Review: Kate Nash- Girl Talk

Earlier this month, Kate Nash released her third album 'Girl Talk' which she released her on her own label 'Have 10p Records' with the help of fan funding using PledgeMusic.

I personally find Kate Nash inspiring. I liked the sweetness of her first record, it was almost like she was the less brash version of Lily Allen- a similar singing style and both capable of writing interesting lyrics, whilst Lily   sang about weed smoking brothers and enjoying seeing her ex boyfriend squirm, Kate was behind a piano, singing about the demise of a relationship, and about falling in lust with someone- but she wasn't the typical singer songwriter behind the piano, she was more cheerful, the songs were bouncy, catchy pop ditties like 'Foundations'



I have to admit despite enjoying 'Made of Bricks' I never got round to buying her second album 'My Best Friend is You' but in the interim I found out more about Kate Nash, the person behind the music. I found out that she proudly calls herself a feminist, started an after school club to help get more girls into song-writing when she found out the measly amount of females who received song writing loyalties as well as volunteering at a women's shelter, working with all girl band and female sound engineers.

Then last year, she released a new free to download song which sounded completely different to what she had previously recently, that caused quite a stir on the internet-


for me though, I loved it! I really felt it captured the riot grrrl spirit, and knowing she had also been playing in a punk band, I found the progression seemed to be a natural one for her, and when I heard she was releasing a new album, I was really looking forward to hearing how her music would develop.

Girl Talk didn't disappoint! I find it an intriguing mix of the more sweet, candy pop side of her with songs like '3am'


but then she goes much grungier and heavier on songs like 'Death Proof'


The album really shows the flexibililty of Kate's voice as well, one minute she's singing in harmony, then she's 'rock chick', on 'Cherry Pickin' she seems to be channelling Kathleen Hanna on an almost surf beat, and she even attempts rap on 'Rap For Rejection' which is surprisingly good.

I also love how she really shows her feminist colours on this album, in 'Rap for Rejection' she sings about sexism in all it's form and shapes, from men calling her a lesbian for refusing to give her phone number, to only finding the music magazines in the men's section of the news-stands. Then there's my personal favourite 'All Talk' where she sings 'You have a problem with me 'cause I'm a girl, I'm a feminist and if that offends you, then fuck you'.  But she also has songs about friendship, breaking up, and feeling like a freak. 

'Girl Talk' is a punk album with a feminist, female empowerment soul behind it, and lyrics that I'm sure most girls will relate to in some way. Highly recommended! 

2012- pretty darn good year for music, and well life!

Well only 2 days left of 2012 left, so the inevitable 'end of the year' blog is here!
Music wise, I think 2012 has been a pretty decent year for music, Patti Smith released a new album 'Banga', Gaggle released their debut album 'From the Mouth of the Cave', other favourites of mine were Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra- Theatre is Evil, The Corin Tucker Band- Kill my Blues and Garbage- Not Your Kind of People.
here my choices of 2012 on my end of the year special here

Gigs of 2012
Wild Flag
Robots in Disguise (and this year I got to interview them too)!
Ladyfest East London
Pigtails and Army Boots the live event! (organised by me- obviously)!
Garbage
Black Belles
We Rock Like Girls Don't
Bleech
Gaggle album launch party
Patti Smith
Amanda Palmer
Trash Monroe
Lovely Eggs
Hard Rock Hell

I wrote lots more reviews, and did my first interview in person (the RID one as previously mentioned)
feminism wise, I went to Million Women Rise for the third time and London Slutwalk for the first time and finally Southend Feminist Group is running, it's only small but hopefully 2013 it will get bigger! I also tok part in a Free Pussy Riot protest near the Russian embassy and have been supporting the campaign.

Other achievements/interesting stuff from 2012:  did the Moonlight Colourthon again, started going to Pagan Moots, organised another charity gig, went to the Doctor Who Experience, helped with a beach clean up, and most importantly moved house!

I think I achieved a lot this year but in 2013, I would like to actually get paid for music journalism, to do some sort of volunteer work, to do more creative writing and finally finish editing my novel, to pass my dispensing course at work and go to even more pagan/spiritual events. I also think I should admit to my mistakes more!
How was your 2012?

