Joan Jett!

I was just going to post about the latest good but also kind of bad news that Joan Jett and The Blackhearts are touring with Greenday this year. Good, because she'll be in the UK, and with another band I like, but bad because it's £50 a ticket which is way too steep for me, for only like half hour of Joan Jett (who is my favourite female singer) and an hour and a half of Greenday, who I like but nowhere near as much! However, if you can afford to go, then you defintley should as I saw them supporting Alice Cooper a couple of years again and they were amazing! It was just not long enough set for me!

I realised I haven't actually done a blog on here about Joan Jett before so why not now?
Not only does Joan Jett rock the guitar and have a great voice, she is also vegan and compassionate about animals and the environment, oh and did I mention she also supports gay rights? She was also one of the founding members of one of the first all female rock n roll bands- The Runaways.

Not long ago, a Runaways film came out in America starring Kirsten Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. I'm really hoping it comes out here, as it sounds really good.

Oh I also forgot to mention she's worked with some other pretty awesome women including Peaches and Kathleen Hanna
There is no end to this woman's awesomeness!

For those you uneducated in the brilliance that is Joan Jett and the Blackhearts music, or for those of you with a mutual admiration here are some of her songs for you to enjoy (If you're reading this on facebook the video links won't show- so click on "view original post" to see the videos)

with the runaways- one of my top songs ever- Cherry Bomb



Bad Reputation (I'm trying to learn this on Uke)!


An epic cover of Crimson and Clover


AC/DC


Fetish


You Love it With Peaches

This week on the shows

New Music New Talent

Manchester Orchestra - I've Got Friends
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Everything With You
The Fuse - The Fuse- Paint This Town
Isaac's Aircraft - Friends & Foes
The Ropes - Water and Headphones
Something Beginning With L - Overcoat
Blameshift - War Within
The Nervous Shakedown - Come With Me
In Love and War - With War in Our Hearts
Left With Pictures - 1, 2, 3... Go!
Sour Apple - With The Lights Out
The Benwahs - Keep Me On
Dirty Penny - In Luv With Insanity
7 Shot Screamers - Love Always, Charlie
Hovercraft Pirates - Always Free
Drugdealer Cheerleader - I don't Wanna Go To School
Last Superheroes - The Last Superheroes
Strike the Colours - Breathing Exercise
The Jealous Girlfriends - Something In The Water
Sierra Alpha - Superhero
Steepwater Band - All The Way To Nowhere
Slummin Angels - Dancing Without You
Kite Flying Society - Love & Seagulls
Make Believe - Pat Tillman, Emmitt Till
The Kiara Elles - Supergroupie
The High Water Marks - Polar
Licorice Roots - Sunchilde
Lovedrug - Casino Clouds


Pigtails and Army Boots

Ace Of Base - Don't Turn Around
Flyleaf - All Around Me
La Roux - Bulletproof
Sugarcoma - What Goes Around
Chicks On Speed - For All The Boys In The World
Scarling - Band Aid Covers The Bullet Hole
Donna Summer - Hot Stuff
CRYSTAL CASTLES VS. HEALTH - Crimewave
Garbage - Special
Mary Timony Band - Summer's Fawn
Alanis Morissette - Thank You
Kelly Osbourne - Coolhead
M.I.A. - Galang (Serj Tankian Remix - Clean)
Sohodolls - I'm Not Cool
Tiny Masters Of Today - Hologram World
Alisha's Attic - Alisha Rules The World
X-Ray Spex - The Day The World Turned Day-Glo
Hole - Celebrity Skin
Charlotte Hatherley - I Want You To Know
Paula Cole - I Don't Want To Wait
Toyah - I Want To Be Free
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have Fun
Yes Miss, No Miss - Taking Over
Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy
Bananarama - Cruel Summer
Little Jackie - The World Should Revolve Around Me
Lisa Stansfield - All Around The World
Leftover Lucy - Drowning Effect
Marianne Faithfull - The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan
Rasputina - Tourniquet

Chinnerys and Ukeleles!

I completely bypassed the fact that the last two saturdays I've been at my local music venue "Chinnerys" to see specific bands and I haven't wrote anything about it!

Okay, well the first gig was actually the day after the RID gig and also my first day of my current sponsored detox for Brooke Animal Hospital (I'm 13 days in now, if you want to donate, just click on my justgiving donate button on the side of the page- even £1 helps)! so I was very tired and couldn't even pep myself up with a coffee, but I didn't want to miss the gig as Wendy Solomon was playing.

