The MINOR NOTES Archive: The Estrogenius Radio blog

The Re-Branding of ESTROGENIUS

2006-06-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

ESTROGENIUS Internet Radio went on the air in June 2001 with one mission: To provide exposure to under-played and under-appreciated female artists and vocalists. Not to get sappy or anything, but it has been my incredible honor to have dealt with so many talented artists, and even the occasional listener. (Kidding! It's, er, always this slow during the summer.)

Five years on, I felt like it was time for a bit of a shake-up. The music has been stronger than ever, but I thought that I could somehow be serving it better. Thus, I decided to re-brand and re-launch the station with a new identity: FEMALE FRONT.

What is Female Front? As I describe on my homepage (also re-branded, but still available at the same old links you always had, and now also at the convenient www.femalefront.com), it's a pun so bad, I had to share it with everybody on earth. I mean, a triple-entendre? How could I pass that up?!

Since I couldn't very well change all of that without also changing the blog, here's the important news as far as this space is concerned: It is moving to a new Blogger address.

Please bookmark www.femalefront.blogspot.com, as that is where this blog will be continuing. This space will remain up as an archive, and as a handy way to redirect everyone who keeps forgetting to bookmark the new address. This post will also be duplicated to mark the inaugural post at the new blog.

To all of the artists and repeat listeners, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are two of the reasons why I do this (the third being myself, because I really need something other than corporate radio to listen to). And if you're a first-time visitor, thank you for stopping by; I hope you check out the station and enjoy it.

Oh, and the blog will still be called "Minor Notes", because that's another annoyingly cute play on words that I've come to like, and because all of this shit is confusing enough as it is.

Emilie Autumn Studio Robbed & Ransacked; Tea Unharmed

2006-06-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

On June 4th, longtime ESTROGENIUS favorite Emilie Autumn revealed on her web forum that her home/studio/world headquarters had been robbed in late May, and that all of the studio equipment and computers were taken. As if that were not chilling enough, it turns out that Ms Autumn and a few of her band members were present (in other rooms of the building) when the robbery took place. If there is any consolation to be taken from this horror, it's that nobody was physically harmed.

Adding insult to injury was the timing of the violation: The robbery took place right when Traitor Records, Emilie Autumn's self-published label, was preparing to ship pre-orders of the brand-new EP Opheliac (a preview of the upcoming full-length album of the same name). The result, as Ms Autumn described in her forum, was devastating:

All computers, all ability to get online, all ability to record, gone. But the worst of it is the priceless databases containing the orders yet to be shipped, and the fan contacts for all of you...Not to mention the gigs of music and personal files lost forever. An absolute tragedy.

Emilie Autumn and the Traitor Records staff are working to rebuild the database and piece together which orders were shipped and which were not. In the meantime, they have requested that members of the mailing list re-sign up for it. Because my own order was one of those affected, I posted in the forum my offer to re-purchase the EP, whether because they are unable to find a record of my purchase, or if they just need the infusion of cash.

If you're in the Chicagoland area and have any information about the commission of this crime, please do the right thing and contact Traitor Records about it.

On the bright side, I believe that Emilie Autumn's considerable inventory of tea was not affected by this dastardly deed.

Go Betty Go Announce New Vocalist

2006-06-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

After months of searching and auditioning, Go Betty Go have announced the hiring of a new lead vocalist: Emily Wynne-Hughes.

To recap the story: Go Betty Go's founding vocalist, Nicolette Vilar, announced that she was leaving the band last February (as reported in this blog). Remaining band members Betty, Aixa and Michelle vowed to carry on with a new vocalist -- as soon as they could find one.

Then the announcement came three days ago that the search was over, and that Go Betty Go had a new lead vocalist. Here's a snippet from the official press release:

We met Emily at the auditions held back in March. Five seconds into her performance we knew there was a future with Emily and GBG. Her strong voice and personality immediately got us wanting to hear and see more. We can’t begin to tell you how extremely excited we are! We have nothing but good news from here on out.

And here's part of a message from the new girl herself, Emily Wynne-Hughes:

I can't tell you how excited I am to join the GBG team! It's been more than a dream come true. Nicolette left big shoes to fill and I hope I can squeeze my feet into them! I have heard such wonderful things about the fans of this band. You guys are what make this all possible. I hope you like what I bring to the table and enjoy the new GBG with me as the singer.

For the whole story, check out the official press release at the GBG website. I would've been happy to post a picture of "the new girl", but apparently Emily is so new that there aren't any pictures of her available anywhere!

Here's to Go Betty Go and Emily Wynne-Hughes, wishing them continued (and newfound) success in the future.

Alyson Greenfield: Support Your Local Prodigy

2006-05-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

When it comes to describing levels of talent, there are a few different descriptors that are commonly used: "Talented"; "Multi-talented"; and a third category, which Alyson Greenfield falls into, called "OK, now you're just showing off."

True, that last one is mainly used by insecure hacks like myself, but as I've pointed out before, one of the most reliable measurements of talent that I have is how lame I feel in comparison to the artist in question.

Of course, it's not Ms Greenfield's fault that I'm insecure, so let me apply a much more positive descriptor: "Renaissance Woman". I'm not exaggerating here -- just read her bio. She started playing piano at age 11, and has been a fountain of creativity ever since. She's in the process of composing music and lyrics for an upcoming musical, and she also co-wrote the screenplay to a short film that was based on a story by, yes, Alyson Greenfield.

Most recently, however, she's been in the studio recording her first full-length album, while also touring the East coast, including some of NYC's most notable Indie venues. But you don't have to wait for the album: Ms Greenfield's EP, Six Songs, is out now.

An Ohio native (currently attending grad school in Alabama), Alyson Greenfield's core musical genre could best be described (by me, at least) as Americana; but there are two cool piano ballads on the EP ("My Honey" and "Good Looks"), which I was naturally thrilled to find. Ms Greenfield is not averse to a little Rock & Roll as well, and I wouldn't mind seeing her explore more of that territory.

That is, when she's not pursuing a MFA in Creative Writing. In fact, she already looks a little like Sofia Coppola, and based on her creative talent, it's only a matter of time before Ms Greenfield is directing too.

Like all intelligent people, Alyson Greenfield is an enthusiastic supporter of internet radio, and of the mission of ESTROGENIUS; so I told her that I would return the favor by sending some traffic her way (in case you missed the link above, that's www.alysongreenfield.com). Help me accomplish this one thing, and maybe I'll feel a little less inferior.

Drunk Love

2006-05-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

A very interesting band was just brought to my attention, and I had to immediately post about it -- partly because there's been a near-drought of interesting bands around here lately, and partly because I haven't posted in a freaking dog's-age. (More on that in subsequent posts.)

The band -- actually a duo -- is Drunk With Joy. Consisting of Mila Oshin and Kris Jager, Drunk With Joy was formed in London, UK in 2002. Their first material was released in 2004, and now their first full album, Sound Living, is about to drop.

Consider me instantly hooked. With smooth assurance, DWJ manage to pull-off that Goth/Electro sound that can so easily confound lesser artists. Ms Oshin's vocals are strong, sincere, and convincing. The arrangements range from orchestral to industrial, and so far I haven't heard a false note.

The Drunk With Joy homepage linked above has some audio samples, and more can be heard at their Myspace page. The press seems to have taken to Drunk With Joy, and now here's hoping that you, the public, follow suit.

Kris Jager and Mila Oshin of Drunk With Joy

Off Topic: Rogue Wave! Part II

2006-04-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

In the short time since my previous post about rogue waves, there have actually been some developments on the subject. And judging by the number of hits generated by that post, I am not the only one who's fascinated by this phenomenon.

During the last two weeks, rogue waves have been a topic on one of my favorite TV shows: Season two of Deadliest Catch on The Discovery Channel. If you are not familiar with the show (shame on you), it is an ongoing documentary series about the Alaskan crab fishing industry. Camera crews went out with five different boats to capture the experience of fishing the deadly Bering Sea. According to the show, forty-one crab fishermen have lost their lives in the last decade, and watching the show, it's easy to see why. The Bering has consistently bad weather and high seas.

On last week's episode, the fishing vessel Aleutian Ballad had to return to Dutch Harbor prematurely, in order to drop off a suicidal "greenhorn" crew member. The Aleutian Ballad was not a "regular" on Deadliest Catch, and did not have a camera crew on board. But while back in Dutch Harbor, the boat's crew were apparently given cameras by the show's producers, in order for them to capture footage on the fly. Good thing for us viewers!

After putting out -- again -- from Dutch Harbor, the boat ran into a severe storm. By 3AM,the captain (sorry, I couldn't find any detailed info on the Aleutian Ballad on the internet) commented that the sea state was confused, with waves coming from multiple directions, and that he was having trouble navigating through the storm. Suddenly, the boat was slammed by a 60-foot rogue wave from the starboard side. The camera, pointed out the wheelhouse window, captured the wave as it began to break over the deck; then the impact knocked the camera out the cameraman's hands, and put everyone onto the deck. The engines died, and boat lost all power and was left listing to port. The captain was recorded by the camera (still lying on the ground) saying, "I've got no steering!"

I doubt whether any skipper could experience a more heart-stopping moment. A boat is at her most vulnerable when reeling like the Aleutian Ballad was at that moment; in huge seas, without steerage, a second wave could easily capsize her, and then it's lights-out for good. Eventually, the Aleutian Ballad righted herself, and the captain got the engines started (the steep list had caused the engines to lose oil pressure). The crew got banged-up a bit: The captain apparently broke a couple of ribs, and his daughter (the ship's cook) was thrown out of her bunk with such force that her body smashed open a wooden door on the opposite wall. We in the audience had just witnessed either a strong recovery from difficult circumstances (glass half full) or a near-sinking (glass half empty).