The Women of Hard Rock Hell

Everyday I look at all the various music websites to find relevant information and bands for my show, and sometimes I'll enter competitions- if I think Miguel (my husband) or I would enjoy the prize. Earlier this year I entered a competition I think via Planet Rock to win tickets for Hard Rock Hell- a rock festival in Wales- I entered thinking of Miguel as I wasn't too familiar with the bands that had been announced on the line up but he knew he liked a few of them, as they were names I knew he had played on this radio show The Rock Experience.

Little did I know, but I actually won tickets! The prize was for 6 people, with reduced price accommodation for all the nights. It turned out to be quite difficult to get other people to take the spare tickets due to either not being interested in the bands or various other commitments. In the end I got two other people to join us, one of them a friend of mine from my local Animal Aid group who has been a few times before and was also happy to drive us up there as long as we were happy to contribute to petrol costs. We were lucky enough to only pay £100 each for the four nights on site.

I had no idea what accommodation we would get, or what it would be like, especially as my friend Maria was telling me that the accommodation on a previous year was really bad, but they had actually changed camp site from previous years. As it turned out, we were lucky enough to have a chalet as opposed to a caravan and it turned out to be pretty nice- it had heating in all the rooms, a shower, and a basic but workable kitchen- for us it was amazing as the only festivals we'd been to in the past have been camping- so this was real luxury! The site was at a Havens - the Hafan Y Mor site in North Wales. It took us forever to get there- probably about 7 hours- and the tiny roads in the mountains looked rather intimidating in the dark! It really felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. The site happened to be right near the beach, it was a short walk to a fantastic view of the sea (with Snowdonia in the backdrop)! and fields full of sheep right next to it!

the kitchen in the chalet

view of the sea and mountains

sheep!

The actual campsite was fairly large with plenty of chalets and caravans available, but it was only a short walk for us to get to the main festival location. There were two indoor stages right opposite from each other so you could easily go from one to the other. The first stage was pretty huge with just a few bars and a chippy and Burger King at the back. The second stage was also large but there was a 'metal market' in there also with loads of stalls with lots of things, like handmade jewellery  music, clothes and other bits and bobs and most of the prices were pretty reasonable too- I got some handmade earrings for £5 and also got given a African bloodstone by the lady running the stall who was a psychic wiccan. There were also more bars and just next door there was a Starbucks where they had some acoustic and signing sessions- we tried to watch one acoustic session but it was so small we couldn't get in. There was also a restaurant on site but each time we went there was no vegan food and on Sunday they didn't even have a vegetarian option. Luckily we had brought some of our own food along but we did have chips from the chip shop several times! There was also a few Spar shops so we could easily buy some groceries and basics if needed.

Anyway onto the music- from the perspective of my show this review/blog will be about the female side of the festival. I looked up all the bands before we left and made an effort to watch all the bands that I knew of which were female fronted.

Thursday night was the fancy dressed themed 'Gunslingers Ball' as we had travelled for so long we arrived quite late anyway, but there were no female fronted bands playing that day and the bands we saw were very 80's style cock rock and not very good. I was a bit worried this might mean I wouldn't enjoy the rest of the festival that much.

Friday was a different story. The first band we watched properly were Ajenda, an Irish band led by small pixie like Jen- but with an amazing rock Goddess like voice. Big riffs, melody you can dance to and a lively performance despite being on fairly early in the day.

Second female artist of the day was Dante Fox. Quite different from Ajenda, Dante Fox has more of an 80's AOR rock feel- a bit like the more commercial side of Heart. She seemed to have a few hardcore fans down the front with us but there were some hecklers- I felt like she coped well with it though- joking about being in a cold caravan, and also saying stuff like "you know I wrote these guys guitar riffs..." We got a drumstick and a copy of the setlist at the end too.

The final female fronted band and the final band of the day on Friday were Die So Fluid. Now I was vaguely familiar with the band enough to know I would like them- but watching them made me ashamed that I don't own any of their albums as I completely fell in love with their awesome slightly metal tinged hard rock and Grog's great voice. They were the absolute highlight of the weekend for me. The crowd went wild for them and it was great that was the case as they were competing with Sebastian Bach on the main stage.

Saturday we saw my second favourite of the weekend Domenica, who get an extra special shout out for having TWO girls in the band! For some reason I was expecting something along the lines of Doro- but I was totally wrong. More awesome hard rock with a tinge of grunge influence.

Second female fronted band of Saturday's line up were Spiders who are very much in the vein of 70's style rock in the same vein as Led Zeppelin. I wish I hadn't been feeling tired when they came on as their set was a bit short but really awesome and I think I could get to really like this band.