I first knew about Wendy Solomon when I saw her perform at the Kursaal Vaudeville last year (the gig when I djed at a silent disco- I so want to do that again)! and I thought she was awesome, quirky and played the uke really well despite losing her g string! ;) anyway, last summer thanks in part to Wendy, and some other artists I saw during the Southend Fringe as well as of course- Amanda Palmer, I started getting really interested in ukelele, so much so by the autumn I had bought myself one and decided to try and teach myself how to play. It's been a while now since I got it, and it's the first instrument I've ever tried that I've actually had patience with, even though I'm still not great at it, I'm practising every day and learning all the time. I have managed to teach myself "Creep" by Radiohead and "That's Not My Name" by the Ting Tings! I have a uke book that I play songs from every day, I'm just very slow at most things still so am better with songs with not too many chords.

I know I'm straying away from the original topic but I will get back to it I promise!
Just last month I found out that a Southend Uke Group was being set up, a group for all abilities to meet up with like minded people and learn from each other. So I went along to the first meeting and really enjoyed myself- we all had a go and playing "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash and a couple of other fairly simple songs, I wasn't as fast as a lot of the others, but I didn't feel uncomfortable and I didn't feel pressurised so I am looking forward to going to the next one in May.

Anyway, Wendy Solomon. Thanks to my growing love for all things ukelele, I got listening to Wendy's music some more, she actually emailed me a few months back out of the blue asking for her music to be played on the show. I actually had her as my Artist of the Month on New Music New talent this month, and if you haven't already caught this weeks show anywhere, you can hear an interview I done with her on the show.

So when I saw that she was playing at Chinnerys I knew I wanted to be there! sadly the crowds at chinnerys have seriously diminished, as when I used to go there it would be packed from the start, but now it's only packed if it's a fairly well known band or everyone just turns up for the main band and no one else so she didn't have much of a crowd, and the crowd that there was just hung back with no atmosphere at all.

However, Wendy seemed to deal with the slight coldness quite well and played through songs that are her forthcoming EP "All at Sea" which includes songs about sex pests, jealously and about the fact that her birthday (Jan 30th) was figured out by some people to be the worst day of the year! She also played some new songs including one about hairdressers.

If you want to check her out she's on myspace


Last week, it was to see my friends band who you would have read about on here before, Rounds. They were also first band on and had exactly the same type of crowd- not too many and not too much of an atmosphere- so it really doesn't matter what type of music you are. For those of you who don't know Rounds, Rounds are more electro/indie. They played some new tracks at this gig which sounded great, everytime I see them they sound more and more like an electro muse or radiohead!
you can check them out on myspace and also download their music for free herer

This week!

New Music New Talent

Sarah Rocks- Vaporlove
Taken By Trees - Lost And Found
Broken Rail - Should've Been Me
The Domes of Silence - Lost Weekend
Ten Tigers - Super Lucky
Lost Harbours - Springs Fire
Annabel Durnford - A Lost Sailing Boat
Brigante - Peggy Lee
Prints - Easy Magic
Piano Magic - Incurable
Monahans - Undiscovered
The Fleiss - A Wall Street Toy
The Ettes - No Home
Fake Elegance - Beautiful Morning
Pants Yell! - Tried To Be Good
Wendy Morgan - Crying Out
The Answering Machine - Silent Hotels
The Riots - Dead End Jobs
INTERVIEW WITH WENDY SOLOMON
Wendy Solomon- Happy Birthday
apple rabbits - Everyone Sleeps mix
Thieves Like Us - Fear and Loathing
Mancini - Toybox
Caduseus - I Guess it's Goodbye


Pigtails

The Long Blondes - Seperated By Motorways
Tori Amos - Caught a Light Sneeze
Blood Red Shoes - Count Me Out
Be Your Own Pet - October, First Account
The Cardigans - War [First Try]
The Electrocutes - Doombuggy
Tegan & Sara - Relief Next To Me
Goldfrapp - Happiness
Neneh Cherry - Woman
Le Tigre - Seconds
Daisy Chainsaw - Dog With Sharper Teeth
Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog
Ministry Of Love - Life in Song
The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love
Juliette And The Licks - Sticky Honey
A Brokeheart Pro - Kitten Next Door
Operator Please - Two For My Seconds
Elastica - Connection
Evanescence - Bring Me To Life
L7 - Let's Lynch The Landlord
Bittybox - La La Land
Texas - In Our Lifetime
Spinnerette - The Walking Dead
Fever Ray - Triangle Walks (Radio Edit)
Katrina & The Waves - Walking On Sunshine
The Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian
Wallis Bird - LaLa Land
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin'
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts - I Wanna Be Your Dog

Robots in Disguise at Kings College, London Fri 9th April 2010

Last Friday Mike and I went to see Robots in Disguise, this was my third time seeing them and Mike's second.

