Richmond, Virginia has an ever growing, diverse, and captivating music scene. It is almost impossible to keep up with it right now so I am grateful to Strange Matter for booking local artist Dazeases on the Shopping / Priests bill. She offers a powerful one woman show that takes electronic music to some dark and personal places with a flare for the dramatic. The secret goth in me that loves to dance couldn't be any more excited about her.
Her Facebook page is here.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Monday, November 16, 2015
2015 Favorite : Dirty Ghosts
This San Francisco group released a single earlier this year called "Cataract" that just might end up as my favorite song of the year. Their new wave Pop hooks are undeniably catchy. Growing up in the '80s my passion for alternative music started with artists like Nik Kershaw, Thomas Dolby, Devo, Howard Jones, and The Flirts so I find the music of Dirty Ghosts to be a modern variation of these earlier groups. Their songs are melodic yet they carry an undercurrent of melancholy and angst. Their new album Let It Pretend came out in October on Last Gang Records but consider yourselves warned. Many of these songs have earworm like tendencies so be prepared to have them stuck in your head for days at a time.
Friday, November 13, 2015
An Evening with Atta-GIRL!
To celebrate the birth of Atta-GIRL (and the birthday of a friend), DJ Ladybrain, Solid Scorp, and myself are taking over the Portrait House stereo tomorrow night. We will be playing music made by or fronted by women from the past half century.
Come on out and hear an evening of impeccable music curated by some very friendly, kick ass ladies. 10pm to midnight!
Below are some of the things I will be playing.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Throwback Thursday : Della Reese
Sorry Mr. Sinatra but this version is one billion times better than yours. With my birthday fast approaching, this song always come to mind this time of year.
I give you Della Reese covering "It was a Very Good Year" live from the Playboy Club in 1966.
I give you Della Reese covering "It was a Very Good Year" live from the Playboy Club in 1966.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Is Music a Masculine Domain?
Elizabeth Newton has written a hell of an interesting piece for The New Inquiry on how women have been excluded in music with a heavy focus on Jazz and recording collecting.
One of my favorite female DJs / collectors is Sheila Burgel and she is quoted in this article. In fact I have so much respect and awe for what she does that I have asked her to spin records along with myself and Sister Golden Haze for my birthday. You are invited to join us. I hope to interview her while she is in town visiting and will post it here in the weeks to come.
One of my favorite female DJs / collectors is Sheila Burgel and she is quoted in this article. In fact I have so much respect and awe for what she does that I have asked her to spin records along with myself and Sister Golden Haze for my birthday. You are invited to join us. I hope to interview her while she is in town visiting and will post it here in the weeks to come.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Discwoman : Girls to the Tables
A few days ago I decided my turntables were in need of new slipmats. I didn't know what I was looking for other than I wanted them to be colorful and not feature a logo of a band or gear brand name. Our record players are located in our dining room so these slipmats are something we (my boyfriend and I) need to live with daily. What I wasn't expecting in my Google search was a sea of images that mostly screamed horny, stoner dude. Meaning if it wasn't a picture of a pot leaf in some form on the slipmat, there were breasts and more breasts.
My takeaway from that experience was that the expected customer for these items are not women, they are predominantly men. If you spend much time attending DJ nights you will know that this is a fair assumption. Where the number of women playing in bands seems to be on the rise, the number of female DJs and club promoters is not. We are a very small number and the sexism I have faced while playing in band is nearly two fold as a DJ. The expectation is that I don't know anything about my gear, how a PA works, and most insultingly to me, that I don't know anything about music. There is also a frustratingly high level of sexual harassment and abuse from people in the crowd. Some men find no issue with randomly touching a female DJ's body, getting handsy with our turntables or mixers (IE let me show you how it's done or if you can do it, it must be easy and I will try it right now without your permission), flipping through our records without asking as if they are browsing at a store, or shouting at us comments relating to our bodies and what they would like to do to them. This is our work space and it, as well as our bodies, are being violated by strangers who occasionally look at female DJs like we are strippers soliciting lap dance.
Needless to say, whenever I discover fellow female DJs or women who operate in this male dominated music world at all, I take note.
NPR recently wrote an article about the the NYC based Discwoman, a trio of women who operate a DJ booking agency focused on showcasing female-identified DJs. Discwoman however aren't just curating events where women are the talent and running the show, they are also actively encouraging women to become involved in their world. It doesn't have to mean making or playing electronic music, they are helping teach others how to book events, run sound, and all the other various aspects that go into making a DJ night happen. It is inspiring to know that they are leading by example. The more of us there are doing these things, the less fetishized and alien women in this scene will be treated. There is comfort, safety, and power in growing our number. We all know learning a particular skill isn't the first hurdle, it is finding the courage to try at all. If we create a womb of nurturing support, there is so much talent to be born from this.
Here is a video I found that further expands on this subject. Maybe you will find it as illuminating and encouraging as I did.
My takeaway from that experience was that the expected customer for these items are not women, they are predominantly men. If you spend much time attending DJ nights you will know that this is a fair assumption. Where the number of women playing in bands seems to be on the rise, the number of female DJs and club promoters is not. We are a very small number and the sexism I have faced while playing in band is nearly two fold as a DJ. The expectation is that I don't know anything about my gear, how a PA works, and most insultingly to me, that I don't know anything about music. There is also a frustratingly high level of sexual harassment and abuse from people in the crowd. Some men find no issue with randomly touching a female DJ's body, getting handsy with our turntables or mixers (IE let me show you how it's done or if you can do it, it must be easy and I will try it right now without your permission), flipping through our records without asking as if they are browsing at a store, or shouting at us comments relating to our bodies and what they would like to do to them. This is our work space and it, as well as our bodies, are being violated by strangers who occasionally look at female DJs like we are strippers soliciting lap dance.
Needless to say, whenever I discover fellow female DJs or women who operate in this male dominated music world at all, I take note.
NPR recently wrote an article about the the NYC based Discwoman, a trio of women who operate a DJ booking agency focused on showcasing female-identified DJs. Discwoman however aren't just curating events where women are the talent and running the show, they are also actively encouraging women to become involved in their world. It doesn't have to mean making or playing electronic music, they are helping teach others how to book events, run sound, and all the other various aspects that go into making a DJ night happen. It is inspiring to know that they are leading by example. The more of us there are doing these things, the less fetishized and alien women in this scene will be treated. There is comfort, safety, and power in growing our number. We all know learning a particular skill isn't the first hurdle, it is finding the courage to try at all. If we create a womb of nurturing support, there is so much talent to be born from this.
Here is a video I found that further expands on this subject. Maybe you will find it as illuminating and encouraging as I did.
Sidenote: For clarity sake, I am not a DJ that creates electronic music in a live setting. I have made a solo record that merged electronic music and indie rock (Ringfinger) but as a DJ, I play other people's records. I pride myself on my large and varied record collection. I do not use a laptop, I cultivate a DJ set using vinyl records from my personal collection.
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