Incredibly, camera crews on board the Time Bandit, a series "regular" (see ship's model at left), caught another monster wave on tape later that same week. I don't know if it was technically a rogue wave, since it seemed to be in line with the swell, but it was incredibly big, and it did have a trough in front of it. Captain John Hillstrand watched dumbfounded as the Time Bandit slid down into the trough, then he grabbed the mic and called a big-wave warning to the crew: "Bigbigbigbigbig!" The wave broke over the boat, and no crew were injured; but it could certainly have gone differently. That's why these guys make the big bucks. What a great show!

I can't help but wonder how much of a part the ships' designs played in their ability to recover from big waves. Both of the above boats are "house aft", which simply means that the superstructure (bridge, deck house, etc.) sits at the back of the boat instead of the front ("house forward"). I guess it doesn't matter if you ship a wave from either side -- if it's gonna get you, it's gonna get you -- but it seems like a big advantage to have the house aft when your boat's pointed into high seas. Also, it lets the skipper keep an eye on the water and the deck crew at the same time, which has to be a good thing. (Below: Time Bandit's partner vessel, Debra D, in relatively calm seas.)

Last time, I mentioned how the QE2 was one of the most famous ships to encounter a rogue wave. Captain Ronald Warwick described the sight of that wave as looking like they were "Sailing into the white cliffs of Dover". The wave height was equal to the height of the bridge windows -- an incredible 95 feet!

Sir Ernest Shackleton also famously encountered a rogue wave during his desperate journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia Island. But unlike the cushy, 963-foot-long QE2, Shackleton's boat was the James Caird, a 23-foot wooden whaler -- basically, a lifeboat. The expedition carpenter, "Chippy" McNish, had modified the boat by raising the gunwales and adding a deck over the top, to keep out the weather. Shackleton was on top of this deck, chipping away rime ice, when he spotted what he thought was a strip of clear sky high above the gray horizon. Then he realized that it was actually the white crest of an enormous wave that was bearing down on them! He managed to shout a warning down to the rest of the crew: "For God's sake, hang on! It's got us!" The wave smashed down onto the tiny boat, but somehow the James Caird, overloaded with ice and supplies, managed to stay afloat.

Alaskan crab fisherman, cruise ship captains, polar explorers...they all have one thing in common: They all take a risk every time they go out to sea. And they're all either braver, or crazier, than me! I'm guessing it's both.

Launching the James Caird from Elephant Island

Iron Range Maiden

2006-04-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

I keep a fairly eclectic playlist on Estrogenius, but as I've admitted before, there is a paucity of selections from the Americana side of the musical universe. In other words, you'll hear no Country, no Bluegrass, no Folk and no Jazz. That is a personal choice, based on my own taste, and the fact that I think that women in those genres are comparatively well-served by traditional media; I play the artists and genres that I feel are underserved. Also, I generally don't like Country, Bluegrass, Folk and Jazz. There is that. However, I do play artists who take those genres and put their own unique spin on them. One example is the astoundingly good Natalie London, whose style can best be described as "Thrash Folk".

Americana in general has enjoyed a relative explosion in popularity in recent years, with breakout hits like the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou, and the publicity garnered by Jack White's duties as a performer on the Cold Mountain soundtrack, and producer of Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose album.

Thus, perhaps it was inevitable that I, too, would cross-over and play some Americana. But being Me, I couldn't just play any ordinary artist; it would have to be someone a little different, and a lot better than the norm. Someone who fits the Estrogenius criteria of being an artist who is not getting enough exposure, but who deserves to be a superstar.

So, whose talent and skill managed to overwhelm me? That would be Minnesota's own Sara Softich.

Let's rewind a bit: Sara Softich contacted me about a month ago to promote her new release, Pipe Dream. When I saw that her previous work was a Country project called "Rusted & Bent", I was skeptical. But Pipe Dream was supposedly a major departure from that earlier work, in that it was a piano-based collection of ballads. Now you're talking! I asked Sara to send me the CD.

If you're folk-phobic like me, then you may wonder how I can possibly be so overwhelmed by such a simple album. How simple? The album was recorded using collaborator Jason Wussow's old 8-track recorder and the upright piano from Ms Softich's childhood. But that's the beauty of Pipe Dream: The arrangements may be simple, but the music is not. The tone remains dark throughout most of the album, and even the lighter tracks are tinged with melancholy. And that, as a dark-side Martha Stewart might say, is a very good thing.

The album opens with the title track, a perhaps-autobiographical account of a failed stint in Nashville, told sparingly with piano, organ and vocal. This beautiful song grabbed me to such an extent, that I already have a personal anecdote about it:

I've now been sick with the flu for about a week (which is why I'm so late updating the blog). Early on, when I was really getting slammed by it, lying in bed semi-delerious with unpleasant symptoms, one song kept playing in a loop in my head: "Pipe Dream." Why? I have no idea, but then a lot of things don't make sense when you're sick. Maybe the somber feeling of the song just fit my mood well at that time. The point is, imagine how powerful a song has to be to stick in your head for any reason. Congratulations to Sara Softich for creating a song that really got its hooks into me. That day, I looked at the blinds in my window and imagined red curtains blowing in the breeze.

And that's just track one.

The next track, "Ireland", makes me wish that Ms Softich had included a lyric sheet with the album. In this case, the upbeat (for this album) music belies a serious tale of separation. I especially liked the following few lines: Hear the burning of fiddle strings, chop the piano for kindling / Got a gallon of gasoline, divorce is better than death.

"Down in the Cellar" is a Cabaret-style song, and Ms Softich proves herself a natural at this genre too, as she also does with the instrumental "Corraine's Waltz". And I'm going to guess that after a a few more listenings, the haunting album closer "Wizard" will have a similar effect on my psyche as "Pipe Dream". Indeed, what's remarkable about the album Pipe Dream is not the variety of genres -- the artist has actually limited herself to a few closely-related subgenres of Americana -- rather, it's the consummate skill with which the album is executed.

For an album that seems to be marketed almost as a side-project, Pipe Dream is really a showcase of one artist's outstanding vision. Not only did Sara Softich lend her crystal-clear voice to the songs, she also wrote and produced the entire album. Therefore, although she was joined by a collection of great session musicians, the artistic success of the album rests with no one but Sara Softich herself; and this "new" artist acquitted herself with the skill of a seasoned professional.

Ultimately, I think that some musical works are greater than the sum of their parts. Some can transcend limitations (self-imposed or otherwise), and become an extension of the artist herself, not just a record of her observations. They can get inside your head and stay there, or they can change your emotional state in any number of ways. Sara Softich has succeeded at this, in the best way possible. This is a "small" album, made with few instruments and uncomplicated arrangements; but it still had a big impact on me.

In my view, Pipe Dream is a small treasure.

Plastic Oh-No Band

2006-04-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

If there’s one genre that seems particularly male-dominated, it’s Electronic music; and I’m not sure why. After all, it’s not like there aren’t plenty of equal-opportunity tweakers out there to listen to it. Joke!

Actually, there is a fair amount of Electronic music on my playlist, and that’s because many of those male artists happen to use outstanding female vocalists. That’s fine, and I don’t wish to take anything away from those male artists; I’m just wondering, where are the female DJ’s?

I’m far from an expert on Electronica (for that, see my buddy DJ Tykx), but I can name a handful of top artists in the genre – and all of them are men. On the other hand, I can only think of one female DJ off the top of my head – Sandra Collins – and I don’t even play her music on the station (which is just a matter of personal taste; she’s a bit hardcore for me).

Therefore, I was particularly pleased to come across Arthur Loves Plastic, which is what composer/performer Bev Stanton has unfortunately decided to name her act. Yeah, I know. Opinions differ, of course, but there are those who think that it's one of the worst band names ever. Fortunately, it seems to be Ms Stanton's karmic fate to repay society by releasing really good music.

I'm basing that only upon hearing her latest CD, Pursuit of Happiness; but if you dig into her catalog, you'll discover that Ms Stanton is a prolific artist with many well-recieved albums under her belt (one of which is the brilliantly-titled Klondyke 5; why couldn't she have named the act that?). Pursuit can best be described as a "chillout" album, but there are some uptempo tracks, such as the album opener "Alone till the Day I Die", which features a Saint Etienne-like arrangement of Heather Heimbuch’s vocals.

Another track of note is "You May Think This is Love", which features a sample (from what sounds like an old educational film) of a stern woman admonishing us to "Not engage in frequent necking or petting". On the other hand, she may have been addressing the sapphic subjects of the album cover.

The title track is a solid vocal song reminiscent of great 80’s acts like Propaganda, and you know how much I loves me some 80’s music. "Pursuit of Happiness" leads into the very pretty "Just for the Night", and when you throw in the album closer "Play Misty", you’ve got my three favorite tracks on the album.

Like I said, I’m no expert on Electronic music; but Bev Stanton is, and she seems well aware that female artists must shout to be heard in this male-heavy genre. Here’s hoping that a wide audience hears her. Prove me right, and check out Bev Stanton's work at www.arthurlovesplastic.com.

Bev Stanton

Britney: Live and Fully Dialated

2006-03-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

I first heard this story a few days ago, but tragically have not been able to spread the word until now. I apologize for letting you all down. Fortunately, other keen-eyed reporters and bloggers have picked up the story, so you may have heard it by now. Even if you have, it bears repeating.

It seems that sculptor Daniel Edwards has created a nude statue (pictured below) of a pregnant Britney Spears, positioned on all fours on top of a bear rug, about to give birth. The statue was created to be a "Monument to Pro-Life" (and that is indeed part of its official title), and will include materials from the Manhattan Right-to-Life Committee as part of its dedication in April.

