BitchTapes

Due to the dominance of the English language in rock 'n' roll, many artists who have chosen to record in their native language have not gained world-wide prominence. To see what else was out there, I went on a music research quest resulting in this week's BitchTapes mix of songs all recorded in French. Some current electronic French acts, a few synth songs from the '80s, some current rock, and finally a delicious pop song from the '60s (and a couple French Canadians and Belgians) made the cut. Track list after the jump! Appréciez!

It's been awhile since we made a BitchTapes devoted to country music. I thought today might be a good one to re-visit the kick-ass ladies that have rocked the country music scene.



Tracklist after the jump!

On my way to the office I saw an honest-to-God hummingbird darting around a Northeast Portland front yard. In early November! It was all-too-apropos for this week's Bitchtapes playlist, which features ten songs about our fine feathered friends. Tracklist after the jump!

There's lots of great music being made by ladies in Sweden right now. If your knowledge of Swedish pop doesn't extend beyond ABBA, I think you're in for a nice surprise.

It's no surprise weather patterns appear so often in music. They, like music, can shape and reflect our moods at any given time. More importantly, they're good for a seemingly infinite number of metaphors. They can change from minute to minute. Just like your aching heart. They can rain on your parade. Just like, you know... rain. They can brighten up the ENTIRE PLANET! Just like EVERYTHING ELSE can, when you're having one of those days when everything is golden and drenched in sunshine and "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" is your own personal theme song. It all starts in the sky. With that, global warming, and the constantly-changing weather of autumn all in mind, this week's BitchTapes is a big ol' shout out to Mother Nature.

Side note: It was incredibly hard for me not to put "Mr. Sun" by Raffi on this list. The things I do for hipster cred... Forgive me, Raffi. You are #1 in the playlist of my heart.

Summer is ending but that doesn’t mean we have to be down in the dumps. Fall is an exciting time of crisp air, crunchy leaves and that back-to-campus type of excitement. Things are in motion! This week’s BitchTapes features some feel good songs to help embrace the autumn arrival. Track list after the jump!

It's Friday, and that means BitchTapes! (Located on the sidebar to your right as well as after the jump, for you newcomers out there.) Today I thought it would be nice to visit the fabulous land of cover songs. Because this is BitchTapes, I thought it would be even nicer to hear some covers that incorporate a healthy dose of gender bending (they're good songs, too).

I have always enjoyed a good cover song, and to me that means that the artist doing the covering interprets the song in her/his own way, keeping the lyrics the same but altering the song's meaning through the performance. This happens especially when the coverer and the coveree are of different genders, and it can make for some pretty interesting listening.

Read on for the track list, and a little bit of background info as well. Enjoy!