Pepa of Salt'n'Pepa's Let's Talk about Pep, a new VH1 reality show billed as a "Black Sex & the City," debuted last night. Here's Pepa's take on it, did anyone else catch it? (In way less-glamourous news about hip-hop women being on reality tv, Lady Soveriegn is slated for Celebrity Big Brother. She will be housemates with Sisqo. [Stereogum]). • Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings will have a new album, I Learned it the Hard Way, ready for May. [BeatCrave] • You can watch an entire Thao and the Get Down Stay Down concert at Baeblemusic.com [KRS]. • M.I.A., who's always been outspoken about political unrest in her birthplace of Sri Lanka, has bashed the New York Times on Twitter (screenshot) for listing the country as the #1 "place to go" in 2010. (Pitchfork]. • Solange Knowles, the Dirty-Projectors-covering, safe-sex promoting, little sister of Beyonce is going to be on the upcoming Of Montreal album. [Pitchfork] • And music recs after the jump!
Even though we've already talked a little about some of our favorite albums of 2009, and even though we've down a decade-tastic mix tape, and even though we're already into 2010, I don't see any reason to stop recapping, especially with all the good music that came out last year. I'ma do whatever! My mix is not only some of the best tracks that came out this year, but tracks that make you want to get. down. Have a good weekend shaking it to these singles that Aught-a (!) make your weekend a little dancier.
Carol Kaye is one of the most prolific pop music musicians you've never heard of. She and her 4-6 strings have backed some of the most popular songs, movies, and television series of the past fifty decades, and can be heard "These Boots Were Made for Walking," guitar on Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" and Richie Valens "La Bamba"...among others!
We're sharing our New Year's Bitch Tapes a day early so you can get your 2010 jam on early! For this mix I give you the 10 songs of the decade. These are not the best songs, nor the worst, nor my favorite. They are just solid, memorable, danceable songs—some you will have heard played to death, some you might wonder how you missed their release. I hope you’ll listen to the mix, see if you can place yourself in time for each track’s debut, and then play it at a holiday party for everyone else to enjoy! Feel free to leave nominations for other include-able tracks (along with the year released!) in the comments section.
The awesome Detroit MC Invincible (interviewed in The Loud issue) has a brand new documentary out about women in hip hop. From Emergence:
The Revival gives a candid glimpse into the first meeting of legendary Hip-Hop pioneer Roxanne Shante and veteran Philly emcee Bahamadia, as they trade stories of their struggles and triumphs in the industry over their long careers. It also shows the exchange of lessons between them and up-and-coming artists DJ Shortee, Eternia, Stacy Epps, and Invincible. This short documentary, a collage of performances and behind the scenes footage, was filmed and directed by Invincible while on the road in Europe as part of We-B Girlz all women in independent Hip-Hop tour. The largest all female Hip-Hop tour of its kind, it spanned over three weeks, six countries, and featured dozens of female artists who performed for tens of thousands of supporters.
How awesome does that sound? Decide for yourself by watching the film!
Mixing classics with covers, the Bitch staff has put together some of our favorite Christmas songs that span decades, genres, and levels of corniness. From the Loretta Lynn to Kristy MacColl and from Kinks to David Cassidy, you're sure to hear something you'll like. Plus, our mix contains a fair amount of songs that emphasize the not-so-jolly aspects of the season, like if you're heartbroken. Or in prison (see: John Prine). Enjoy, and we hope your winter celebrations are swell!
Tomorrow, some people from OPB's "In House" are coming to the Bitch office to ask us about our top five favorite albums of 2009. This means that we have been spending a fair amount of time racking our brains to come up with a serviceable top five list that won't reveal to the public radio-listening public that at least one of us (hi, that's me) has been mostly jamming out to Linda Ronstadt records from the 70s for the past six months (I guess you can't submit a 2009 top five list unless the albums actually came out in 2009?). At any rate, today's B-Sides is a test run of our top five list, expanded into a top ten. Read on to give us your thoughts!
This week a query in the Bitch office got me thinking about John Hughes films. And that got me thinking in soundtrack mode. And that lead to the realization that many of my favorite (or at least memorable on some level) 80s films have title tracks or songs that always accompany any thought of them. Read on for the list, and listen with caution: these will get stuck on replay in your head.
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