On Sunday, there was a line up change that I wasn't aware of, so sadly we only caught a small portion of the last song of The Amorettes, a Scottish all female band who sounded really great- very much like The Donnas- pure straight up rock n roll.

The final female fronted band of the weekend were Kobra and the Lotus who almost like Iron Maiden- if they had a female singer and were a bit heavier-yes they were very much metal. Funny enough they even played a cover of 'The Wicker Man'' by Iron Maiden. Even though I'm not too fond of metal myself, I found the singer incredibly likeable, she looked like she was having the best time on stage, throwing the horns right back at the crowd who loved her as much as she loved them.

There was also a performance group going around all weekend called Area 51, either on stilts with various costumes and some ladies who danced and could BREATHE FIRE!! When I saw these ladies come out in very little clothing during Bonafide, at first I thought it was all a bit rock n roll cliché but then when they started breathing fire I got a whole other level of respect for them!

Overall the festival was not as male dominated as I had expected it to be, there were rock fans of all ages and the gender divide was pretty even. The attitude was good too, there seemed to be no trouble at all and I always felt safe- even in the front row by the barrier. Some people may think it's a bit rubbish if there was no mosh pit, but for me I want to go to a gig and be able to dance without the fear of getting trod on or beaten up, everyone was having a great time dancing or head banging but it was all happy and not angry!

I suprised myself- it was the best festival I've ever been to- so well organised and friendly. All I would chane is the time of year it's on and to have vegan food available on the site. There were many other highlights like feeding the ducks in the pond, catching a Buckcherry pick and singing loudly to Ugly Kid Joe's "Everything About You" but for now I say Rock on and hopefully see you at the barrier next year Hard Rock Hell!

Majority of photos taken by Miguel :) 

Pigtails and Army Boots returns!

Just an update to let you know Pigtails and Army Boots will be back on the air from Monday 10th December over on Firebrand Rock Radio! The show will be going out every Monday night live from 8pm UK time.
So I'm now open again for you to send your new music for airplay, and/or reviews for the blog.
I always play two independent/unsigned bands in the show, as well as an unsigned/indie band for artist of the month- if you want to be considered for the coveted artist of the month slot, you will need to send at least 4 mp3's.
I also play a cover version at the end of each show, so if you have recorded any great covers, then also please send those over!
To be considered for airplay please send your track/s to pigtailsandarmyboots@gmail.com- in MP3 format please. If you're interested in having your album/ep/gig reviewed on this blog you can contact me on the same address.
Looking forward to bringing you more exciting female fronted music!

Awesome Bands: Trash Monroe

In my awesome bands post last week, I wrote about We Rock Like Girls Don't, a band although I've been interested in for a long time, I've only seen live recently.

Another awesome band who I've seen many times as they are a local band, and I've also had them play at two events I've organised, headlining one of them- the one time I've ever seen a local band be urged to play an encore- they were that good!

The band I'm talking about is the fantastic Southend based Trash Monroe. The band have garnered quite a reputation for their live shows as well as their music, and I really can't understand why this band are not well known yet!
It's quite hard to put into words what their music is like as it's a mix of several genres, so here's some videos for you to check out, my personal favourite song is 'Venus Envy'

Madonna

Last week I read this blog about a book called 'Madonna and Me-Women Writers on the Queen of pop- it's basically a book with various writers writing about the influence of Madonna and her music on their lives- there's positive and negative points of view- but I guess the main premise of the book is that for most women Madonna being the powerful musical icon she is, has had some sort of influence somewhere in their lives- I don't know many people that don't have any opinion on Madonna.

Anyway this got me thinking about Madonna and her influence on MY life. It would be wrong for me not to acknowledge Madonna, as she certainly has had a profound influence on my life and my taste in music as well.

I have often joked that I was probably dancing around in my mother's womb to Madonna's music- my mum listened to Madonna and the year I was born (1984) was the year her breakthrough album 'Like a Virgin' was released.

I remember as a little girl, back when I had vinyl (!) having many Madonna albums- her self title debut, Like a Virgin, True Blue and Like a Prayer- as well as the soundtracks to Dick Tracey and Who's That Girl? Now I remember distinctly that as well as Kylie Minogue, my Madonna albums were the most played records.