Wait...what?

Yes, that's what the press release says. It doesn't happen to say whether the dedication will specifically be on April 1st, but one could be forgiven for assuming so. However, the sculptor is a real guy -- and an extremely talented one, based on other examples of his work that I dug up on the Web. So I'm going to choose to believe this story. It's so weird, I need it to be real.

Next, I have to wonder how the largely conservative Pro-Life set would react to this honor. Sure, it's a lot of publicity for their cause, but on the other hand, umm, it's a realistic statue of a naked sex symbol in a classic erotic pose. (C'mon, all-fours on a bear rug?! And YES, guys, pregnant women can be erotic.) If there's anything we know about US conservatives, it's that they're not prudish in the least, AND they are always ready to support the freedom of artistic vision.

Regardless of any politics involved, I think that the art itself -- whether the creator's intent was serious or sardonic -- is really very good. No, really! If Pro-Life groups really get behind this and support it, then good for them. Oh, and in case you're wondering: Yes, the baby is crowning in the sculpture.

As for Brit-Brit (who, ironically, delivered her baby in a C-section), I just can't bring myself to bash her too badly; plenty of other people already do a fine job of that. As far as I'm concerned, she's only made one mistake, but it's not anything that can be cured by art or medicine -- unless doctors can perform emergency surgery to remove the 170 lb leech that's stuck to her.

Off Topic: Rogue Wave!

2006-03-23T15:52:00.000-08:00

No, it's not a musical genre that fuses Punk and New Wave (although it is a band name). It IS, however, a natural phenomenon that has been witnessed by countless mariners over the centuries. Yet the very existence of this phenomenon had until very recently been disputed by scientists, because the laws of physics would seem to limit such an occurrence to once every 10,000 years.

It is the phenomenon known as the rogue wave, and its existence finally has been confirmed by science, in a big way. Not only was I surprised to learn this, I was surprised to find out that it's relatively old news.

As I said, rogue waves have been reported by countless mariners, and have also been suspected in sending countless more ships to the bottom, without trace. Even some famous ships, like the Queen Elizabeth 2, have encountered rogue waves and were lucky enough to survive.

So what, exactly, is a rogue wave? In my layman's definition, rogue waves (also known as "freak waves") are open-ocean waves that are substantially bigger than the surrounding sea state. For example, you could be sailing along cheerfully in five-foot swells, and the next thing you know, you get broadsided by a thirty-foot wave that came out of nowhere. This could very well result in the loss of your boat, and, by extension, your life. Likewise, you could be struggling through insane 50-foot seas, and suddenly get obliterated by a 100-foot rogue wave; it's the same principle at work.

(I'm obligated to add that the scientific definition of rogue wave -- now that science recognizes them -- is, "waves that are more than double the significant wave height (SWH), which is itself defined as the mean of the largest third of waves in a wave record". A tsunami is not a rogue wave, nor vice-versa.)

As if the sheer size weren't dangerous enough, what makes rogue waves particularly dangerous is their form: Rogue waves can be near-vertical (as opposed to a rolling swell), and they are usually preceded by a trough. Thus, instead of riding the crest of the wave, a ship will fall or roll into the trough, and then the wave will break on top of it. The other confounding factor is that rogue waves frequently travel at an angle to the swells, which means that they will hit many boats from the side -- and that is exactly where a boat does not want to get hit.

The ship in the above photo was lucky: She had been sailing in a steady 15-foot swell, when she encountered this approximately 60-foot rogue wave. According to the detailed caption, the ship was sliding down into the trough and towards the wave when this photo was snapped. There was significant damage to some of the deck fittings, but fortunately nobody was injured.

As an avid reader of true-life seafaring stories like "The Perfect Storm", I had always read about rogue waves, and so recently I did a web search on the subject, just to see if there had been any interesting developments (because that's just the kind of scintillating guy I am). It turns out there's been a lot -- and I may have been the last interested party to know. The first article I found was a 2004 report from the European Space Agency (ESA), which contained a staggering statistic:

"Severe weather has sunk more than 200 supertankers and container ships exceeding 200 metres in length during the last two decades. Rogue waves are believed to be the major cause in many such cases."

In other words, two hundred of the world's largest ships have gone down in the past twenty years. Imagine if two hundred 747 jumbo jets had gone down in the same period: How would that make you feel about air travel? In fact, only 24 Boeing 747's have been involved in passenger fatalities in the entire 37-year history of the aircraft type. While it's true that those 24 incidents probably resulted in greater loss of life than the ship incidents (the ships lost were largely bulk cargo vessels), I think that even the loss of 200 empty 747's would make you sit up and take notice.

That same report goes on to say, "Two large ships sink every week on average, but the cause is never studied to the same detail as an air crash. It simply gets put down to 'bad weather'."

The upshot, folks, is that even with today's cutting-edge technology, seafaring is still as dangerous as sailors and their insurance companies have always told us it is. In fact, as a result of the ESA study, we now know that rogue waves not only exist, but are common. Which brings forth the chilling realization that every ship currently afloat is basically vulnerable to death-by-rogue-wave, becase design standards call for ships to be able to withstand "normal"-sized big waves that are half the size of potential rogue waves.

I've long had an interest in ocean travel, but in light of this new research, I think I'll just remain a passive observer, as I've always been. Not that it would've mattered anyway; as it turns out, I'm prone to violent seasickness.

Even the venerable "QE2" has encountered a
rogue wave.

Note: Due to the popularity of this topic (and my own continued interest), I posted a follow-up on April 26. And don't even get me started on the movie "Poseidon"...

Off Topic: It Was Bound to Happen

2006-03-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

Up until now, I have largely kept this blog "on topic" -- the topic being the outstanding female artists that can be heard on ESTROGENIUS Internet Radio. Although I have always had the temptation to do what many personal bloggers do, which is to write about their own lives and interests, I have seldom done so. (There have been some exceptions; it goes without saying that the world needs to be informed of the goings-on of The Poubelle Twins.)

While it's true that this policy was partly motivated by conscience (woe is they who are subjected to me talking about my personal interests), in reality it was more of a pragmatic necessity. When I write about a fantastic new artist, I want that artist to be able to link back to that post; what I don't want is for that artist to have to share webspace with my ruminations on things like "Whatever Happened to the Sequential Turn Signal?" (Answer: A Federal regulation eventually prohibited them.)

However, I have realized that I can no longer contain my need to share random trivia with the masses. I must blog about Stuff, much like those bloggers whom I admire most. In order not to conflict with my primary mission of cheerleading for female artists, I have come up with a simple solution: Rather than start a separate blog for the pointless blathering, I will simply post such things as standalone entries in this blog; any such post will have the heading "Off Topic" in the title. Yeah, I know...I'm a real rocket surgeon.

I've already got my first Off Topic subject lined up -- but it'll have to wait until next time. I've already spent way too much space explaining something that you all figured out in the first two seconds.

If you know the Mercury Cougar, then you know about
sequential turn signals.

I Loves Me Some BUST

2006-03-20T13:27:00.000-08:00

I got a very pleasant surprise when I checked my email last week: The BUSTline -- the e-newsletter sent by BUST Magazine to thousands of subscribers -- had a plug for ESTROGENIUS and this blog! Like I needed any more reason to love those crazy kids!

A bit of background for you:

BUST is a bi-monthly magazine about women, pop-culture and everything that happens when the twain meet. It is intelligent, snarky (yet not too full of itself) and it doesn't hate men, except when some of us deserve to be hated on.

One useful resource provided on the BUST website is the Girl Wide Web, a repository of girl-oriented sites from all over the internet. If you know of a site that belongs on the GWW, then submit it; I did, and shortly thereafter I got the aforementioned plug in The BUSTline! Sometimes, the Universe IS cool.

Thus, I have no problem plugging them right back, and forming a sort of Moebius strip of mutual admiration. Below is a pic of the cover of the latest issue of BUST, featuring cover girl Gretchen Mol as cover girl Bettie Page! Please do everyone a favor, and buy a couple of subscriptions.

© 2005 BUST, Inc.

PS: In the interest of full disclosure, I might as well mention that it really was the content of BUST that caught my eye, not the expectation of it being a magazine about major-league yabos. In fact, I prefer a smaller bust on a woman (although I would never discriminate). Even Mrs Arhythmius wishes that her shapely C's were a little smaller. A reverse trend, perhaps?

Lady of Tomorrow: Amy Obenski

2006-03-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

If you're a nascent musician, you may feel as though the likelihood of releasing an album and having it gain nationwide attention must be a struggle bordering on the impossible, even in this era of Myspace superstars.

Well, it's not impossible, and I've got the CD to prove it: Kite, by Amy Obenski.

Photo: Jamie Ibey
Amy Obenski is a Santa Cruz resident (go Slugs!) who had always wanted to be a musician and songwriter, but never got beyond the university choir. After graduation, she got a job in local government in San Jose, but soon realized that what she really wanted to do was become a famous singer. So, one day, she actually did something about it.

After taking a weekend "realize your potential" course, Ms Obenski was inspired to write her first song. Two years later, in 2003, she released her first album, What We Tell. And not long after that, she received a call from an MTV executive; they had heard one of the tracks from What We Tell on somebody's iPod, and wanted to license the music for the MTV show "Made". Eventually, MTV would license all of Amy Obenski's songs, for use on two of their shows.

This incredible story can be found at Amy Obenski's website, linked above, and in this article from the Santa Cruz paper Good Times Weekly.

