Spin Magazine recently ran a comprehensive and funny piece called “The 50 Biggest White Girl Rap Moments Of All Time.” Being a white woman who vehemently loves rap music, best believe I ate that ish up. Some MCs mentioned were genuinely talented (Dessa, Princess Superstar), others... not so much. There is, as the magazine states, a “checkered” history in white girl rap (cough cough Kreayshawn cough cough Fergie). One artist who didn’t make the cut (but certainly will next round) is the one and only Kalyn Heffernan of Denver’s Wheelchair Sports Camp.
October is here again and the weather here in Portland is starting to shift. Yep—it’s fall, a time of transition. For some, it means headin’ back to class, and for others it marks the end of their favorite season. For me, it means crankin’ out a cozy mix of songs about autumn to help me get through the days of spiked cider and pumpkin pie. Luckily we’re just two weeks into this season and still have lots of time left to enjoy the changing leaves, windy currents, and the reinstatement of sweaters. So listen up as we say goodbye to summer and hello again to fall.
It takes chutzpah for an indie band just starting out to get rid of the acoustic guitar. But that's how it went for Minneapolis/New Orleans/Chicago's Dark Dark Dark. Choosing instead to write their earliest songs for an accordion and a banjo (insert my inevitable fandom here), founding members Nona Marie Invie and Marshall LaCount build their eclectic, eery, inviting music from the consistently unexpected. Dark Dark Dark is the musical equivalent of the dialogue Noah Baumbach writes: You're never sure what will happen next, which is how dialogue in real life feels—but paying that extra attention, and allowing yourself to be surprised, will reward you with piercing, comforting insight.
If this blog were running a year or two years or five years from now, which female radio artists would I hope to see advancing conversations about women, art, and pop music? And which female authors do I hope become icons of "the female canon" in the same way it was a foregone conclusion that I’d include Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë when I started this thing? Here are just a few suggestions...
Sometimes music sounds youthful and exuberant, and then sometimes you flip the record cover over and see the a picture of three smiling 16-year-olds and you think “damn, they are actually are young and exuberant!” This week’s BitchTapes is dedicated to those who don’t wait around to start making awesome music.
Earlier this month, Vancouver, BC hosted the first (and fingers crossed, annual) Shout Back! — an all-ages, queer, radical, D.I.Y., anarcha-feminist music festival. Nearly 50 bands played over the hectic span of 2.5 days. From cabaret to punk, twee pop to noise, this BitchTapes is devoted to a few (yes, 15 is a few) of the bands and solo musicians from the Shout Back! 2012 bill.
Today we’re going to perform a little compare/contrast action on David Guetta’s tune “Titanium,” featuring Sia, by jamming it with the poetry of a woman whose work can (and did today, again, several times) make me weep from its heartbreaking awesomeness. Give it up for Anne Sexton! *Brianna claps, snaps, sniffles.*
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