No, this isn't an "in bed" playlist for hanky-panky, this mix is for those rockstars struck down by flu season, reduced to figuring out the best pillow to lean on when eating soup. Judging by inter-office emails, I'm not the only sick one, so let's all embrace it and get down with some nice cozy tracks...in bed. But don't get in bed with me, because I'm still contagious.
Ani DiFranco has taken a lot of sides in her decades-long career. She has also famously refused to take sides, and, undeniably, looked at many things from both sides. Her new studio album ¿Which Side Are You On?, released today, is both a personal State of the Union address from the iconic folksinger, and an appeal to her listeners and the larger world to decide and declare where each of us stands in a world that's begging for champions.
Welcome then to the second installment of Queercore Now and Forever More! I regret to am thrilled to inform you that the last BitchTapes devoted to contemporary queer music was incomplete. Limited to under 20 tracks with links flickering to former + side projects, there is so much more queer music to share with you reader/listener! Plus, after Not Enough! and the self-motivating cultural ripples the Portland-based queer arts/music festival creates, a heap of queer projects in the Northwest alone have started up since the last mix 10 months back. Check out the latest tracks from Queercore's lesser-known-soon-to-be-faves as well as established contemporary artists:
The Last Names is a pretty new band, and as such they don't have much music beyond a pleasant EP that makes me think their upcoming album, Wilderness, will also be pleasant. What they do have, though, is the 52 Covers Project.
Vi Subversa took late '70s British punk idealism and held it up to its own values. She challenged the seas of angry, violent young men that crowded British clubs and opened punk up for personal expression. With her band the Poison Girls, she forged a path of punk rock that examined the politics of everyday life. And, who else can say they released their first single when they were a 44-year-old mother of two?
Friends are the best. Here are a few songs about loving friends, missing friends, and losing friends (also, they're great for mixtapes...for your friends!). Let us know which friendship songs we missed in the comments!
New Year's Eve is a tricky holiday. While a night set aside for dressing fancy, toasting to a maybe-great future, and counting down to a kiss with someone cute should equal the best time ever, it can quickly turn into a stress-filled letdown that leaves you walking home barefoot in the slush because you couldn't get a cab, uncomfortable shoes in hand and false eyelashes sliding down your cheeks like a sad Living Classics version of a Picasso portrait. (Just me? Doubtful.)
Like it or not, tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and whether your plans include living it up at a fancy champagne party or stuffing your cat into a shiny paper hat (or both!), you'll need some tunes to set the mood. Here are a few songs that are about this most loaded of nights—in party order from plan-making to waking up the next day, of course.
I'm contacting Bitch's top-secret New York operative to dig up any dirt they can find on Brooklyn stoner-metal trio Flown. All I know about Flown is that they play heavy acid-fried jams, have a single on a Bandcamp page, have a live video of said single on YouTube, and apparently used to back Frankie Rose as the Outs.
With twenty studio albums under her belt, and another coming out in the new year, she is still as bad-ass as ever. While her new songs may not hold the same personal angst as earlier ones, they are still infused with a strong point of view, activist spirit, and feminist ideology. I recently had the chance to talk with Ani about her music, her (ever-changing) feminism, motherhood and everything else in between.
The Last Names is a pretty new band, and as such they don't have much music beyond 
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