But back to Kite, Amy Obenski's latest CD. Wait a minute, you're probably saying. It's Folk, and you don't like Folk. Well, let me first clarify that I don't dislike all Folk music; just all Folk music that I've heard. But I like Kite, which means that either A) It's very good Folk; or B) It's very good Amy Obenski music, and we should not be so quick to pigeonhole music into neat little categories. But if you want me to drill-down to proper radio semantics, I would say that Kite is more AAA than Folk, and would be welcome on any station that plays Beth Orton.

What I like about the album is that it does start off very light (musically, if not lyrically), with a raft of coffeehouse-friendly tracks that allow Ms Obenski's comforting voice to, er, comfort us. But then, she surprises us with a mood change that starts with the excellent "Lady of Tomorrow", continues with "Bomb the World" (a cover of a Spearhead song), and plays through much of what would've been called Side B, in the bad-old-days of vinyl.

Don't get me wrong, she doesn't turn into Rage Against the Machine or anything, but there is still a subtle edge to this album, which I heard and appreciated.

But more importantly, Amy Obenski's success as a new artist is impressive, and I hope that it gives other new artists the inspiration to continue trying to make their dreams a reality.

Even if they don't go to the university that has the world's best mascot.

"You guys look like..."
"Dorks. They look like dorks."
The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slug makes its star turn.
( Photo by Linda R. Chen, courtesy of Miramax films)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Twin Canadians: The Connection

2006-02-27T16:37:00.000-08:00

In my admittedly belated review of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs album Fever to Tell (which I posted early last year), I mentioned how Karen O managed to pull-off uncanny impressions of Siouxsie Sioux and Chrissie Hynde. I bring it up again now because (1) As always, any mention of Karen O or the Yeahs will automatically increase my hit-count by 40%, and (2) The new Yeahs single, called "Gold Lion" is out now.

(Obligatory YYY pic guaranteed to increase web hits)

First, let me say that "Gold Lion" is a brilliant song, and I absolutely love it. I usually prefer to have the context of an album before I make such proclimations (Show Your Bones, the forthcoming YYY album, drops March 28), but "Gold Lion" could be my favorite Yeah Yeah Yeahs song. It doesn't sound like Siouxsie and the Banshees, or The Pretenders, or anything else on Fever to Tell.

In fact, it sounds exactly like Tegan and Sara.

Right. So, is it actually a good thing that Karen O and the Yeahs can sound like so many other bands? I really don't know. I do know that Rock music desperately needs Karen O right now, since she is basically the only one in the genre who is flying the female flag and getting major airplay. So I can't criticize her too much. Hell, I'm as mesmerized by her as most people seem to be.

Therefore, I will leave that conversation for another time, and come to the real point of this post: To talk about the comparatively (and unfortunately) under-appreciated Tegan and Sara.

I've been playing tracks from their album So Jealous (the only one I own right now) for months. The first time I heard them was probably over a year ago, when "Walking with a Ghost" was getting airplay on Indie broadcast and satellite radio stations. And if you haven't heard any Tegan and Sara songs, that right there may be the reason. "Walking with a Ghost" is one of the two quirkiest songs on the album, the type of song that Indie stations like to play because it's too quirky to cross over.

Tegan and Sara. No, wait...
Sara and Tegan? Wait...

But the rest of the album is so catchy and so appealing, that if any other song had gotten airplay initially, it would've had a good shot at crossing over. Not that "crossing over" is or should necessarily be the goal of a band like Tegan and Sara, but it would be a shame if a potentially large fanbase missed out on T&S just because they weren't listening to the right radio stations.

Tegan and Sara, the people (I don't know their last names, and I'm not sure anybody does) hail from Calgary, Alberta, but because they are identical twin sisters, they now live on opposite ends of Canada from each other, in order to avoid driving each other (more) crazy. You can find this info and more at the website linked to above. Each sister wrote the other's amusing bio, and even the band's official press release for So Jealous has the sisters' distinct stamp on it: "The band is happy to report that no one cried during the recording process, except of course Sara (identity crisis on the second day of mixing) and Tegan (she cries whenever Sara starts crying)."

That these unique (except for being identical twins) women managed to make an album that is peculiar yet totally accessible, speaks volumes about their songwriting skills. "We Didn't Do It" sounds a bit like Missing Persons, but not in the way that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound like Tegan and Sara. It's not so much a matter of familiar melodies as it is of vocal references. Nobody sounds like Tegan and Sara, but occasionally Tegan and Sara use the same vocal inflections as in certain Police songs. Or, if you really want to get into minutiae, pay close attention and you'll notice that they frequently use the exact same inflections as the lead guy from Thompson Twins. (No, I am not insane; just listen to how they pronounce their "D" words!)

I also love "You Wouldn't Like Me", a paen to insecurity, and "We Didn't Do It", a beautifully-produced track that builds up to some surprising heights.

(Sidebar: Actually, there is one person who sounds a bit like Tegan and Sara: The comedienne (and occasional singer) Sarah Silverman. Enough so that when I first heard "Walking with a Ghost", and the announcement of the band name "Tegan and Sara", I thought that it might be a musical side project of Ms Silverman's! Alas, the world still awaits for that potential to be realized.)

The bottom line is, Stop ignoring Tegan and Sara, buy their albums, visit their website, etc., etc., etc.

And thanks to all YYY fans for the traffic. ;)

Strippers+Wrestling > Moving

2006-02-23T12:52:00.000-08:00

[Note: The publication of this post had to be delayed due to a problem with Blogger's photo upload service. Looks like they're shootin' for 100% downtime! C'mon Blogger, you can do it!]

Regular readers of this blog (both of you) are already aware of my peripheral connection to the entertainment spectacular known as Lucha Va Voom (my sister Rita is Co-Producer and a performer), as well as my deep and abiding love for those fighting filles, the Poubelle Twins (and in case Mrs. Arhythmius is reading, by "love" I of course mean "respect for the craft").

For those of you who didn't know all that, you do now.

What none of you know is the great shame that I am about to reveal: I did not attend LVV's Valentine's Day event, "Love, Mexican Style" last week. That's right: I am lame, and I let the side down.

There was really only one thing that could have kept me from attending (aside from the usual Death, Dismemberment or Nausea clauses), and that was being neck-deep in the fresh hell of moving. As usual, the act of taking stuff from one place to another somehow turned out to be 200% more difficult than originally anticipated (and I originally anticipated it to be an excruciating, interminable mess).

So, that's what I was doing instead of watching the Poubelles dominate the ring; instead of watching Super Porky demolish Blue Demon, Jr.; instead of watching the Wau Wau Sisters --

Holy CRAP, I missed the Wau Wau Sisters!

The Wau Wau Sisters [Photo: Marcy Robinson]

Well, now I'm even more bummed-out than before. How utterly bogus. Here's hoping I won't be lame and miss the show next time.

C'est une tragédie! Forgive me, Bibi!

O Blogger! Wherefore dost thou suck?

2006-02-23T11:29:00.000-08:00

People often ask me why I don't post in this blog more often. Well, that's not entirely true; in fact, people never ask me that, because nobody really reads this blog. But if they were to ask, here is what my answer would be:

Because, of all the times I have visited Blogger or Blogspot.com with the intention of posting, the site was down for about half of those times. That's 50% downtime, which is considered "bad" in the world of information technology. Mind you, that's not 50% of my overall visits to Blogger, just 50% of the times where I intended to post. And since I post at fairly random times, that means that Blogger is, technically, really fucked-up.

(I've made this joke before, but as everybody knows, redundancy actually makes sarcasm funnier, so here goes) I suppose that I shouldn't be too upset, because Blogger is just a tiny startup that has been forced to contend with the sudden and unforseeable explosion in popularity of blogging, and so therefore technical SNAFU's are to be expected.

Oh, wait -- actually, Blogger is part of a company that is worth about $100 Billion, and whose raison d'etre is the investment of huge sums of cash into bleeding-edge technologies, in order to make everyone's computing experience simple, efficient and fun. And they're doing great at it! Basically, every consumer-level application that Google has ever released just plain works. Even their oft-ridiculed, eternally Beta services.

*Sigh* -- except for Blogger.

Oh, and blogging has been extremely popular for, what, two years now? Yeah, hey Blogger? You may just want to get some new equipment to handle the sudden load.

Look, I realize that information technology on such a scale can never be problem-free. I don't expect Blogger to have zero downtime, I really don't. However, I do think I'm right in saying that 50% downtime is a bit much. It could just be my bad timing, but then again, Blogger could just suck that badly. I guess I only expect more because the last time I couldn't access Google.com or Gmail was, let me see... oh yeah, NEVER.

Now that I've finished my rant, it'd be really funny if it didn't post.

Go [Nicolette] Go

2006-02-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

Some rather disappointing news about a featured ESTROGENIUS artist broke while I was unplugged from the internet:

Go Betty Go have announced that lead vocalist Nicolette Vilar is leaving the group. Most people don't realize how punishing their schedule has been, but the band has been alternately recording and touring around the world for about two years straight. That's bound to take a toll on anybody, and after plugging away as best she could, Nicolette finally decided that it was too much for her.

For more about Go Betty Go's recent album Nothing is More, check out my review here.

Betty, Aixa, Nicolette and Michelle of Go Betty Go

The good news for fans of the band is that Betty, Michelle and Aixa (Nicolette's sister) intend to continue Go Betty Go with a new lead singer, and will be posting audition information on the GBG website soon.

It all seems amicable, at least in public, and I don't know if it's because they're women, or because they're friends. It just seems to me that a lot of male groups tend to have spectacular flameouts, but female groups just sort of part ways with no drama. Even Hole disbanded quietly, for chrissake! Again, I'm talking about the public perception, because in private, there had to be all kinds of tears.