When the vinyl went, Madonna stayed- now there were tapes and cds- and now there were more 'grown up' albums 'Erotica' and 'Bedtime Stories.' Now I wanted to be like Madonna- there were many renditions in front of the mirror with a hairbrush- and at various times I wanted to copy her style- I loved how she changed her whole image with each album like a chameleon- I wanted to look how she did in the 'Like a Prayer' video, and for a while I really wanted to copy her punky style that she had back in the 80's- lots of bangles and crucifix necklaces.

The final album I loved her for was 'Ray of Light' in 1998. Even though I liked a couple of the singles from 'Music', this album just didn't hit a chord the way all her other albums had- the subsequent albums she didn't really change her image so much and the music was predominantly dance based.

But despite the fact that I haven't been into Madonna's last few albums this doesn't change the fact I will always have a soft spot for the Queen of pop. I find myself feeling like I need to defend her when people make nasty comments- and I still love her older albums as much as I always have even though my main music taste is more rock based.

Madonna to me, represents a strong, powerful, independent woman who has never been afraid to do what she wants to do despite any conflict (currently ageism especially) and is also probably one of the first female musicians to really push boundaries in relation to her sexuality. Somehow, Madonna seems to make female sexuality empowering and powerful, and not just for the satisfaction of men- but also for ourselves. But Madonna is much more than a sex symbol- she can sing, she can dance- she has always known how to sell herself- changing with the times and influencing many of our current pop stars.

Now to include some songs that have had a big impact on me: (sorry no 'proper' videos as her record company won't allow them to be shared)

and still one of my favourite songs ever-

Free Music!

Some music you can get free!

Firstly the amazing Riot Grrrl compilations put together by Riot Grrrl Berlin- there's two so far, with plans to make one every two months- you can download both for free here

there's tracks from the likes of Pussy Riot, Femmepop, Driver, Ten Tigers, Hooker and much much more!

and speaking of Ten Tigers, they have a new song which is available for free- an anthem to Jenson Button! Here's the link to download it for free- Free!

singer M also made a cute little video to go with it-here

Review: Rock In Your Pocket- Gutterdub release date:5th March

Rating: ****

Rock in Your Pocket were first brought to my attention when I wrote this introducing piece for thegirlsare, based on hearing their single 'Doubtbox'. I was undeniably impressed with what I heard and felt their sound was something refreshing in a sea of mild mannered women singers that seem to be overplayed and overrated at the moment. So when singer Charlie gave me the opportunity to listen to their debut Gutterdub it was an offer I couldn't refuse.

'Doubtbox' was a mere scratch on the surface of what Rock in Your Pocket are capable of. The band are only a three piece but judging by Gutterdub, have the sound of a much larger outfit. The album is dirty, raw and rocking throughout. My immediate comparison is to Queen Adreena, but I by no means want to sell this band short as despite my comparison I feel the band has an original and fresh sound. I am yet to witness Rock in Your Pocket live, but if this album is anything to go by, I feel like it would complete the experience.

Asides from 'Doubtbox', I'm also particularly drawn to 'Nobody's Bitch But Mine', a track that feels empowering and also anthem like, a perfect driving start to this album, that is well worth taking time to check out.

The band play gigs regularly, and their next gig is their album launch party which is taking place on Friday 2nd March at the Jubilee at the Barfly in London.

I think there is a real lack of heavier, guitar based female fronted bands at the moment that aren't in the vein of bands like Nightwish and Lacuna Coil. Some are starting to emerge to a great reception for example Wild Flag. Is it time we saw even more girls rocking out? Why are these amazing bands more in the spotlight instead of the likes of Adele and Lana Del Ray?

Robots in Disguise@ The Lexington 10th Feb 2012

well the other week I went to see Robots in Disguise, for the fifth time, and this time by some very lucky fate I also got to interview Sue and Dee just before the show. It was very brief but well worth it! The interview and the review of the gig will be up on The F Word very soon, but I thought I'd share some of the photos I took...

Wild Flag @ The Electric Ballroom London 1st Feb 2012

It's fair to say I have been listening to Wild Flag's debut self titled album pretty much non stop since I bought it, and the more I listened to it the more I fell in love with their unique sound. It has the best album I have bought for quite some time. When I first read about them, and realised they were in essence a Riot Grrrl supergroup comprising of members of Sleater Kinney, Helium and The Minders (as well as the other bands they all had been part of too) and of course I had high expectations! I wasn't disappointed. As soon as I saw they had a gig in London, I had to witness it! I just hoped I wouldn't be let down when I saw them performing.

