Whole Wheat

riot grrl if we want it

2010-03-06T04:06:11Z

Why 2010 will be the year of the Riot Grrrl revival (if we want it to be)

Face it, we NEED a revival. No less than Carrie Fuckin' Brownstein herself was on her own soapbox in November (we shop at the same 'box boutique), decrying the marshmallow beard-rock that shies away from engaging in the uncomfortable or confrontational. And Pitchfork celebrates, even elevates, apolitical musicians above the rest, leaving us all to think that there's no place for politics in our scene.

I say, "Fuck that." And, while we're at it, "Fuck Pitchfork" and "fuck co-opting of the female experience" (how many all-dude bands out there are called Girls or Religous Girls or Women??). We need confrontational, feminist music now more than ever, what with the continuous assault on reproductive rights, equal rights for lgbtq individuals and immigrants, the erosion of workers' rights, and many, many other human rights issues. What better way to spread word and awaken consciousness than through some catchy friggin' jams?

over at SOUL PONIES, things are so intense + brilliant that I can hardly catch my breath, between posting old old 5th Column albums to these fierce urgent calls to action- something is afoot, friends. everyone is feeling it. all over the place. I don't know what the fuck it is, but it is real and and underground and about to explode.

islands in the stream

2010-03-05T21:03:26Z

Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber

via fuckyeahdykes

YELLINGHAM

2010-03-03T21:27:14Z

I HOPE THIS TAKES OVER THE WORLD

2010-03-01T06:54:54Z

SOUL PONIES QUEERCORE BLOG + FLEDGLING RECORD DISTRO Because independent record labels are dying off and are being sold to megacorporations more and more often; Because queer independent record labels, by their "niche" nature, are especially susceptible to closing; Because we often lose the work of amazing LGBTQ artists to the dollar discount bin of the used record store when queer record labels go under; Because we wish to preserve the legacies of important riot grrrl and queercore musicians for present and future generations to appreciate their work; Because fucking kids these days think that "gay music" is Lady fucking Gaga and the Scissor Sisters, and because they've never heard of Erase Errata or Limp Wrist; For all of these reasons, we are SOUL PONIES. [[[[[RIDE ON!!!!!!!]]]]]

libertine

2010-03-01T01:57:35Z

at the record store I work at, I get to hang out with a lot of old dudes. old dudes who love nothing more than talking to me about Who rarities and stuff. there's a couple of weirder ones, the ones who apparently have no social skills and either a: only grunt, or b: pontificate at length; although most are totally rad nerdy men who have been loving and collecting music for decades.

I love those guys. they are great. they tell me about Beatles butcher covers and what it was like going to high school with Iggy Pop.

but the weird ones- I can't be rude, exactly, because (duh) I am working in retail. what do I do when they want to get into long rambling tirades about "music today" or girl pop stars or whatever the subject-of-the-day happens to be? I tried to fight fire with fire, answering in barely-civil monosyllables; but you know, when some old man is going to talk to you for 15 minutes, unprompted, without letting you get a word in edgewise, they probably also lack the appreciation of other subtle social cues that would clue them into my disinterest or discomfort.

so now I speak to them in their own language. dude wants to talk to me about rare Duran Duran album art? old man wants to tell me about every single Jeff Beck concert he's ever been to? GREAT. just hold on a second while I put on Crass' "PENIS ENVY." no, that's fine, keep talking- yeah, yeah, totally, Cream, Clapton, the greatest, I know.

because Eve and Joy muttering, "what the FUCK are you thinking. what the FUCK are you seeing" in the background makes any gross customer service experience more manageable.

reel

2010-02-27T04:07:44Z

a] LOVE Lindy West,
b] move over, Rock Camp for Girls, and:
c] Hey, my childhood! Thanks for SUCKING! When I was ages 9 to 19, we didn't have "activities" or "female empowerment" or "stuff to do."

some kind of love

2010-02-27T02:58:41Z

for months I have been totally crushed out on the stuff Elisha Lim makes, most recently this, the claymation trials of a butch-lovin-butch.

her book 100 BUTCHES comes out in April, and I am holding my breath until then.

from an old interview:

EL: Actually "100 Butches" hasn't truly been about butches, I've just been drawing who I'm attracted to. People I'm attracted to as lovers, friends or role models, are often described as butches. So I often take whoever I find sexy and try to jam them into the panels. I hope it helps stretch definitions/ lets me ramble about my crushes.

AT: Where does your fascination with butch identity come from?

EL: Ever since my first crush punched me. There was some definitely some early butch-lust there. This is a question that I hope the comic helps me answer. Maybe if I can line up 100 personal stories, at the end of the day I'll figure out why I let her punch me.

remember me fondly

2010-02-23T07:19:58Z

how did I forget to mention these guys months ago?! they are from San Jose. they sound like lost 90's twee that got forgotten under the covers. this is one of those videos that seems like it should be boring, because nothing much happens; but the charm of the band and the song is so great that I have to watch it all the way through each time.