As it was on a Friday I had work during the day so was a bit of rush to get the train, but we managed to get it just after 5pm. We hadn't had any dinner yet so when we got to Liverpool Street the first priority was to grab some food, so we grabbed some falafel and though we'd get something more when we got off the tube. We had to get off at Temple tube station and when we got there we realised it was a town without any chippys or any food type shops really, all we could see was a restaurant on a boat (the area is by the coast) and we didn't really have time for that! Then we thought the venue might have food, at first we weren't too sure where it was, but it turned out to be about a 5 minute walk from the tube station, unfortanely they didn't serve food either, so we had to go without after already drinking a fairly large amount of vodka, and of course getting more in the venue (which is the most reasonably priced venue in London I've ever been to drinks wise- for a smirnoff ice and a southern comfort and lemonade it was only £6- and you can pay by card- good but dangerous)!

Anyway onto the gig itself, we had missed the first support act but only had a short wait until the second one- called Scream Club. It was quite nice, as despite it being a very small venue there was a space with chairs and tables which we managed to sit down in through them, which I'm very glad about, as neither of us were very impressed. They were two girls in very loud black and white stripy outfits that played extremely cheesy electro- actually it was more like Euro Disco- they had cheesy dance moves and raps to every song- and extremely witty lyrics like "What time is it? Party time!" The only positive thing about them really was that they were openly gay. I'm very open minded about support acts, but this one really was disappointing.

Luckily there wasn't too much of a wait before we went to the front to watch Robots in Disguise, and as always they didn't disappoint. They had 2 robots on the stage with them- or "giant lipsticks" as they described them. I can't find the set list anywhere so can't remember what they started with but they played a mix of old tracks- The Sex Has Made Me Stupid,(complete with the music video playing behind them, most of the time it had psychadelic patterns on the screen) Turn it Up, I'm Hit, and I was really happy that they played Girl. They also played some tracks off the upcoming album, which sounded awesome, I'm very glad that they reached their donation target so they can make it- I made a donation myself- can't wait to get my signed copy of the new album! They finished by playing "La Nuit" inviting loads of people up onto the stage with them!

Of course there had to be an encore- they played She's a Colour Scientist, Don't Copy Me and their new single "Wake up" with Scream Club.

Basically I'd say if you have never seen them live or you haven't even heard of them, then you should go and check them out especially if you like some riot grrrl style electro in the vein of Le Tigre!

You can see some photos on my facebook page, but in the meantime here's the video to "Girl" that I found on Youtube from the actual gig- yay!

This week's playlists- what to listen out for!

New Music New Talent

Say Hi To Your Mom - These Fangs
Daylights For The Birds - Worlds Away
Juke - Anytown
JENNIFER JUSTICE AND THE TRILOGYSUN - RESIDENT FREQUENCY
The Wallbirds - Lying At The Side Of You (Radio Mix)
Let's Go Sailing - Sideways
This Moment In Black History - Garbage In Garbage Out
Low Line Caller - its like i think were about to leave
Lower Class Brats - Go Insane
The Kut - Doesn't Matter Anyway
Solitary Blossom - Hollow
The Ruskins - Slow Down Jessica
Polly and the Billets Doux - Follow My Feet
Slow Club - Because We're Dead
The Fancy Toys - Gypsy Eyes
Riverboat Gamblers - Don't Bury Me... I'm Still Not Dead
586 - We Got Bored
Guttercat and the Milkmen - Lonely tears in the Night
Voodoo Johnson - Blow me Away
Kennedy's Running For President - Meeting Strangers
RedTrack - Inside (Radio Edit)
Jessica Allyn - Mother Goddamn [B-Side Single Version]
In This Moment - Beautiful Tragedy
Catherine Anne Davies - Unravel (Paul Draper version)
Green Milk From The Planet Orange - Concrete City Breakdown
Filthy Cat - Hit
Ten Ten-Tackles - Death Certificate
Catherine Elms - Drowning