The support act was Peggy Sue who I had seen previously as a Ladyfest in their former carnation as Peggy Sue and the Pirates. Their music is very bluesy and folk influenced rock.

You could feel the anticipation in the packed out room as Peggy Sue finished their set and we waited for Wild Flag to emerge. When they did they did, they did in style starting off with 'Black Tile'. The set consisted of the entire album and a few new tracks. But Wild Flag don't just go through the motions of playing song after song, oh no, this is one band I highly recommend, in fact I COMMAND you go and see live as soon as you can, because even though the album is amazing, it really makes it special to hear it live. The band put so much energy into their performance, jumping around the stage, doing AC/DC style guitar moves. They also extended 'Racehorse' so it had a Jimi Hendrix style breakdown in the middle with a mass crowd clap along to the bridge "pony up pony up", ending with a very rock n roll finish.

They of course ended with single 'Romance' before they returned to do an encore that featured covers of Television's "See No Evil" and The Patti Smith Group's "Ask The Angels".

I left the venue feeling elated, feeling I had witnessed the evolution and resurrection of the Riot Grrrl Movement.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

Well I don't often write personal-ish blogs on here, but to be honest now my life is so integrated with both music and feminism, that it would be impossible not to have some personal angle on some of my blogs.

2011 was an okay year for me for the most part, I felt like I didn't have too much of a social life like I used to, and my best friend moved to another country, BUT I did have much more involvement with music and feminist politics and not just through my radio show.

I started doing lots of writing for music blogs including Wears The Trousers, thegirlsare, JoyZine, The F Word and also for the Le Monnier Fan Blog which resulted in lots of good writing practice as well as quite a bit of free music and a couple of free gigs!

I tried to set up my own feminist group but didn't have much luck

I saw MEN at the Lexington in Feburary

I released the first two issues of my zine 'Dancing Barefoot'

In March, I went to my second Million Women Rise March this time as a steward, also the first protest I went to alone.
I also went to see The Australian Pink Floyd and on the same day I met Dee Plume, of one of my favourite bands Robots in Disguise!

I went to my first Roller Derby bout, and I loved it!

I went to see Robots in Disguise (for the third time) in May and possibly one of my favourite gigs ever, as I was right at the front, I headbanged with Dee and managed to nab their set list :D

I organised and put on Ladyfest Essex, which was really exhausting and had lots of problems, but was a fun and satisfying thing to do. Sadly it clashed with the London SlutWalk although I did help them get a band to play at the event and then booked one of their books for their fundraiser in November.

For my 27th Birthday in June, I went to the British Music Experience and went to my first zine fest

In August I went to the Ladygarden fundraiser in Cambridge and discovered lots of awesome bands including We Rock Like Girls Don't

September was an active month, I saw Amanda Palmer for the third time, this time at Heaven (see the Joyzine link earlier in this post) I did the Adidas 5k Women's Challenge, (walking) and raised a further £100 for Refuge in addition to the £130 raised from Ladyfest Essex
I also saw Saint Jude and UT in this month

November was a very feminist month, as I went to FEM11 my first feminist conference and also to the Fawcett Society Don't Turn Back Time March, and then met Josie Long afterwards!

The final gig of the year was Gaggle, review to come soon on The F Word!

Lots of other things happened too-like finally having a tooth taken out, and having my xbox hacked...
but now it's gone and it's time to look forward to 2012, here is my resolutions for 2012:
To Start or Join a Feminist Group
To Volunteer at a women's shelter
to do more interviews on my show
to jog in the adidias 5k
organise another ladyfest/other charity events
-this is just a few, I have others but these are probably the most relevant to put here.
Happy New Year!

New Discovery: Wild Flag

I realise I might be a bit slow with this one, but I just recently discovered Wild Flag, for some reason I had heard the name but never realised they were a female fronted band or that two members of Sleater Kinney were in the band! It was only when I interviewed We Rock Like Girls Don't and they mentioned them that I decided to look them up and fell in love with their music. They have an awesome debut album out which if you liked Sleater Kinney, you will most certainly enjoy- I've heard good things about them live as well, and I'm going to see them on 1st Feb at the Electric Ballroom so I'll be sure to write a review!
In the meantime here's some of their music:

Part 9: 30 Day Song Challenge

Song 25: A Song That Makes Me Laugh


Song 26: A Song I Can Play on an Instrument n(on the uke)


Song 27: A Song I wish I could play

30 Day Song Challenge Part 7

Song 19: A Song From My Favourite Album (hard to choose, so many good albums)!


