Ladyfest Ten Saturday 13th November

Hey,
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 Ting Tings- We Walk
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

This week's playlist

Alanis Morissette- Sister Blister
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

Blogging

Apologies if this blog has been a bit boring lately with just my playlists, I am currently taking part in national novel writing month so I have been dedicating my time to that this month. I did go to a very awesome gig recently that I'm dying to tell you about, but I have reviewed it for the amazing The F Word so I'm hoping they will use it, so will let you know if they do!

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

Meredith Brooks- Bitch
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)

This week's playlist

Bow Wow Wow- Go Wild in the Country
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