tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237956726714806372024-03-13T07:19:52.909-07:00j i g s a w<p>
underground since'89
</p>
<p>send vinyl, tapes and zines for review to:<p>
tobi vail
P.O. Box 2572
Olympia, WA 98507 USA
<p>email mp3's, links, photos and flyers to:<p>
<p>jigsawunderground@gmail.com<p></p></p></p></p></p></p>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.comBlogger354125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-14008798955305743802023-10-18T18:40:00.005-07:002023-10-18T22:28:54.107-07:00As an intersectional feminist, I support the struggle for Palestinian liberation.<p>1</p>
<p>As an intersectional feminist, I support the struggle for Palestinian liberation. As backed by the United Nations, Amnesty International, and numerous Jewish organizations, we need to demand a cease-fire immediately and allow the borders to open so that medical supplies, aid, food and water can reach civilians caught in a war zone. Please contact your representatives and government today asking them to back this.</p>
<p>2</p>
<p>As a non-Jewish American citizen, I want to be mindful of the rising tide of anti-semitism around the world and neo-nazi right wing anti-Jewish hate crimes. It is important to recognize that many of these same neo-nazi movements and organizations also target Arabs and Muslims. I feel like this shouldn’t need to be said but apparently it does: supporting Palestine does not equal hating Jews. If you would like more information on this please follow <a href="https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/">Jewish Voices for Peace</a>. For a very strong personal essay published this week please check out <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/10/israel-gaza-war-manufactured-consent.html">Sarah Schulman’s piece in NY Mag</a> </p>
<p>3</p>
<p>This is to say, not all Jews are Zionist. Not all criticism of Zionism is anti-semitic. Even within Israel (and even within the IDF) there is dissent against the occupation, against Netanyahu (who is very right wing) and not a monolithic opinion on Palestine or even Hamas. Likewise, not all Palestinians have the same politics or religion. There are Christians, Druze and even Jews who are Palestinian. Many people in Israel and Palestine are not religious at all and there is definitely not “one opinion” on how to achieve peace in the region or resist occupation.</p>
<p>4</p>
<p>I am saying these things because I am appalled that Americans publicly speaking out against empire and war crimes are being bullied and accused of being “sympathetic to the terrorists”. I don’t have the space here to even begin to unpack this. It feels like 9/11 and the Iraq War all over again, with the western media manufacturing consent for war and any questioning or criticism of the government making you an enemy of the state. In my own view, the only way to achieve peace in the region is to end the occupation.</p>
<p>5</p>
<p>Yesterday a hospital was bombed in Gaza and at least 500 people were killed. We don’t know who is responsible for this atrocity. But we do know that the IDF is known to lie. In fact, as the well known journalist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._F._Stone">I.F. Stone</a> famously said, “all governments lie”. This is especially true during war time. We must question the official narrative. 50,000 women in Gaza are currently pregnant. 5000 are about to give birth in the immediate future. We must demand a cease fire, open the borders for supplies, and oppose the targeting of civilians, many of whom are women and children.</p>
To get involved locally check out:
<a href="https://rachelcorriefoundation.org/">The Rachel Corrie Foundation</a>
<a href="https://economicsforeveryoneolympia.weebly.com/">Economics for Everyone</a>
Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-40584615025644860782021-11-22T21:37:00.019-08:002021-11-23T01:19:25.917-08:00EVER LOOK AT A FLOWER AND HATE IT
<p> Things people have said to me as a person that has written about and participated in punk/independent/underground music since the early 80s: YOU can’t speak about that topic in public because<br>