Pigtails and Army Boots
Noisettes - Never Forget You
Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles - Do It For Free (Radio Mix 1)
Florence & The Machine - Kiss With A Fist
Liz Phair - Never Said
Polly Scattergood - Other Too Endless (Single Version)
HorrorPops - Undefeated
Paloma Faith - Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?
Blondie - Atomic
The Sounds - Song With A Mission
The Kills - Tape Song
The Birthday Massacre - Blue
In Love and War - Drama of Defeat
Madonna - Secret
Wendy Solomon - Happy Hour Final Mix
Working Class Heroes - When You Finally Stop Prentending
Drive It Like You Stole It - Str8
Melissa Auf Der Maur - Follow The Map
The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother
Argon 40 - When the Words Don't Come
Siouxsie - Here Comes That Day
JENNIFER JUSTICE AND THE TRILOGYSUN - THE FINAL STAND
Lucid Nation - Kindred
Marnie Stern - Every Single Line Means Something
Jesca Hoop - Intelligentactile 101
Jessica Allyn - Mother Goddamn [B-Side Single Version]
Patti Smith Group - Privilege (Set Me Free)
Ann Wilson - Immigrant Song

How long have you been a vegan?

ooh feels like forever, I'm not sure of the exact date anymore, but I think it's about 3 years now.

Ask me anything

This week on the shows

Pigtails and Army Boots

M.I.A. - Galang (Serj Tankian Remix - Clean)
Le Tigre - Friendship Station
CRYSTAL CASTLES VS. HEALTH - Crimewave
Betty Power - New Best Friend
Guano Apes - Mine All Mine
The Donnas - Save Me
Camera Obscura - The Sweetest Thing
The Dollyrots - My Best Friend's Hot
Robots In Disguise - She's A Colour Scientist
Heather Nova - Make You Mine
Juliette And The Licks - Shelter Your Needs
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
The Go! Team - Friendship Update
Garbage - Queer
Babes In Toyland - Knife Song
Marina and The Diamonds - I Am Not a Robot (radio edit)
La Roux - In For The Kill (Radio Edit)
Jack Off Jill - My Cat
Shonen Knife - I Am A Cat
The Long Blondes - Here Comes The Serious Bit
The Runaways - School Days
My Brightest Diamond - We Were Sparkling
Lenka - Trouble Is A Friend
No Doubt - Ex-Girlfriend
Le Monnier - Save Yourself
Peaches - Boys Wanna Be Her
Catherine Elms - I Should
The Raveonettes - My Boyfriend's Back

New Music New talent

Plus Minus - Steal The Blueprints
Art Of Rebellion - Epic (part 1)
Amberline - Promise
Angelus - Give Me A Reason
Even More Vast - LOVE WILL TEAR US APART
Rounds - A Party on the Beach
Smut Peddlers - Rebatron Party
The Fancy Dress Party - Bookmarks
Greg Kiss & The Feral Cats - I Said Goodbye
Alternative Champs - Monkey Boy
Bittybox - Smalltime
DaylightSaving - Rain
Hoodoo Fifties - Time
femmepop - good
Penny Broadhurst - Chemist Goods
Mouse Fire - Feel Good Dog
Two Choices - Angels
Nouveau Glam - The Long Goodbye (High)
The Honeydrips - (Lack Of) Love Will Tear Us Apart
Pornopop - Centre
A Brokeheart Pro - Sometimes Saviours End Up On Thier Knees
Jesca Hoop - Summertime
Wendy Solomon- Green Eyed Monster
The Assistants - This Time
Zen Motel - Real Good Time
The Union - Holy Roller (Demo)
Scissors For Lefty - Mama Your Boys Will Find A Home
Learning Polish - I bet that you look good

Le Monnier

I found out about this band thanks to my friend Emma, who has many contacts with the local music scene, she is currently organising the 2nd Southend Fringe Festival (which I've got an event at this year too)! and she occassionaly sends me music I might like as we have a mutual appreciation for female fronted bands.

With Le Monnier she forwarded me an email she had got from them, wanting to play Southend Fringe this year with the various links to listen to their music, I'm always looking for more new music so I had a look at their page and was pretty impressed, so I emailed myself and they were kind enough to send me a few tracks I could play on my show.

On the intial email I recieved they were described as a fornication of James Hetfield and Cristina Scabbia. Even though there is defintley a metal influence in there they are much melodic than that.

"Cynic Sister" is a powerful track and reminds me of Jagged Little Pill era Alanis Morissette with a slightly heavier backing track.

"Black Dot" is again quite epic and powerful, very accessible metal.

"Your Greed" is a faster, heavier track with angsty vocals.

"Kingyo" the track I chose to play on my show is awesome, a great intro and builds up to a song that kicks you up the backside and makes you wonder why this band isn't well known yet.

All in all, I'm very glad that Emma sent me the original email as Le Monnier tick all the right boxes for me- an awesome female vocalist, epic punchy music and heavy without being over the top shouty.

You can check them out on their website
and also on MySpace their new album "Cynic Sister" is only £6.99 on Amazon, so go and buy it!