In any case, I wish Nicolette all the best in whatever she chooses to do in life, because she has entertained me greatly as the singer of Go Betty Go. And I look forward to GBG's next chapter: The music business can be insanely difficult, and I hope that GBG can work through this latest difficulty and come out the other side more successful than ever. Because they're Stronger...Than Yesterday!

Sorry...

Stuff

2006-02-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

Personal note: The Big Move is done (almost), and I now have internet service at the new homestead. Halle-freakin'--lujah. Anyway, although we are moving into a larger -- and by all standards, better -- apartment, our goal was to be a bit more minimalist with our personal possessions. I don't mean ascetic or Spartan (I loves my HDTV), I just mean...we want less stuff. After ten years of living in the same place, one tends to accumulate a lot of stuff. To that end, we've donated to charity or disposed of about half of our stuff.

So, how is it that our remaining stuff is now filling-up our larger apartment, and we're not even done with moving yet?!? It seems physically impossible, and remember, the goal was to have less stuff. What the hell? There's no explanation -- except that I'm a walking George Carlin routine.

Save the Raymond (Again)!

2006-02-03T15:33:00.000-08:00

Once again, it's time to step-up and give more support to a worthwhile local cause: The effort to preserve the historic Raymond Theatre in Pasadena.

I last wrote about the Raymond in the earlier version of Minor Notes, but sadly, the battle is not yet over. The preservation group Friends of the Raymond Theatre needs to raise $2500 in legal fees by February 10th (and when you read about the chicanery being propagated by City officials and private developers, you'll understand why so much litigation is necessary).

And let me reiterate my surprise at how, in this age of more enlightened preservation (especially in SoCal), somebody tried to get away with "redeveloping" the Raymond, without consideration for its history -- and nearly got away with it!

I encourage concerned citizens to visit the Friends of the Raymond website, and to contribute whatever they can to help preserve this outstanding piece of Pasadena history.

"Chop Suey": A Musical Adobo

2006-01-26T16:06:00.000-08:00

This week I was fortunate enough to be contacted by Michael Sutton, a producer, songwriter, and head of his own record label (Sutton Records, oddly enough), all of which I believe makes him an “impresario”. But even if it didn’t, he should still use that title, because it’s just a cool thing to call oneself.

Anyway, Mr. Sutton promised to send me some of his label’s releases, and the first one I received was the one I was most interested in: Chop Suey by Prettier Than Pink. Based on their song samples at CDBaby, it sounded like PTP was going to be another solid retro-Pop girl band, and indeed, the full album did not disappoint.

As an aside, I would just like to point out, once again, what an astoundingly good 12 months it's been for Indie Pop fans. Just look through some of the previous entries in this blog to learn about some of the fantastic artists I've come across in the past year. There hasn't been such a flood of good pop since that Coca-Cola factory got blown-up in The Killing Fields. (See what I did there? Flood of...good...pop? *ahem*)

Prettier Than Pink was originally formed in the Philippines by lead vocalist/guitarist Lei Bautista. They had a smash hit in 1995 with "Cool Ka Lang" ("Just Stay Cool" -- which inspired a Filipino film of the same name, if I'm not mistaken) and released two albums, the first of which went gold. After that, Bautista emigrated to the USA, where she reformed Prettier Than Pink a few years later.

The result is Chop Suey, a very fun collection of Pop tunes displaying a variety of influences. The band lineup consists of three Filipina expats -- the now-married Lei Bautista-Sutton, lead guitarist/vocalist Pamela Aquino, and bassist/vocalist Melody del Mundo -- along with drummer Ann Connolly, representin' for Ireland.

Ostensibly, PTP is an 80's Pop/New Wave-style band, but in fact their influences run much wider and deeper. Sure, there are a few tracks in which they display that classic Go-Go's sound, and there's nothing wrong with that. But there are plenty of surprises, too: Some tracks, such as "Hair" and "Baby", have a 60's Bubblegum tinge to them, sounds that were made famous by bands like The Ronettes or The Archies. I even detected a bit of Supremes-style Motown in there.

Meanwhile, the song "Kryptonite" is a full-on blast from the 80's, but it also features a brilliant little guitar riff by Ms Aquino, which results in a Bangles/Beatles mashup sound. I wish such a band actually existed, because then they could call themselves "The Beagles" (go ahead, you can use that idea for free).

And the unexpected doesn't end there: "Johnny Blaze" is a classic torch song in the vein of...Peggy Lee?! Well, that's what it sounded like to me, but then I am a bit rusty on my Cold War-era American torch singers. Finally, the album closer "Irish Rose" is a solid U2 tribute, with Ms Connolly going at the drums with an enthusiasm that would make her countryman Larry Mullen proud. And through it all, Mrs. Bautista-Sutton keeps the vocals simple, but knowing; evoking the source material without ever parodying it.

It turns out that Chop Suey is a rather appropriate title for a simple album that combines many different elements to make an appealing platter. Why not pick up a copy -- just in time for Chinese New Year!

It's No Bother At All

2006-01-16T15:21:00.000-08:00

Going with a different font here, just to see if it works better. The "small" Arial that I was using looked a little too small, but Blogger's "Normal Size" is too freaking huge, in any font. This small Verdana looks to do the trick.

Fascinating stuff, isn't it? Maybe I'll do "Font Talk" every Monday!

OK, just one more bit of housekeeping: Mrs. Arhythmius and I have found a suitable apartment. Thus, we will transition from the stress of apartment-hunting to the stress of moving. *Sigh*. Moving is the only type of major trauma that is not directly covered by health insurance. See, I really hate the act of moving. I hate it. Do you get me? I am using the word "hate" here. About moving.

So, please forgive me if I seem more edged-out over the next few weeks. It's just me, quietly developing an ulcer.

_______________________________________________________

Fortunately, I've got new music to distract me. Last week, another phenomenal Indie Pop artist sent me her album, and once again I am at a loss to explain how commercial radio hasn't latched onto this thing like a corporate Remora.

Dina Gathe is her name, and she's been rocking L.A.'s classic venues for so long, it's kinda strange I haven't run into her before. I mean, even considering that I don't go out anymore. Well, no matter -- I've got her new album Bother Me now, and if you want my copy, then you'll have to have Chuck Heston pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

Bother Me is a huge album, both in content and ambition. There are 15 tracks, and each song is a work of high quality. While listening to the album, I got the distinct impression that Chrissie Hynde was there in spirit. Then I read Ms Gathe's bio, and sure enough, Ms Hynde was listed as a major influence. But I also heard echoes of everyone from U2 to Faith Hill. Ms Gathe is a strong enough songwriter that she can ease into different genres without sounding like she's stretching.

I'd also like to point out that the album was produced by Gilli Moon, an Indie Pop artist in her own right (also heard on Estrogenius), as well as a producer, promoter, and motivator extraordinaire. Ms Moon runs her own label, Warrior Girl Music, and a publishing company, with the mission of providing exposure to deserving female artists. In other words, it's exactly like what I'M trying to do, but fortunately Ms Moon also has talent.

I've added three tracks from Bother Me to the playlist of Estrogenius: "Solid Ground", a crackerjack album opener with a cool rock riff; "Story", a ballad with a beautiful melody and vocal arrangement; and "Is My Everything Enough?", another rocker, but with some odd synth breaks that make it sound like a cross between Duran Duran, Billy Idol and... Dina Gathe, of course.

The expert songwriting and production on Bother Me also reminded me of my favorite Pop artist of last year, Ana Lovelis. Honestly, these women are making my job very easy, and they're making terrestrial radio programmers look really dumb. Well... more dumb.

Dominating the Competition

2006-01-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

I will be posting about new music very soon. In fact, as soon as I can take time out from my day job, and apartment-hunting.

But for now, I just wanted to mention something I heard on a local radio advertisement. The Power Automotive Group, a collection of car dealers in Southern California, is running a promotion to get people to trade in their used cars for new ones at Power dealerships.

The name of the promotion? "Power Exchange".

From the sound of it, somebody at Power or their ad agency is into BDSM. If only they'd had the nerve to call it "Total Power Exchange"!

OK, for those of you who don't get it, here's why it's funny.

Come to think of it, that pretty much describes the relationship between any car salesman and a customer.

Blogging for Bloggers

2006-01-06T11:35:00.000-08:00

Well, it's nice to be back after a busy Festivus season. Not that I was "away" during the last couple of weeks, but I certainly have been preoccupied. Here are just a few of the things that have been taking up my time lately:

December 22nd, the day before my wife's birthday, I picked her up at work as usual for our evening carpool. While I was stopped at the curb waiting for her to reach the car -- she was already walking towards it when I arrived -- a fascist Sheriff's Deputy swooped in on a motorcycle and gave me a ticket for "parking in a bus loading zone". The amount? TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE DOLLARS. As my stepdad would say, "Ho-Ho-fucking-Ho." Better believe I'm fighting this one. Possible downside: I think the MTA traffic court is in Compton. The bastards put it there on purpose!
On the Thursday before New Year's weekend, the faucet in my bathroom started spewing hot water, and wouldn't stop -- even after I turned off the valve under the sink. It's a Festivus miracle! Unfortunately, the sink eventually began filling up faster than it could drain, so I had to jury-rig a hose from the faucet into the bathtub to prevent (more) flooding. Naturally, it being the beginning of a long holiday weekend, I could forget about seeing a plumber until...this past Wednesday, when it finally got fixed.
We've started apartment-hunting again (this decision was made before the Fountain of Death incident). Hey, if you're a landlord who's trying to rent-out an apartment, here's a useful tip that will help you close the deal quickly and easily: Answer the goddamn phone. And when someone leaves you a message, return their goddamn call! Holy Cleopatra, what's wrong with you people?!

"And now we come to the airing of grievances!"