Song 20: A Song I listen to when I'm Angry


Song 21: A Song I Listen To When I'm Happy

Interview: Georgia of Bitter Ruin!

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Georgia, a member of the great band Bitter Ruin. We had a little chat about inspirations, feminism and the new single 'Trust' Here's what she said:

For readers that maybe unfamiliar with your music, how would you describe the sound of Bitter Ruin? 

 Georgia: Elements of rock, musical theatre, classical and flamenco. We have found the best genre description to be 'contemporary expressionism' - meaning that the style, mood, instrumentation etc changes according to the message of the song.    

  Have you had any classical music training or are you self taught?

  G: Both of us have been classically trained in Piano and we have degrees in music. But I always think there's a huge element of self tuition with anything your passionate about.   

   Bitter Ruin are recommended to fans of Dresden Dolls and there are certainly similar elements to your music. What was it like touring with Amanda Palmer? 

 G: Well, I think the core of the music is very different but there are similarities in the noir edge to the lyrics and the passionate delivery. Also, both bands are boy girl duos. Touring with Amanda is great fun, singin Delilah with the Dolls in Boston has to be one of the best moments of our career so far.(note- they are also supporting AFP on her London dates in September) 

 Who are your idols and how have they influenced your life- whether it be by music or another area of your life?  

Georgia and Ben: I (Georgia) Love Fiona Apple and also strong female performers like Beyonce, but I prefer the songwriting of people like Fiona or PJ Harvey. I (Ben) am really into Jeff Buckley and some heavier stuff too as well as the Flamenco greats, however, I have a soft spot for Stevie Wonder! 

 My radio show focuses on female fronted and all female bands, and has a feminist stance. Do you consider yourself to be a feminist? And do you think women in music get the attention they deserve? 

 G: Am I a feminist??? Have you HEARD our album?! Yes, hugely...all men are...no, just kidding! But, I don't think women are treated much differently to men in the industry these days, I know that I pretty much run this band and everything that goes on around it and I have never had to overcome any obstacles because of my sex. However, I purposefully try to look a little messy in videos and photos etc because I do worry that I'll look too glamorous (being young and blond and all) and that people will not take the music seriously. But I could never be bothered with make up anyway!

   What inspires Bitter Ruin's songwriting? Is it an easy process? 

 G: I'd say that it could be easy...but we manage to make it as hard as possible! - The songs always come from real life experiences, I think good songs can ONLY come from real life. They tend to be written by me  and then we'll spend hours and hours on the harmonies and guitar parts...I'd say each song takes 30 hours of arrangement before we're ready to rehearse it!!! 

 Tell us about your new single 'Trust' what's the song about, the story behind the video and when can people buy it? 

 G: HAHA! Yes, well amazingly Stephen Fry just tweeted the video yesterday. It had 7500 views overnight! But the song is essentially an argument. It's a desperate rant and lull between two lovers who are in the turmoil of a vicious break up...screaming and slamming doors and all that drama!  Trust is available for 'official' download on the 3.10.11 - But if you join our twitter/facebook/mailing list at www.bitterruin.com, we'll remind you about that! 

 Any tour dates coming up? 

G: LOADS...we're doing a huge UK tour with the likes of Amanda Palmer and Duke Special, we're bound to be somewhere near you soon, wherever you live. All of the dates are on the website too.  Any bands you would like to recommend to my readers?  If you haven't heard of her, Fiona Apple and also Jack Weissman, he's supporting us on tour! He rocks!  When can fans expect a new album?  CRIKEY! Yes, erm, we have all of the songs ready to go, it's just a case of finding time to record...I hope we'll record in December and maybe have something out by May 2012 - but don't hold me to that!    

30 Day Song Challenge Part 4

Song 10: A Song I Fall Asleep to
Air are not boring, but very relaxing and good to chill out to


Song 11: A Song from my favourite band
well I have more than one favourite band, both I've already included videos by, but here they are again:


Song 12: A Song from a band I hate
well my most hated bands aren't normally female (Oasis, Cradle of Filth, stuff like that) but for this one I choose someone that everyone seems to love, but I just don't "get it"

30 Day Song Challenge: Part 3

Song 7: A Song That Reminds of an Event- reminds of the Robots gig I went to earlier this year, 4th time I've seen them and by far the best. This was an amazing encore!


