music

I'm back in Portland, still processing and reflecting on my trip to the Midwest. I'll be posting more about that soon, but in the meantime, I wanted to share this video about displacement/gentrification in Detroit, featuring Detroit-based female hip-hop artist, Invincible. It's a beautiful example of how powerful a story becomes when different forms of media are combined.

I love that my co-workers think of cows when they think of Wisconsin (thanks, Jess and Briar, for the awesome flyer!).

Also, please come to Room of One's Own Feminist Bookstore, 307 W. Johnson, on Wednesday (May 14) from 6:00-8:00PM for a participatory discussion about Feminism In/Action: What is your feminism for and why does it matter?

Isn't a rack of independent magazines a lovely sight? 

Everything's coming together. Here's what's happening in Chicago. Please spread the word...

The title of this post is the song title of another provocatively-titled entity (or problematically-titled entity, depending on whom you ask), 3 Leg Torso, a band I saw perform tonight. I've never been good at describing genres, but I'll call it a mashup of Klezmer/Chamber/Gypsy/Circus/Carnival/(see, this is why I don't write music reviews). The point is, it was one of the best shows I've seen in years. My mouth hurt afterwards because I had a perpetual smile through almost the whole show. Equally impressive was the opener, Fish Tank Ensemble. Please check them both out.   

Earlier in the day, I let my friend Ben convince me to accompany him to a professional basketball game between the Portland Trailblazers and the San Antonio Spurs.

Allow me to set the stage (even though really, you had to be there to understand)... 

Tonight Girl's Rock! The Movie premieres in selected cities across the country. I'm going! You should, too, if it's playing where you live (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, Seattle, Portland, New York, Chicago). If you're not familiar, Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls is a nonprofit that teaches girls ages 8-18 to learn how to rock DIY style and in the process, build their self-esteem and self-confidence. If you're someone who wishes the rock camp would've been around when you were a girl, check out Ladies Rock Camp, their annual fundraiser.

My Valentine's Day present to you!

Every year, I'm one of the many critics invited to select their top 10 albums and singles for the Village Voice's venerable (if interesting largely only to other music critics) Pazz & Jop poll. I stopped writing about music for a (fractional) living seven years ago, and most music criticism gives me hives now, but I still love music itself, and the nice thing about Pazz & Jop is that you don't actually have to wax adjectival about your picks, you're just like: White Stripes. I liked it. Boom.