<p>you are a role model, your band sucks, your band is too popular, no one cares about your band so shut the fuck up, you are too young, you are too old, you are too dumb, you are too smart, you are not cool, you think you are too cool, you are too ugly, you are a whore you are a slut you are a cunt you are a bitch ie you are a girl/woman and therefore you can only speak with authority about your own life and any experiential, lived knowledge you have gained thus far will be viewed as personal and subjective therefore not worthy. <br>
<p> In other words, women can’t be serious, funny, nuanced, multifaceted, intellectual, flippant, base, complicated, contradictory, abstract, specific, objective, opinionated, political, sexy, repulsive, tricksters, apolitical, transgressive, free, argumentative, antagonistic, querulous, pensive, or loudmouthed.<br>
<p> I am used to having my opinions misunderstood, scrutinized and dismissed but as a woman in public I actually risk my own personal safety using my voice. Not only are we punished for stepping out, we are also stalked and harassed on the internet/ social media and that impacts our bodily autonomy in a violent, unsafe world full of trauma and very real threats to our personal safety. I don’t talk about it publicly because talking about it can feed it and it is fucking scary and because talking about it makes it more real and because talking about it makes it suck even more than it already does but trust me this is real and this is extremely common. I’m speaking with first hand knowledge and experience here and I don’t need to qualify it with examples so I won’t.<br>
<p> Women often choose to stop sharing our work/ thoughts/ opinions/ stories publicly for these reasons. I think it’s important to acknowledge that this experience is shared and to see it is a result of patriarchy. I choose to participate because fuck society’s bullshit rules. I hate this place but I’m not gonna shut the fuck up, EVER<br>
<p> Xo Tobi Vail
Feminist punk rocker<br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JxaGx2t2VBM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-48061366186173482182014-05-06T10:37:00.000-07:002014-05-06T10:42:58.722-07:00Document & Eyewitness: We Go with the Kids, Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah<p>why this tape sounds the way it does.</p>
although it could be argued that the tape sounds this way because I'm dumb,</p>
I would prefer you think it's because rooms,</p>
recording tape and tape machines are not invisible.</p>
-- Al Larsen, <i>From Playground Til Now</i> - Some Velvet Sidewalk</p>
Read my spiel on Bikini Kill <i>Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah</i> <a href="http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/tobi-vail-bikini-kill-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah/">here</a>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WobZhnoAjQk/U2kdbs7nrVI/AAAAAAAABBg/jUyFijnKzzQ/s1600/2014-03-12+16.33.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WobZhnoAjQk/U2kdbs7nrVI/AAAAAAAABBg/jUyFijnKzzQ/s320/2014-03-12+16.33.25.jpg" /></a></div>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-81183289379441687462014-03-14T14:32:00.001-07:002014-03-14T14:41:02.785-07:00TIGER GRRL: A page from my diary, October 1990October 21</p>
I practiced with Cathy + Kathleen today and it was (should be thought of as) warranting AMAZEMENT.</p>
A feminist to me means trying to confront sexism and be powerful.</p>
I think I am changing.</h>
I am going to ask questions now instead of tell everybody everything.</p>
Bikini Kill is a powerful name, the more people don't like it, the more I realize how great it is. Our band is really great. Nobody will like us though. I think we will be like thee most misunderstood band ever. It is really amazing to finally be playing with other girls again. I can already feel the power of it and the band is fast becoming the most important thing in my life. Kathleen is amazing. I am learning a lot.</p>
Statement of Intent:</p>
To provide support and guidance to the youth with modern punk rock sensibilities</p>
To reclaim the domain of punk</p>
anti-professionalism -- asking questions -- ideas -- anti-macho ritual -- anti-conformity -- form-as-key -- the cassette as access to means of production -- "don't follow rules" means not that everyone should or even could but that you don't have to be status quo -- NOT hardcore -- THIS generation</p>
