't manage so just decided to start drinking instead! When we got back up, we went to see
Chrome Hoof as Rx Kitten had told us how awesome they were. She wasn't wrong! (not she ever is ;) ) there was about 10 of them, and they play a blend of metal and disco and somehow make a very interesting and entertaining noise! also an amazing stage presence, dressed in silver and black outfits, with the lead vocalist like a vampire Grace Jones.
The next band we saw was Anna Calvi there wasn't much of a crowd for the band but they were contending with These New Puritans on the main stage. I did quite enjoy them but again, there was no atmosphere, I'm sure this band will get bigger though...
We decided take a quick peek in the Offset Presents tent as I had a funny feeling I recognized the name The Rayographs as soon as I saw them, i remembered i think I had them on MySpace when I actually bothered to use it. I only saw a small glimpse of them but that small bit sounded great, I saw a review elsewhere giving them a glowing verdict so kinda disappointed I missed most of it now!
Anyway we wanted to have more drink at the tent (rather than paying for alcohol in the arena, as you couldn't bring it in with you) so we did that for a bit before going to the arena again. We saw a bit of Caribou (the first band we watched all weekend that wasn't female fronted)! who were quite good, wasn't too impressed with the vocals though, I preferred the instrumentals!
Even though I had heard of them, I had no idea what Atari Teenage Riot sounded like, and everyone kept going on about how great they are so had to see a bit of them. Well my apologies to the legions of fans, but I don't get it? It sounded like just a lot of noise to me, like drum and bass music with shouting over the top or something. I really didn't like it!
We wandered off and watched Gramme who were dancey fun and I loved that the lead singer didn't really fit into the traditional mould of female singer and she looked like she was having a great time!
Well that was it for another year, what great time, can't wait for next year, heres some videos of the bands-
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna represents everything great about females in music- she's a feminist, a zine writer, a big part of the Riot Grrl scene (whether she believes so or not, she did write a riot grrrl manifesto) and also created some of the best female fronted music there is from her shouty punk riot grrl noise with Bikini Kill, to the feminist electro of Le Tigre and her solo project Julie Ruin.
She was brought up as a feminist from a young child, and has been involved in plenty of activism over the years, she is a icon in the riot grrl scene, it's such a shame that she is still not exactly a household name.
I wish I had been into Bikini Kill and Le Tigre when they were out instead of crappy pop like Spice Girls but at least I found them eventually. I really hope that a lot of young girls who now are more likely to be inspired by the likes of Lady Gaga and Cheryl Cole will eventually scratch a little deeper beneath the surface, like I did, and discover bands like Bikini Kill, and maybe even be inspired to pick up an instrument themselves, or write something, or take part in a march. There are still bands with the riot grrl ethos, they are just in the background of this never ending merry go round of X Factor style shows and manufactured pop bands. I am so glad that women like Kathleen and Joan still continue to inspire women in so many ways.
Since I'm mentioning it, I can't go, but if you can still get a ticket you should go along to Ladyfest Ten fundraiser "More Crackers Please- a Le Tigre themed benefit" on Sunday 29th August. Tickets are £9, it's taking lace at Bethnal Green Library in London, they will be showing a very special preview screening of the forthcoming Le Tigre documentary DVD(which isn't even finished yet) as well as giving people an opportunity sing, dance and be filmed for our karaoke music video of the Le Tigre song Keep On Livin', for submission to the band's contest, which you can find details of if you visit Kathleen's blog which you can find the link to on my side bar.
I'll leave you with some Kathleen Hanna flavoured videos to wet your appetite...
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Cover Versions
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
girlVIRUS UK and International
I've wrote about the rather lovely Catherine Elmsbefore but if you haven't checked out already then please do so- especially if you like artists like Tori Amos and Amanda Palmer, as her music really is beautiful and she's just been recording her full length album in a Leeds studio.
Anyway I digress..
Catherine has just made herself even more lovely by setting up girlVIRUS UK now to be honest I somehow bypassed girlVIRUS but I think I vaguely remember being in touch with it's creator Clementine Cannibal via MySpace a few years back. But since then I have got more and more into feminism, and the whole politics of the riot grrrl scene, I feel more knowledgeable than I did back then when it was mostly about the music. It's about more than the music now, I've been on a feminist march, I'm attempting (although very slowly) to set up Southend Fawcett Society and gotten into debates on facebook and twitter.
So now, I'm happy that Catherine has pointed me in the direction of girlVIRUS as it sums up exactly how I feel, it's about liberating women, not only to be equal but to be creative, to make music, to make zines, TO MAKE A MARK ON THE WORLD.
I hope that I am spreading girlVIRUS vibes through Pigtails and Army Boots, and other ways eventually.
Anyway, go join the group if you're on facebook or check out the details on Clementine's blog(linked above) and download flyers to spread the grrrl love!
Monday, 26 July 2010
Ch-Ch-Changes!!!
Basically I am going to stop doing New Music New Talent, I am aware that many people enjoyed this show and I enjoyed doing too, but I feel like I have achieved what I wanted to do with that particular show now and it's now the time to dedicate all my energy into the show I truly feel passionate about and that is of course Pigtails and Army Boots. It's the first show I started doing and my passion has never waned, if anything my passion for female fronted music has increased ten fold since I started doing the show.
I will still be doing New Music New Talent and Pigtails the way they are for the next 4 weeks, but afterwards Pigtails and Army Boots will have some slight changes, still of course playing the best in female fronted music but I will be adding 3 unsigned/indie label bands a week with one of them being "unsigned artist of the month" and also a weekly event guide which will include gigs by both signed and unsigned artists, as well as feminist and female friendly events.
I also hope to do more interviews not just with musicians but with females in other areas of the music industry and media, anything that may be inspiring to women!
