News and Muse: September 16th, 2016

Before you post something about how the sky is falling because you skimmed a headline and believe Amoeba Records in Hollywood, CA is closing, read this. Read the full article before posting outrage people!

My ears are reminding me that this was the best thing it heard this week: Sampa the Great from Australia.

Aphex Twin and Bjork you say? Christmas comes early this year in Houston, TX.

Ladies, Yoko Ono wants you! Tell her about the trauma you have suffered for no other reason that being a woman. Her son Sean also made the news this week when he shared his unfortunate thoughts on mansplaining.

This is the most talked about music news story of the week; G.L.O.S.S turned down an Epitaph Records contract. To me the bigger story is that they might be the only band I know who talks about pressing 20k of a record out of the gate. Now that is the real story here.

Have you ever wondered why you hated the sound of your own voice? This article explains why. Science! 

England has two female revolutions happening; music (meet The Tuts, the newest in a seemingly endless crop of killer bands) and fashion.

The lesson here is one of determination and no apologies for being who you are. Publicist Michelle Kambasha shares her experiences as a black woman in the independent music world.

The New York Art Book fair is THE place to be this weekend. Somebody go and report back for me - please? You can get a Kim Gordon or Genesis Breyer P-Orridge tattoo! Oh, and in other Kim Gordon news, there is this short film made by Carrie Brownstein for the Kenzo fall/winter campaign. And wait! More KG news! She has a new single out too!

Amy McGrath of Denver, CO has written an essay about why women rock on and off the stage.

What does Marnie Stern have to do with Seth Meyers and his late night television show? Her enormous music talent is being put to good use.

These songwriters are fighting the Justice Department because of their recent music copyright ruling as it relates to digital streaming compensation.

Modular synth fans, don't miss this 25 minute non-tradional documentary on the making of the collaborative LP between Suzanne Ciani and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. Think of this as a visual companion to the music rather than your typical thing where artists talk about their project.

I have produced records with just about every vinyl pressing plant there is since the early '90s but my favorite experience remains with Erika Records. I first heard about them because they were partners with Sub Pop early on but I remain dedicated to them because they are owned by Liz Dunster. Oh the things this woman has put up with over the years because of her gender. I have so much respect for her and her dedication to producing top quality records in a professional manner. Check out this recent article on her and her company.

Nothing says objectifying and marginalizing women in a really stupid way quite like this very real recent music group comment. Tell me more about women in your creepy shoegaze fantasy world. Oh wait. Don't. Just don't. It is exhausting (not to mention insulting) to see comments like this about women in bands that treat us more like an accessory than a talented member of the band. We are real people who make art.

This article slipped through the posting cracks a few weeks ago. Why are more women freelancing?

Titwrench is raising the bar for music festivals according to this story.

Shirley Manson has some words for you about fetishizing the '90s, body image, and well, click here to see what else.

Feminist Friday : A Weekly Round Up

Safe show spaces only happen when we make it so. Here are a few highlights from Fuse.TV but a shout out to Beach Slang who are also a part of this movement and not mentioned here.

Dear Gibson Guitars, women are very important part of your history so please don't ignore it. I have always stood on team Gibson as a player but that could easily be changed.

What is the deal with cis male bands who pick mis-gendered names? It's not an ironic choice to me as an actual woman in music who has dealt with so many hurdles over the decades.

Hutch from the Thermals wrote a darn fine personal account about the frustrating aspect of band life when it comes down to trying to hold down a day job because music doesn't really pay. Note: band press which looks like popularity does not equal actual money coming in for human beings who make art. Social media likes do not translate into something creatives can pay the bills with.

However sexual assaults at concerts are still happening and at festivals, in mass.

It turns out that when nobody shows up to an author's reading, it feels just like a band with no audience.

The weirdest thing I read this week related to Kim Gordon, a coyote, and a Whole Foods parking lot.

NYC, I am very sorry your record stores are having a hard time keeping doors open. Our small city of Richmond, VA has kept more than 7 around for years now so perhaps it is time to visit us.

I very much enjoyed this piece by NPR about the forgotten women of Classical music.

Drummer wanna get some? Here are 10 funk beats I wish I knew how to play.

When you say stupid things, we are here to tell you and if it happens to be in front of a large audience, so be it.

Kickstarter as a possible A&R source? Molly thinks so.

Compact Discs and why we can't quit you quite yet.

Since 2011 these Muslim ladies have been blending their culture with hip-hop dance and it is beautiful reminder that music and art connects us all as humans.

Music-tech start ups are getting it all wrong according to Jim McDermott

Manko madness in Japan, art from the other down under.

Does your skin get off on music? Learn about skin-gasms here.

Throwback Thursday : Bush Tetras

Active on and off since the late '70s, this NYC post punk band never got quite the same kind of attention as bands like Blondie, The Ramones, or The Talking Heads did. Here is their first single and one of the best known Bush Tetras songs, "Too Many Creeps" from 1980.

Side note, whenever I DJ this song, at least one person thinks it is Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth singing - without fail.

Yé-Yé Girls and X-Girl

Once upon a time Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth, Free Kitten, Body/Head) and Daisy Von Furth started a clothing line called X-Girl that was a ying of sorts to X-Large's yang (one of the original X-Large owners was Mike D of the Beastie Boys).

Their small store opened in the early '90s on Lafayette Street in New York City's SoHo neighborhood and across the street from X-Large. One of the highlights to the X-Girl brand was that artist Mike Mills created much if not all of X-Girl's iconic graphics and shirt designs. Limited posters of his gorgeous brand work were also available for purchase and I think of anything I regret not purchasing back in the day, it is these pieces of art.

The general look of the X-Girl clothing line was androgynous and simple. The idea was to produce timeless classics that featured clean lines and were form fitting compared to that time period's grungy counterpart. To be as accurate as possible, it was practically the Mac store of '90s fashion. The business was short lived as the shop closed at the end of the '90s and then the line was sold to Japanese company that still produced it to this day.

I would be lying if I said X-Girl clothes fit anyone above a size 10 but that is a different story all together. This believe it or not brings us to the subject of French Pop musiccalled yé-yé sung by girls and young women in the 1960s.

This genre of music was said to be inspired by The Beatles and their hooky line "She loves me YEAH YEAH YEAH". The fashion sense of these yé-yé girls (tasteful Euro-mod) were also said to be an influence on the X-Girl fashion line and often playing on the small TV inside the store was a video compilation of these original yé-yé  music videos. I had several friends that worked there, including my then boyfriend. As they were closing up the shop some nights, I would sit on the bench waiting and watching these campy and totally intoxicating videos. This was my introduction to French Pop and I have collected it obsessively ever since.

It should be noted that this genre of music spread like wildfire all over the world so there a are ton of groovy girl records from the '60s to check out from many other countries too.

Here are the kind of videos that were on the X-Girl VHS collection:

Read more about X-Girl here.