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I’m not really sure where the term “vagina music” originated.  The first time I heard it was in Nicole Holofcener’s awesome film Walking and Talking, when a male character complained to his female car-trip cohorts, “Are we gonna listen to this vagina music the whole way there?” (“Yes!”) The second time was almost a decade later,  on an episode of Six Feet Under wherein one of Claire’s art-school friends demands , “You guys are gonna have to change this vagina music immediately.”

From these, we can infer that vagina music  = music that others feel subjected to and wish to avoid.

Nonfictionally, in my own life, it’s come up in less confrontational instances, usually in discussions of the famed Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival—which was originally founded to showcase what was specifically called women’s music—or the once-mighty Lilith Fair. I used the expression  just last weekend to  refer to a band playing Portland’s Pride festivities whose skinny jeans and self-conscious rattails screamed ’80s synth revival ,but whose amps bleated out something much more Indigo/DiFranco.

Music in short!

• If you haven't seen the Gossip's infomercial for their upcoming album Music for Men, it's time! (And if you haven't seen Bitch's infomercial, you can still be my friend....but only if you watch it. And then buy subscriptions for your friends.) • Susan Boyle breaks down, makes me feel sad. • Iranian sisters Safoura and Melody Safavi make super fun world pop. Check out their band Abjeez and their clever music videos on their YouTube Channel. • Sex, violence, and glamour in Lady Gaga's new "Paparazzi" Sociological Images reports, which brings me to... • Phil Spector sentenced to 19 years to life for the murder of Lana Clarkson. • Sacha Baron Cohen sends Eminem into a gay panic. Jezebel asks "Is Bruno Good for the Gays?" • and.. Rockabilly Corner! Listen to Kim Lenz and the Jaguars while you read Venus Zine's interview with Wanda Jackson!

Folk songwriter Fred Neil said Karen Dalton "sure could sing the shit out of the blues," and Bob Dylan said she sang like Billie Holiday and played guitar like Jimmy Reed. Dylan's description wouldn't be the last time this under-the-radar folk singer was likened to Lady Day. Like Holiday, Dalton's haunting croon completely transforms whatever folk, blues, or pop standard she sang.

First things first: I stan for Joni Mitchell.

That journalist Sheila Weller's NYT Bestseller, "Girls Like Us" also features Carole King and Carly Simon is a nice extra, of course.  I haven't even finished this book yet, but I just have to gush about it.  It's music history, it's women's history, it's American pop culture history...what's not to love?

Thao performing at the Bitch/Kill Rock Stars SXSW Party in Austin!
Related:
Austin Update Short and Sweet
SXSW Day Party, Let's Do This Austin!

Last night, a couple of us lucky Bitch ladies got the chance to go to the sold-out-for-weeks Broken Social Scene show here in Portland. It makes sense, right? They're a collective, just like we are! Read on for our notes and some sweet video clips, after the jump.

Hey Portland Party People,

Don't miss the Bitch Benefit Show this Friday, January 9, at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland. We will be getting our socks rocked off by none other than the fabulous Kimya Dawson, Mirah, and Anomie Belle. Fun for all!

Check out this interview with Mirah and Anomie Belle for more information (if you can handle the excitement, that is).

We hope to see you there!