I hope you will enjoy the changes!
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Amanda Palmer
another blog, another awesome female artist
who else but Amanda Palmer!
I'd known sort of about her for quite some time, as my best friend was a big fan of the Dresden Dolls and done me copies of their albums over the years but it wasn't until about two years ago that I really started to appreciate her sheer awesomeness.
She had not long released her superb solo album "Who Killed Amanda Palmer?" which I had heard a few songs from and liked, another of my best friends convinced me to come to the KOKO in Camden to see her live.
Well that night I fell in love..
it was an amazing show, she had a theatre company called "The Danger Assemble" with her who performed alongside her songs, she even had the fantastic writer Neil Gaiman (who she is now engaged to) play tambourine on the brilliant song "Oasis" and she also did a few Dresden Dolls songs and generally it was a fab night, we went to a good club night afterwards too.
I was so happy and positive about the gig that I actually went out and bought the album the following day and now when I go out djing, it's a permanent fixture :)
I was lucky enough to see her again last year and the gig was totally different, still amazing but a much more stripped down show, just Amanda and a piano for most of it.
But AFP is about more than her live shows, I've never known someone like her to have such a bond with her fans too. She updates her Twitter regularly and talks to fans personally through it as well as on her blog she's even been known to find places to crash at via her Twitter :)
She had some problems with her record label, specifically to do with the video for "Leeds United" apparently they thought in some shots, she looked too fat, so to show their support, fans took photos of their bellies and wrote messages on them and I believe a book was even published!
Miss Palmer has since been dropped by Roadrunner Records and she celebrated by releasing a pay what you like song "Do You Swear to Tell the Truth..." and a couple of days ago she has just released via her website her first independent EP "Amanda Palmer performs the popular hits of Radiohead on her Magical Ukulele" which the minimum you need to pay for it is 84cents which is a percentage going to Radiohead for the use of their songs and some to cover paypal fees. I highly suggest you go download it! <3
Oh,and one last fairly important thing, it was also partly down to her that I decided to learn to play the uke!
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Robots in Disguise
I don't think they are very mainstream well known but they do seem to have a bit of a cult following, mainly because of their connection with the also fabulous Mighty Boosh The two front women are Sue Denim and Dee Plume (who I believe is still the girlfriend of Noel Fielding)with their female drummer Gemma Hill. Their music is a blend of electro, rock and pop and they have an unique sense of style with their latest passion being blue lipstick! (you can even buy Robot Blue lipstick by Barry M and get this necklace)
I've been lucky enough to see them live three times now, including once right here in Southend and everytime has been like one big party. They more often than not, let the fans come up on stage at the end, I'm yet to join in but certainly hope to sometime!
They seem to mainly appeal to young girls, there are certainly some feminist messages in their songs.
They had problems with money when it came to recording their fourth album so used the great site PledgeMusic to get their fans to help them make enough money to record it in return depending on how much you donated you could get a gift in return- I look forward to receiving my signed copy of the new album when it's out!
I guess the best way to show you how great they are is via YouTube videos (and their videos are excellent) so here are some:
My favourite song is GIRL (listen to the lyrics)!
The Sex has Made Me Stupid
Turn It Up
Wake Up
The DJ's Got a Gun
Saturday, 17 July 2010
Returning
have you missed me?
The shows will be back on air as from this Thursday, I've just planned an awesome Pigtails and Army Boots featuring the likes of Florence and the Machine, Portishead, Robots in Disguise and Tori Amos so make sure you tune in!
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Writing blog
this blog will be just for music related posts!
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Radio Break
Thursday, 1 July 2010
This weeks playlists- what you can hear this week
Monday, 28 June 2010
New Discovery: Firebug
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
This weeks playlists- what you can hear this week
Jets Overhead - Seemets Overhead - Seems So Far
Honey Honey - Black Crows
The Subway Strippers - Jimmy Blacksheep
Saint Joan - Satellites
Echo Jet - Wave
YoungHeartsLightsFires - Just So You Know
The Sibleys - Black Kawasaki
Joanna Newsom - Bridges And Balloons
Anxiety - Clubs
In Love and War - With War in Our Hearts
Rattlesnake Remedy - Black Sheep Fiddle
Stained Illusion - Drug
An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump - 100%
Slow Club - Because We're Dead
Ruby Isle - Into the Black
We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices
Going Home - Act 7, Scene 8
The Ettes - No Home
The Limousines - Very Busy People
Alaska In Winter - Close Your Eyes, We Are Blind
Whiskey Blu - Colour me Blu
Tessmarka - Committed
One EskimO - Hometime
Excuse Me Miss - Dance Like A Monkey
Blackchords - At World’s End
Adrian Orange And Her Band - You're My Homes So FarPigtails and Army Boots
Sohodolls - Stripper
LoneLady - Cattletears
Pat Benatar - Heartbreaker
Daisy Chainsaw - The Future Free
Sleater-Kinney - One Beat
Tilly and The Wall - Pictures of Houses
The Suffrajets - Worthy
Joan Jett - Fetish
The Pipettes - Dirty Mind
Paramore - Crushcrushcrush
Dirty Fuzz - Love's A Gun
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Happy House
Metric - Gold Guns Girls
Jane Wiedlin - Rush Hour
Jennifer Paige - Crush
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Dancing In The Street
Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko
Portishead - Machine Gun
My Brightest Diamond - Nature Boy
Martha & The Muffins - Echo Beach
CRYSTAL CASTLES VS. HEALTH - Crimewave
Echobelly - Great Things
Skunk Anansie - Selling Jesus
Bangles - Manic Monday
Evanescence - Bring Me To Life
The Raveonettes - Beat City
Feist - Sealion
Lily Allen - Oh My God (Kaiser Chief's Cover)