There, I feel better now. As you can see, it wasn't the smoothest Festivus, but it could've been a lot worse.

And now, we interrupt this blog to tell you about another blog. Let's face it, if you can get this far into any of my posts without wanting to ram a railroad spike into both eyes, then you must be a dedicated blog reader. You've proven that you have an inordinately high tolerance for fluff, filler and nonsense. Yes, I try very hard to put actual information into Minor Notes, but as you can see by the decreasing frequency of my posts, that involves actual work. Feh. Anyway, my point is, if you like this blog, then you should like this other blog that I like. Like, it's written by Bean, of the venerable Los Angeles morning radio team Kevin & Bean of KROQ-FM.

In case you haven't read-up on my internet radio station Estrogenius, you should know that it was KROQ that inspired its creation in the first place: When KROQ stopped playing female artists, I decided to provide another outlet for them, in the process capturing .000001% of KROQ's market share. Pretty good for an amateur. And yet, I kept listening to KROQ, at least in the morning. Why? Bean.

Well, Bean and Ralph Garman, to be strictly accurate. But Bean is my favorite radio DJ, and for about 15 years he's been a part of the most successful radio show never syndicated. I share his interests in trivia, minutiae, Bjork, and the out-of-the-way places of the world. I think the only thing on which we're at odds is the state of Texas: I rightfully can't stand the place or its people, but Bean has a soft spot for slow folks (after all, look at how long he's worked with Kevin).

Thus, I present for your enjoyment or despair, Bean's Blog. (And if you don't know who Clyde Tombaugh is, you'll learn soon enough.)

The KROQ morning show members. In reality, Bean hasn't had a haircut that good since the Carter administration.

Yes, this is about poetry. Wait -- keep reading!

2005-12-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

I'm back again, after a business trip to Washington DC. Lucked-out with the weather -- it was cold, but nice and clear. I enjoy the cold, anyway. Actually, I enjoy "weather" of any kind, which is kind of ironic, since I ended up living in a place that doesn't have any.

So, yeah...poetry. I admit, I don't know very much about poetry. Of course, we had to study it a little back in high school. At that time, I decided that my favorite poet was A.E. Housman. And not even because of that one about the long-distance runner (in fact, I never was crazy about it). I liked some of his shorter works, because they were a little more edgy, sometimes even creepy. I also remember that I liked Conrad Aiken, but I can't remember why. And I remember that the Poet Laureate of the World Wrestling Federation in the 80's was Leaping Lanny Poffo.

Apart from that, I never really paid much attention to poetry. That is, not until earlier this year, when I virtually bumped into Kristin Cash. Kristin had a Myspace page where she posted poetry (she has since moved to Xanga.com), and once I started reading her poems, I couldn't stop. I read every single poem she had up on the site, and I have read every one she has posted since. True story. Why did I read them all? Umm, because she's fucking brilliant, that's why.

Of course, she would be the last one to admit it. Kristin sees herself as just another of America's damaged youth, but if there are more like her out there, then this country is going to turn out OK after all. Maybe we need to be damaged in order to be able to fix things. As Kristin herself put it, she is "Dizzy in the good way".

There is something about Kristin's poetry that is utterly absorbing. It's probably useless to try to explain why I find it that way, because a poem can have as many meanings as it does readers. Personally, the meaning that I divine from most poetry is "This is crap". But I instantly liked Kristin's stuff, and even if I ever did get a fleeting "this is crap" thought in my head, the next line in the poem would be No, you're crap / So fuck off. I can sense that you don't believe me. Don't worry...you'll see.

If I have any minor criticism, it's that Kristin has started writing some poems in a Hip-Hop-style meter. I know that she's a fan of Hip-Hop, which makes perfect sense, since it's the closest that music comes to pure poetry. But I just don't share the love. To me, lyrics by Liz Phair or Aimee Mann are as stinging as any in Hip-Hop...and they're by women! Women... hey, Hip-Hop, remember those? The females that existed before you called them "ho's"? (God I'm lame.) Anyway, I originally got hooked on Kristin's freeverse style, so now I miss it when I don't get my fix. But don't let any of this dissuade you; it's not like she went out and got a "Thug Life" tattoo across her sternum. In fact, her recent work has been very true-to-form.

If for some reason you're still skeptical, just go read her stuff. Like I said -- you'll see. Notice that I put up a permanent link to her Xanga page in the column to the right, so from now on you have no excuse to avoid it (apart from avoiding this page, I suppose -- which loads of people still do, with depressing consistency). The good news is that she has all of her earlier Myspace poems archived on the Xanga site.

Did I mention that she's from Buffalo, NY? Hot wings, lake-effect snow, and Kristin Cash. Well, they've got one thing to be proud of...

Le Tigre: Hold That Tiger!

2005-12-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

In the considerable "why the hell did it take me so long to write about this" category, I now turn my attention to Le Tigre.

I can't remember where or when I first heard of this three-member act, but a couple of years ago there was so much buzz about them in L.A., that I would have sworn that they were a local band. In fact, they are based out of NYC, although two of the members had been involved in earlier projects in Portland, OR.

My first impression of Le Tigre was hearing some of the upbeat Pop-Punk tracks from their album Feminist Sweepstakes being played on local radio station Indie 103.1. It wasn't until later, after hearing an interview with the band on that same station, that I found out that Le Tigre is as much an activist group as they are a music group. And it wasn't until later still, when I read an album review somewhere, that I found out that Le Tigre co-founder and vocalist Kathleen was in fact Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill (*sigh* -- sometimes I have my finger on the pulse, and sometimes I have it somewhere else). Yes, Bikini Kill, as in the loud Punk band that was part of the genesis of the entire Riot Grrrl movement, and therefore an inspiration to a great many of the artists played on Estrogenius.

Feminist Sweepstakes was sold out at Amazon every time I checked there, for about six months; so I finally gave up and went to Amoeba Music, where I found Le Tigre's more recent album This Island. That's the album that has "TKO", a song that I already loved, so I had to get it. I was not disappointed.

Johanna, JD and Kathleen of Le Tigre

I knew that "TKO" was a Pop-Rock song in the best tradition of The Go-Go's, but I had no idea what to expect from the rest of the album. I was expecting a noisy Punk sound, what with Kathleen Hanna's previous project and all, and indeed the first few tracks on This Island meet that description. But Le Tigre is not Bikini Kill, and it was a mistake for me to have expected as much. The members describe their sound as "Feminist Punk Electronic music", and they are right, of course; but there are some tracks on This Island that are nothing less than expertly-crafted Pop. The album is assertive, but not agressive (or at least, not needlessly so); it has a serious mission, but is relentlessly upbeat; and it is, in short, hella fun. I'd especially like to single-out the kickass anti-war track, "New Kicks", which fits every one of the adjectives I used in the previous sentence. THIS is how activism should be.

It's always funny to me how conservatives characterize feminists: Typically, feminists are portrayed (villified) as a group of shrill, strident dykes who simply want to expand their rights at the expense of men's rights, and who generally take things way too seriously (I could make my own characterization of said conservatives as being a bunch of ignorant, bile-spewing troglodytes, but I won't). The reason it's funny is that it serves as proof that conservatives don't even know what feminism is. OK, maybe it's not "funny" so much as "fucking sad", but you get the point.

Visit Le Tigre's website at www.letigreworld.com, read some of the posts from members Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman, and JD Samson, and you will see the true spririt of feminism. They are all passionate, motivated and fun-loving people, not the hirsute harridans that conservatives wish they were. Well, except for JD, who actually is hirsute. I say that with a smile; JD is a very cute butch lesbian, and she comes across on the website as an incredibly sweet and interesting person. She's done rather well for someone who started off as Le Tigre's tour projectionist.

See what I mean about JD?
Photo: Cass Bird (Please don't sue me, guys)

It's people like the members of Le Tigre who will take the cause to the clubs, the streets, the airwaves, and wherever it's necessary. They will use art to shock and awe, and they will kill 'em with charm. And someday, they will win.

The Originatah Be Back. Irie.

2005-11-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

I created this blog so that I would be able to write smaller pieces more frequently than I could on the main site at estrogenius dot net.

yyyyyeah... OK, so it hasn't exactly worked out that way. But it's not MY fault that I keep finding interesting subjects that require in-depth analysis, or whatever it is that I do.

And dammit, here's another one!

Ari-Up is still best known as the frontwoman of the legendary all-girl Punk band, The Slits. If you don't know anything about Ari-Up or The Slits, you can check out the tribute I wrote here. It's pretty comprehensive, so maybe this won't have to be a huge post after all. Suffice it to say that Ari-Up started a groundbreaking band (which was largely ignored), then dropped out of society and went hardcore native -- literally living naked in the jungle of Belize -- before she regrouped and restarted her career in Jamaica, where she did for Dancehall what she had previously done for Rock.

During her Jamaican career, she performed under the name Medusa (or Madusa -- I've seen it reported both ways), a name that playfully referenced her remarkable, serpentine dreadlocks. Yeah, you heard me: A British-born white girl with dreads managed to make a name for herself in Jamaica. If you didn't already think that this chick had major huevos, then that should change your mind.

Apparently that wasn't a big enough challenge, because in the 90's she packed up and moved her family to Brooklyn, USA. There, she started a new band, Ari-Up and the True Warriors (a 9 on the "cool name" scale), and toured for a few years until finally, in the summer of 2005, she released a new album as Ari-Up called Dread More Dan Dead.