Sourpatch - i want you either way from Richard Gutierrez on Vimeo.

water without land

2010-02-23T07:09:27Z

I am writing a song every day for Lent. well, no full songs yet, because I'm really good at writing first verses and then I usually get stuck. but I am trying to make the editor in my head shut up by overwhelming it with sheer quantity of song-words; every single day for 40 days will be so many different songs, bits of songs, that I will finally overpower my own harsh self-editing instinct.

good, bad, it doesn't matter; I just want to put my head in that space of song-making every day, so I stop thinking that every single musical idea that I wring out of my skull is rare and precious and must be molded into a song, because who knows when the next decent one will come along. I want to document so many different musical thoughts that I will actually have enough to sort out the worthwhile ones from the less-so. then maybe writing a song will become something that is less torturous of a process, because I don't think that's how it's supposed to be.

also, Riley made some boob pictures for her class. I like them a lot. I would hang one of them on my wall, totally.

courtney

2010-02-21T22:08:01Z

Sometime in the course of your unpredictable life, you've probably loved a crazy person. There are just so many of them out there. How could anyone avoid it? And before you get started on me, yes, I know I'm using a politically incorrect term here. I should say "bipolar," or "coping with OCD" or "just really very moody." But I'll stick to the old-fashioned word, because it's short and sharp and etymologically linked to the infinitive "to shatter," which pretty well describes what happens when a crazy person, whether it's your boyfriend or sister or some sad new version of yourself, takes over your life. That's what craziness does. It draws us in, especially those of us who love the magnified realities of art. The energy of craziness can be sexy and wondrous -- before its relentlessness shuts everything down.

Ann Powers in a 2005 piece on rock + roll, mental health, and boy genius.

crystal

2010-02-21T20:10:56Z

How is it that, after like 45 years or something, Fleetwood Mac is still totally great? I feel like most old-person bands (see: STONES, WHO, everybody) just keep going on Greatest Hits Farewell Tours with Hip-Replacements and living off of the royalties they get from that one car commercial or whatever.

But I would like to nominate Fleetwood Mac as one of the most underappreciated bands of the classic rock canon. I mean, they're not exactly underdogs, seeing as how RUMOURS sold more copies than pretty much anything except the Bible until MJ came along. And yes, there have been the occasional missteps in their decades-long career- mostly occurring from 1988-1992 (the band breaks up; Stevie releases "Street Angel" and goes into rehab again; Lindsey marries some lady who is significantly younger but who strongly resembles Stevie). Even during this period, though, Lindsey is tooling around in the studio and releasing weirdly-good albums- like, that guy can write some dazzling songs, smug asshole as he may be. Also, he may favor really elaborate production that sometimes distracts you from the heart of a song; but if you can get past his sometimes-wanky solos and dated production sounds, it is totally worth it.

And then there was the whole Clinton campaign "don't stop thinking about tomorrow" that kicked off all sorts of reunions, but even then, they were still writing new stuff. And THE DANCE? On "Silver Springs" when Stevie stares down Lindsey howling, "you'll never get away from the sound of a woman who loves you" and it looks like she really is a witch, casting spells on Lindsey and all of his future happiness with his wife-who-looks-like-Stevie- YIKES! so intense!

and to think that Lindsay Lohan imagined taking on the role of Stevie Nicks. Ha. Stevie at 60-something still brings more brimstone and crazy than Lindsay ever will, no matter how much coke she does. (That was mean. I hope Lindsay Lohan gets her shit figured out, because she is a total babe and her dad is a huge dick, and she deserves better. and I love that she is hella queer.)

So anyway. Stevie = still incredible. Then she goes and collaborates with Sheryl Crow and instead of getting normal with age, she stays weird and is as witchy and mystical as ever. A SORCERESS. [Embedding is disabled, but you can watch the video in question here.] And even though Christine McVie has such bad stage-fright that she has to retire from the band, everybody else keeps trucking on, and still releases albums of new material.

"Say You Will" is no Rumours, obvs, but it shows a band that has not exhausted their idiom, even after all of these years. Using the same bells and whistles that make them instantly recognizable as Fleetwood Mac, they are still writing new songs that are instantly good- songs that will stick with you and grow on you, not disposable late-life grabs for radio play.

(And I have not even addressed the enduring awesomeoness of Mick Fleetwood, despite his ongoing preference for wearing dangling felt balls and breeches; he rolls his eyes and waggles his eyebrows and has grown from a gangly charming young man to a gangly charming old man. Also, the classic classic bass player vibe of John McVie- shy and retiring but totally anchoring the band with his monstrous riffs. "The Chain," anyone? These guys are totally the reason why Fleetwood Mac has persisted, because anyone who has ever watched Mick Fleetwood play drums can tell that he is having the absolute time of his life.)

Fleetwood Mac: truly, a band for the ages.

we might as well shake our tits before the apocalypse

2010-02-20T18:43:21Z

rhombu$$$$$

good cause

2010-02-20T08:51:19Z

athene

2010-02-20T01:43:16Z

Kim Ann Foxman: the suit, the suit!

yr lyrics are dumb like a linoleum floor

2010-02-19T19:17:26Z

the interviewer seems like kind of a square, but Kathleen Hanna is so great. talks like a valley girl and then drops terms like "horizontal oppression." she introduced me to a freaky weird beautiful feminist alternative universe populated with the likes of Murray Hill and Dorothy Allison.

"If I am a role model, I wanna be a really three-dimensional role model."

and here's the classic Deceptacon video.