Song 8: A Song that I know all the words to
there's many, but here's one


Song 9: A Song I can Dance to
I'll dance to most things if I like it but I love love love this song

30 Day Song Challenge: Part 2

4: A Song that Makes You Sad
Madonna- Power of Goodbye (clickable link as not able to embed)

5: A Song That Reminds You of Someone- Amanda Palmer makes me think of a lot of my friends!



6: A Song That Reminds of Somewhere- This makes me think of the best night out I ever had in London

30 day song challenge- part 1

I did this a while ago on Facebook, but as I'm not longer really using it, and not everyone that reads this blog would have seen it, and I'll pick different things this time (and all female fronted this time) so here's part 1

Day 1: My Favourite Song


Day 2: My Least Favourite Song - words can;t describe how angry this song makes me


Day 3: A Song that Makes Me Happy

Review of Ladyfest Essex

Thanks to my lovely friend Rachel, for this great review!

Last Saturday brought Ladyfest Essex, the newest incarnation of the DIY festival celebrating women's creativity, art and music. This Ladyfest was being held in aid of Refuge, the domestic abuse charity, and had a very exciting line-up of local bands. My boyfriend and I took the train down from Cambridge and got to the Railway Hotel for about 4pm, a couple of hours into the all-day schedule.

In the upstairs room of the Railway, decorated with pink balloons and posters, stalls lined the walls. There were ceramics, knitting and zines on sale, as well as a craft table and hand-made upcycled clothing. I picked up a copy of Noisy with a free CD and issue 1 of Ste McCabe's Queers Make Music. The atmosphere was quiet but very friendly. We had arrived just in time to hear a quick talk by a Refuge representative, who told us about the work the charity does and mentioned that the women's sector is very underfunded. Next up were the three female poets of Sundown Arts. Jo Overfield's snappy delivery matched her funny, offbeat poems. Ray Morgan gave us wryly observed tales of commuter life and office temping, and Cherryl Scott recited from memory several moving pieces about surviving domestic abuse.

Things quietened down a little until the music began at 8pm. My boyfriend and I had delicious beanburgers downstairs, enjoying the fact that the Railway Hotel is the only completely vegetarian/vegan pub in Essex, so that we were completely refuelled when Ten Tigers came onstage. Ramshackle, charming and terribly catchy, Ten Tigers are one of my favourite live bands and they didn't disappoint, despite technical issues. They kickstarted the festival with 82, played a metal-sounding version of "our big feminist anthem" Superlucky and debuted a new song with the chorus, "She'll never love you as much as she loves Jesus!"

The next band were Candy Panic Attack, a three-piece who seem to make much more noise than three people should be able to. They rattled through their set of super-short punk-influenced tunes that ordered, not invited, dancing. After them were Calico, were a very different proposition. Playing without their drummer, they delivered a set of tight songs made striking by the almost spooky vocal harmonies of singers Shel and Lauren. They were hypnotic and marvellous.

The Scarlet Echo, next up, were sharp, stylish and electric. They were incredibly energetic onstage, playing ska-tinged rock enhanced by Hannah's unusual voice. Following them were Death of the Elephant, one of the bands I had been most keen to see. Unfortunately, because of the previous technical problems, they had to shorten their set, but what they fit in was fantastic, noisy but melodic riot grrl/garage band songs, including Trypticon, with its memorable intro: "She's got a new toy and she's scared she'll break it..."

The final group of the evening, Le Monnier, had been at the festival for the entire day (I know, because I had been admiring singer/bassist Alexandra's amazing dress for the entire day) and for a short, tense while it looked like the scheduling problems would deprive them of their slot! Luckily this didn't happen and the band rocked the stage with the heaviest sound of the day. The new single, Con Amor Siempre, sounded great: it's from the album Russian Doll Life, out in October, and I can't wait for it. Alexandra dedicated their last song, Kingyo, to the Ladyfest organiser Hayley Foster da Silva.

Ladyfest Essex was a great chance to celebrate both women in art and music, and the diversity of the Essex music scene. It was great fun and I'm really happy I could attend. Hopefully there will be many more in future years!