Since I never lived in Jamaica, Dread More Dan Dead was the first time I was able to hear and see (the CD has a bonus video) Ari-Up since her circa-1980's work with The Slits. And the verdict? Remarkable. I'm not just throwing that word out there, either. As soon as the first track, "Baby Mother", started spinning, there was Ari-Up's familiar voice, completely unchanged tonally, but all the better for the intervening years of experience. And if you've seen the pictures on the website and doubted whether they were of recent vintage, the music video for "Me Done" proves it: The woman is ageless. After thirty years of making music, with brief time-outs to have three children, Ari-Up still throws down as hard as she has ever done, and looks incredible doing it.

She has gone through some changes, of course. Ari-Up calls her genre "Punky Reggae", and indeed, she sings almost all of the songs in a completely authentic-sounding patois. I like Reggae music a lot, and there have been many female Reggae stars, but one thing you could never call the music was "progressive". Well, Ari-Up has smashed that door open with her feminist take on Reggae themes, and good for her, I say.

Ari-Up also produced the album, and I was pleasantly surprised by the overall sound. If you're at all comfortable with Reggae or Dancehall, then you will find this album very accessible; but I'm happy to report there is one harder Punk track on the album ("Allergic"), proof that Ari-Up can't abandon her roots completely.

Dread More Dan Deadwas a treat for a sentimental bastard like me, who was missing Ari-Up's sound and attitude in music. It was like a long-lost childhood friend who showed up at my door, and turned out to be Lara Croft. It turns out that not only has Ari-Up been keeping busy, she's positively thriving.

Girls on Film: I Sense a Rhythm Humming in a Frenzy

2005-11-09T16:53:00.000-08:00

[Note: I'm going to give an album review at some point in this post, but I thought that it would be helpful to provide a little background first, so you'll know why I like it so much. In other words, I am no longer capable of writing a short, simple post.]

One of my favorite sayings is, "The future isn't what it used to be." Aside from the fact that it's one sentence that references three tenses, I like it because it describes how things that were once considered futuristic may not seem that way in the present. Some people feel that way about New Wave music, but I don't. Here's why I love New Wave: Because I'm old enough to remember what was on the radio before it existed.

Although it had its genesis earlier, I would say that New Wave hit critical mass in 1979. So, what was out there for the discerning radio listener to hear in 1979? Well, there was mainstream Rock -- the sound, style and hairdos of which had not changed one iota for about a decade. And then there was Disco, which was all about dancing and...well, that was it. Soul and R&B? Sorry, they were co-opted by Disco. Yes, Punk existed, but it didn't get airplay. So, if you didn't like Rock, and you didn't like Disco (which I didn't, even at my tender age), you were basically screwed.

And then, New Wave happened. It evolved from Punk, but it replaced that genre's outright fury with a more resigned cynicism. And unlike Punk, New Wave wasn't cynical about the present, it was cynical about the future; thus, the music sounded like it had come back through time, straight out of some dystopian Brave New World. In other words (and much to the relief of my sensitive ears), they turned down the fucking guitars. To me, it sounded like the future.

Don't get me wrong; my own tastes have evolved to where I now appreciate great guitar work, but at the time, the instrument was so obligatory in music that I resented it. It didn't help that nobody had done anything new with the electric guitar since Clapton and Page were in The Yardbirds. The instrument that defined Rock had grown stale, and so the genre that existed to fight the establishment had become the establishment. Of course, the best way to rebel against any establishment is to do things the exact opposite way.

Thus came New Wave, with its electronic instruments and lush melodies, fey European (or Euro-style) guys, and a large number of (shock horror) female vocalists. This was the Anti-Rock, and I was as happy to see it as Rockers were horrified. But the genius was, you could still dance to it, which allowed New Wave's cynical message to reach a wider audience than it might otherwise have done. (Of course, New Wave did employ guitars too; my sister was good friends with Berlin guitarist Ric Olsen, and he struck me as a nice, down-to-earth guy...at least, nicer than he had to be to a friend's kid brother.)

Many elements of New Wave made their way into mainstream Pop and remained there; but in the Alternative scene, synthesizers became extinct in 1991, as Grunge somehow became the sound of a generation. But now, synths are back in a big way, thanks to niche players like Ladytron and Miss Kittin, and breakthrough bands like The Killers.

Enter Girls on Film.

Girls on Film (clockwise from top left):
Metro, Rio, Kazhmir and Machine

Danceteria, the new CD from Florida band Girls on Film, may be the first genuine New Wave CD I've heard in...well, in I don't know how long. Unlike artists such as the aforementioned Ladytron, Girls on Film do not seem to be in it for the irony; it's obvious that they simply love the genre -- because if they didn't, then they wouldn't be so good at it. There's a fine line between tribute and send-up, and while Girls on Film have a great sense of humor, they are laughing with the material, not at it.

I don't always mention the look of a particular artist, but in the case of Girls on Film it's an absolute necessity, so let's get it out of the way: They nailed it. Ridiculous as this may sound, I could tell that I would like the album when I first saw the cover. But I knew that if they were that careful with the look, then they would be careful with the sound, too. Anyway, with their teased hair and Blade Runner - inspired makeup, Girls on Film look like a pastiche of classic 80's artists, but not like anyone in particular, because they incorporate some of their own style into the look. Still, one can easily picture them playing the prom band in an episode of Square Pegs, or shooting at the walls of heartache in Miami Vice. And then there are the band members' high-tech names -- what a beautiful touch.

As for the sound, I turned out to be right: They nailed that, too. Their influences are obvious, but diverse: Lene Lovich, Missing Persons, Berlin, and obviously Duran Duran, to name a few. Lead vocalist Rio gets the clipped New Wave phrasing just right, often incorporating the little yelps that Dale Bozzio and Cyndi Lauper liked to do (remember that Lauper started her career in the New Wave band Blue Angel before becoming a Pop star).

Musically, the band's sound is more "hardcore" New Wave. There are none of the sweeping melodies of, say, A Flock of Seagulls; this music is meant to be heard on a dancefloor under a blinding strobe light. And most gratifying (to me, at least) is that this band is actually a band: Four women who write and perform all of the sounds that you hear. I would especially like to single-out Metro for her keyboard and programing work. For some reason, most female-fronted New Wave bands had male keyboardists, and even the all-female bands usually left the sequencing to someone else. I don't know why that was (and is), but I'm happy to see Girls on Film buck the trend; and of course, Metro's keyboard work sounds as good as any of the men from the vintage era.

As for the rhythm section, I don't know whether Kazhmir uses a Steinberger bass or if Machine uses Simmons drums, but it would make the 80's circle complete if they do.

Thematically, the songs on Danceteria are as true to the period as the music is. 80's songs often involved technology, either overtly or metaphorically, and the first track, "Remote Control" follows that tradition, with the title referring to an emotionally manipulative lover. Other popular New Wave themes were paranoia of mega-corporations, paranoia of the mega-media, and paranoia of megatons (i.e., nuclear war). Here, those themes are explored in tracks like "Toxic Society" and "War on the Floor". Of course, there are also plenty of songs about relationships and sex, such as "Secretary", "Invisible Man" and "Love Robot".

For me, the most pleasant surprise on Danceteria was the lyrics. Throbbing, electronic dance songs don't necessarily need creative lyrics, but Girls on Film delivered them anyway. "War on the Floor" somehow manages to provide social commentary and boogie-down lyrics at the same time: Things are exploding, babe, security is gone / The fear is climbing is followed by the chorus, Let's fight this war on the dance floor. It shouldn't work at all, but it does.

"House on Fire" is a woman's philosophical take on losing everything she owns: Yeah, I said goodbye to the bills that I didn't pay / And I don't need a TV/VCR anyway / It was gone in the middle of a scorching flame. And "Love Robot" is perhaps the quintessential New Wave melding of sex and technology: So mechanic, so dynamic / You're a calculating fiend / So hypnotic, so robotic, my electronic dream.

I realize that there are plenty of people who hate the New Wave sound, and you may be one of them. But the thing about that is, you're wrong. Even if it accomplished nothing other than providing an alternative to Rock and Disco when one was desperately needed, New Wave would deserve to be celebrated. But thanks to its strong influence on modern bands who are picking up the torch, the New Wave sound is no longer trapped in its original era. I always thought that New Wave sounded like the future; and Girls on Film have just proved that the future is what it used to be.

Bjork does something weird: That's not news, that's weather!

2005-11-04T12:30:00.000-08:00

Since it seems to be flying well under the radar, I thought I would mention that Bjork has a new album out. More specifically, it's the soundtrack album for Drawing Restraint 9, a new film by experimental filmmaker Matthew Barney. Barney is perhaps best know for his multi-part epic The Cremaster Cycle. I have not actually seen any of Barney's work, but from the sound of it, he makes Peter Greenaway look accessible. And this is Bjork's newest partner.

Yes, I know: Like her usual stuff wasn't weird enough?! Well, it never was to me, anyway.

Drawing Restraint 9 soundtrack album cover.

There is some good background information about the film Drawing Restraint 9 at Bjork's website; suffice it to say that it involves Japanese musical and mystical tradition, combined with Barney's apparently typical theme of human physical transformation.

As for the album...let's just say it's not for everyone. In fact, it's even less for everyone than Medulla (Bjork's previous, a capella album) was. I'm certain that seeing the film would add much to the experience of listening to the soundtrack. Unlike Selmasongs -- Bjork's soundtrack for the film Dancer in the Dark, in which her sublime accomplishments as a composer and actress were utterly squandered by the talentless, misogynistic hack director Lars Trier -- you can't follow the story of Drawing Restraint 9 by listening to the album. On the other hand, it is somewhat doubtful that you would be able to follow the story by watching the film, either; so it's a wash.

Even so, I appreciate how ambitious this work is. Yes, there is quite a bit of weirdness going on. But there are also two tracks with brass arrangements that have a familiar feel to them. These tracks are examples of powerful, smart scoring, and I say, watch out Phillip Glass -- Bjork is gunning for you.

Now that we've seen so much of her experimental side, I'd love to see Bjork change direction yet again, and...score an animated movie. Yes, I'm serious. Imagine the freedom that animation could give her, not just as a composer, but also as a vocalist and actress. She could easily create a work that is accessible, yet still thought-provoking. I know that if I had a major animation studio, I'd be knocking on her door right now! How 'bout it, global film industry?

Exhaustion and Dehydration

2005-10-30T21:44:00.000-08:00

It was a scene straight out of Dante's Inferno: Big men in strange masks and costumes shouting insults at one another, slamming each other to the ground, and fighting to the bitter end, occasionally interrupted by exotic women in fancy-dress, stripping down to almost nothing, teasing all who watched.

And that was just in the parking lot at Hill and Olympic; unfortunately, I had to quit watching if I wanted to get a good seat at Lucha VaVoom!

Sorry.

(On a side note, I think something's happened to me since I moved to Blogger.com; I used to cuss a lot in my posts, and would frequently resort to biting sarcasm to make a point. There was never any of this Henny Youngman bullshit. Oh, hey...!)

Yeah, so as I pointed out in the previous post, last Thursday was the second night of the Halloween edition of Lucha VaVoom, and I was on hand as usual to witness the mayhem.

[Edit: I must point out, as usual, that Lucha Va Voom is a show that is co-produced by and co-stars my sister, Rita.]

Present on the card were Technicos (good guys) like the lavender-but-lethal Cassandro, Los Gallineros (my favorite male wrestlers), the agile Human Tornado (as deadly on the dancefloor as he is in the ring), and crowd favorite Tsuki. Among the Rudos (bad guys) were Blue Panther (who seemed like a good guy this time), the extra-evil Dr. Wagner Jr., and making his L.A. debut... El Chupacabra!

Los Gallineros: THESE chickens are gonna tenderize YOU.

The bouts were excellent, and many a ringside patron were rendered collateral damage. True to his name, the Human Tornado once again flew out of the ring towards an opponent at near-supersonic speed; I honestly don't know how he does it.

As for those majestic maids, those dazzling domestics, those high-flying something-that-begins-with-H-and-has-to-do-with-women-who-clean, the Poubelle Twins...well, they were stuck baby-sitting the theater owner's spoiled daughter. And they were not having a good time of it, as the curly-haired brat caused trouble every step of the way. Eventually, it came to blows (which seems to happen a lot at this show), and the little tyke turned out to be surprisingly adept at martial arts. Fortunately, there just happened to be a wrestling ring nearby, and the Poubelles used their prowess to subdue the little girl into the ultimate finishing move: A forced apology to the crowd.

As for the burlesque part of the show, well, it may have been the best assemblage of top-heavy talent in Lucha VaVoom history. First off was a special Halloween act featuring Kitten DeVille and Ming Dynatease as Siamese twins, who undergo spontaneous separation sugery at the hands of a brawny swordsman. But it all turned out for the best, as the girls proved that two bodies are better than a mass of conjoined tissue. Later, we were treated to a stellar set by a girl with a stellar set, Summer Peaches. Also on hand were perennial favorites Ursulina and Erochica Bamboo.

And then there were the Wau-Wau Sisters. Holy crap.

In a (divinely?) inspired routine set entirely to Night Ranger's classic 80's tune "Sister Christian", the Wow-Wow Sisters -- a blonde and a brunette -- portrayed a pair of Catholic school girls who discover that the most important thing in life is faith. And the second most important thing is having red-hot sex with each other. Seriously, the Wau-Wau Sisters took the most hackneyed erotic stereotype imaginable -- the girl in the Catholic school uniform -- and created something that was entirely their own, and which became a truly erotic experience for the entire crowd (and all with no actual nudity). Indeed, Mrs Arhythmius expressed a desire to be placed between the Sisters during some of their more...athletic maneuvers. Oh, and it helped that the routine was genuinely hilarious...at least if you find the sexual objectification of Christian iconography, and Jesus, funny -- which I do.

And finally, after the show was over, another defining moment of my existence occurred. Yes, as I teased in the previous post, I finally realized a dream: I met the Poubelle Twins. In person.

I've been sworn to secrecy on the particulars of the meeting, but the photo below should tell you all you need to know. The five-foot-eight Cheshire cat in the middle is me.

Bibi (left) and Fifi Poubelle have Your Host surrounded.

Merci, Poubelles! You have made a happy man simple! Or something...

As usual for me the day after Lucha VaVoom, I awoke Friday morning bone-tired, and with a splitting headache. Unlike the celebrity affliction, I was suffering from genuine exhaustion and dehydration, brought about by not eating lunch (as usual) and skipping dinner (not usual) to stand in line for a few hours, and then see the show for a few more hours. *Sigh*, You know...if I'm gonna get the fucking hangover anyway, I might as well take up drinking; at least then I'll enjoy some of the benefits first.

But isn't that what Lucha VaVoom is all about? You can't get pleasure without a little pain to go along.

Night of Joy indeed

2005-10-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and Strangers, a dream of mine was realized last Thursday night. No, I did not become a dashing and incredibly lethal member of the British Secret Service – I’m talking about that other dream. Yes, that is correct: Thursday night was the Halloween edition of Lucha Va Voom, and for the first time, I was able to meet, live and in person, those incredible luchadoras, the Poubelle Twins.

More on that later. But first, an album review that is directly related to the fantastic events described above.

Sometimes I seek out certain albums because I am as intrigued by the personality of the artist as I am by their music. Such is the case with Suki Tawdry.

The way I see it, there are people who lead interesting lives; there are people with multiple talents; and then there’s Barbara Ann Duffy. Barbara is the vocalist and lyricist of Suki Tawdry. She also has another career as a luchadora, under the nom de guerre “Bibi Poubelle” – AKA one half of the Poubelle Twins (her sister Vera is the equally dangerous Fifi Poubelle). I provided a tiny bit of background when I last wrote about the Poubelle Twins, but for the whole story of their current activities and very intriguing history, definitely check out their website, www.deuxfilles.net (or click on the link to it up there in the first paragraph).

Before I ever listened to Night of Joy, the full-length CD from Suki Tawdry, I had a pretty good idea of what it might sound like, and it turned out I was not far off. As a musical project, Suki Tawdry just seems like a fitting extension of the personality of the singer. If Wednesday Addams ever were to start a band, it would sound a lot like this.

The sound is straight-up Cabaret: I guarantee that if you ever found yourself wandering the streets of Paris or Berlin late one rainy, misty night, and were drawn to a smoky, nondescript club by the sound of a piano and a forlorn voice singing about the uncertainties of life and love, the music would be that of Suki Tawdry. Not literally, of course. (Although, who knows? Because, when you tried to find the club two days later, you couldn’t. Those dank-yet-magically-surreal European nightclubs always seem to disappear after you visit them.)

But if I must make the requisite musical comparison in order for this to be a legitimate album review, then the obvious choice is Portishead. Although they didn’t invent the sound, Portishead’s “Electronic Cabaret” music is certainly popular, and some tracks on Night of Joy are reminiscent of the British duo – most notably "Mais je vous aime", which I have added to the playlist. The song features those simple, retro-sounding guitar chords that might sound familiar to fans of Portishead, or Les Paul guitars in general. The lyrics are not in French, and I can prove it: I followed sparkling green (The color of her eyes) / She led me to her beautiful beautiful / Last night I inquired about her finger's size.

In fact, the lyrics throughout Night of Joy are the most fascinating aspect of the album. Most of the songs tell a particular, unique narrative, such as "Mr Flowers Visits Dreamland" (also added to the playlist), a tale of heartbreak and revenge set in a steamy Southern dancehall: Her eyes burned into his / As her hand flickered over blurred tatoos / Seeing them in her memories blurred long ago through tears of youth.

And then there's "Booze Blues", a tale of a woman relying on pure love to sustain her marriage to an alcoholic: Your booze blues gonna carry me to my grave / I suppose in the big scheme, it's OK. It's a truly bittersweet song, with a genuine-ness that is rarely achieved in modern music. Hell, pick any track on Night of Joy, and you'll find a story worth reading.

Which brings me to the only criticism I have about the album: The music. As I mentioned before, this is Cabaret, and the music is definitely true to its nature -- a little too true, which is the problem. I would have enjoyed at least a little more variety in the arrangement, and perhaps some more memorable melodies to go along with the stellar lyrics. Is there a way to make Cabaret music more melodic, without rejecting its purpose? I don't know, but I'd sure like to hear someone try. As it is, repeated listenings of Night of Joy only make it better. Like a fine brandy, you don't chug this album down; you've got to savor it with multiple smooth sips.

This album is populated with such an intriguing cast of characters, it's made me greedy for more. Here's hoping that a certain globetrotting singer/songwriter/wrestler/adventurer soon provides us with more stories to drink. Otherwise, I'll have to comb every smoky club on every dark side-street in Europe, until I hear that forlorn voice.

Liza -- NOT the Cabaret singer I was
looking for...

Welcome to the NEW Minor Notes

2005-10-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

Actually, it's really just the same ol' Minor Notes, but in a new location.

You see, the purpose of this blog is to discuss artists in rotation on Estrogenius, and...whatever else strikes my fancy.

Something that does not strike my fancy is having to repeatedly post entries like "Sorry you couldn't reach the blog, the host server crashed again." Hence the change of hosts from crash-tastic Aplus.net to (hopefully more stable) Blogger.

I am keeping the old Minor Notes page up as an archive. It's still at the same URL -- http://arhythmius.com/pblog -- but if you have trouble reaching it, then you'll know why I moved here.

So, yeah, anyway... Welcome!

Regards,

Arhythmius