To set forth the legitimacy of GIRL ROCK. Sisters. Yeah.</p>
incite discourse - - ask questions - - be dorky -- fight sophistication -- network</p>
To work towards making a connection between political struggles against oppression and the new generation of punk</p>
To entertain and alleviate despair</p>
To fight sexism and homophobia</p>
Fight song:</p>
We're the girls with a bad reputation
(Yeah you want to get to me)
We're the girls with a bad reputation
We're gonna make you pay
(Hunger is power, desire a fool)
Kill yr daddy, fuck yr boyfriend too
We're the girls with a bad reputation
(We're gonna show YOU what's TRUE)
Kathy, Tobi, Kathleen (and Esther too.)</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mmLcEmbuPqQ/UyN1Fr0dNRI/AAAAAAAABBI/SisDgq7AUhg/s1600/tigergrl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mmLcEmbuPqQ/UyN1Fr0dNRI/AAAAAAAABBI/SisDgq7AUhg/s320/tigergrl.jpg" /></a></div>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-24398436316754250992014-01-07T11:12:00.000-08:002014-01-07T11:17:10.302-08:00best of 2013 by ben trogdon<p>Man, I can’t remember what happened last year! But here are some of my fave things that I’m pretty sure came about in 2013:</p>
<b>BLACK BOOT</b> demo – nasty metal with awesome mid-tempo parts</p>
<b>DRAPETOMANIA </b>live – RIP my favorite band</p>
<b>GLUE</b> live on Xmas – best way to celebrate is with live raw underground punk</p>
<b>WASTE MANGAMENT</b> live – I’m a nerd and 2013 was the first time I got to see this band play live. I’ve seen them play 3 times since then. I love it!</p>
<b>La Misma</b> – I think their song “Waterfalls” was written in 2013. It’s not out yet but that’s my favorite song written in 2013.</p>
<b>PROXY</b> Police Car 7” – My favorite 7” of 2013 for sure! Rockin’ punk metal.</p>
<b>MURDURER / BLACK BOOT / DEFORMITY</b> live at Stolen Sleeves – I drank in the hallway</p>
<b>MILK MUSIC</b> “No Nothing My Shelter” Song / video – Dylan Sharp directed starring Alex Coxen and CarrieKeith. Desert mime dancin’</p>
<b>BLAZING EYE</b> demo – Sounds evil. I love the drumming and vocals.</p>
<b>CONTINGENT</b> demo – Boston melodic real deal new Oi! I love this demo.</p>
<b>NOMAD 12”</b> – So groovy and fun. I listened to this non-stop all year. My fave 12” of 2013.</p>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nigRu_NtayQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-15895101517473819492014-01-07T11:07:00.001-08:002014-01-07T11:07:49.791-08:00best of 2013 by chris pugmire<p><b>International:</b></p>
</p>
Body/Head - Coming Apart</p>
Broadcast - Berberian Sound Studio</p>
J Graf - The Future is a Faded Song</p>
Iceage - You're Nothing</p>
M.I.A. - Matangi</p>
Pulp - After You 12"/Party Clowns</p>
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Two</p>
<p><b>Australian:</b></p>
Adalita - All Day Venus</p>
The Ancients - Night Bus</p>
Cybotron - Friday Night at the Totale Theatre - Reissue</p>
Harry Howard and the NDE - Pretty</p>
The Necks - Open</p>
Scattered Order - Planet Scrape</p>
Venom P Stinger - Meet My Friend Venom + What's Yours is Mine + Waiting Room + Walking About - Reissues</p>
<p><b>Live:</b></p>
Beak> & Anika - Netil House, London</p>
Blank Realm - The Tote, Melbourne</p>
ESG - Hi-Fi, Melbourne</p>
Rowland S Howard Tribute - Palace Theatre, Melbourne</p>
HTRK - Howler, Melbourne</p>
The Pop Group - Pontin's - Camber Sands UK</p>
Television - Pontin's - Camber Sands UK</p>
<p><b>Books: </b></p>
White Girls - Hilton Als</p>
Debt - David Graeber</p>
Uncommon - Owen Hatherley</p>
Suicide - Édouard Levé</p>
The Femicide Machine - Sergio González Rodríguez</p>
<p><b>Also:</b></p>
1st year of baby Valentine</p>
New War UK tour</p>
DJing & dancing with ESG!</p>
Raymond Pettibon on Twitter</p>
Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-43678162797873954512014-01-05T23:20:00.000-08:002014-01-07T11:12:18.597-08:00best of 2013 by layla gibbon<b>It’s hard to sum up a year in sound; there are always records I forget about by the beginning of a new year that were all I listened to for months! The trials of modern day existences wiping minds clear when it’s time to compile comprehensive list type documents. I am also doing a year end top ten in the March 2013 Maximum Rocknroll, so this one contains some music that is not all MRR-able (ie came out on labels that maybe have deals with major labels for distribution etc etc or are just not “MRR” core) at any rate, blah blah blah. You can write me at Layla at maximumrocknroll.com A lot of these are things that I just listened to repeatedly, over and over and over on the way to work, always a sign of a record that’s got what it takes to make the maniax on the bus fade away and radiate. The best thing that wasn’t music this year was LIVING BY THE BEACH. Everytime it feels like the world is rotting away from you as it revolves just go to the ocean. OK. Also this isn’t in order and I missed things out I am sure?! It’s mostly punk even tho I listened to many other sounds and ideas throughout the year. I didn’t put any reissues. Past is passed.</b></p>
<b>Body/Head-LP</b></p>
This is gonna be on a lot of people’s lists, it’s transcendent /brutal / incendiary, an easy shoe in. I had no idea this was in store after seeing them live, it’s easily the best post Sonic Youth recording, Kim is a genius and this is essential.</p>
<b>Cremalleras-LP</b></p>
Scrape your eyes out rawness from Mexico City; Violeta’s vocals are coal for Christmas, the music is sick and perfect. Everything about this, from the LP cover to the out for blood nature of the punk contained within made me feel alive and ready for action.
<a href="http://cremalleras.bandcamp.com/album/cremalleras">http://cremalleras.bandcamp.com/album/cremalleras</a></p>
<b>Pleasure Leftists, “Elephant Man” 45</b></p>
I like how it sounds like she’s saying Arrogant Man, her voice is so cool… as distinctive an instrument as Thalia from Come/Live Skull but that sounds so corny, an instrument?! What? She doesn’t sound like Thalia. But at any rate, this record did not leave my turn table all year and they were even better live. Cleveland out of place sounds for out of place people, post-punk but not posed.</p>
<b>The Nots 45</b> on Goner</p>
Goner put out 3 or 4 45s a year that are essential, and this was the cream of the crop for 2013. They cite Kleenex as an influence, but it sorta reminds me of a less garage/more punk A-Lines?! But then I watched some youtubes of them playing and there were many other musical dimensions present. So good! Usually 45RPMS is more than enough for most punk acts, keep it brief, the audience needs to sleep but they don’t need you to put em to sleep ya know? But this document made me wish there were 40 more coming out ASAP. A great record and I hope they make more 7”s and go on tour and maybe play the sea cave by my house?<a href="http://soundcloud.com/gonerrecords/nots-dust-red-goner-records">http://soundcloud.com/gonerrecords/nots-dust-red-goner-records</a></p>
<b>EASTLINK-WILD DOGS</b></p>
I listened to the tape that this 7” (and their other one too I think?!) was culled from a million times, cutting/biting sounds from Australia that is somewhere between Chrome and the first couple Pere Ubu 45s, for some reason it made me think of a more buzz saw Total Control, with less Eno, less head music and more metal box?! Metal machine music. I don’t know it’s just good and rotten ok, I can’t wait to get the LP. Fitting end times capitalism collapse music, ironic and hateful.</p>
<b>Sauna Youth-False Jesii</b></p>
I don’t think any of the rest of this band’s music sounds like this at all, but this 45 is a perfect Flatmates/Shop Assistants sound and a mix tape staple for me even tho I do not care for Pissed Jeans (the a-side is a cover of one of their songs), I have never heard the original version but this version is probably way better. The b-side is fresh too. The singer’s voice is so cool.</p>
<b>The new Wire LP</b></p>
Someone talked about how great it was, so I listened to it at work, then immediately sent off for it. It’s great, foreboding and a record for our times.</p>
<b>QUANGO-Fatality-EP</b></p>
I think this is members of an old anarcho punk band (the apostles?!) and current London act Hygiene, it’s sounds like a band that would have started after hearing Never Been in a Riot, at any rate makes me think of Mekons at the peak of their powers which is a rare feeling…
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrTykvWUqC8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrTykvWUqC8</a></p>
<b>COMET GAIN AVENUE GIRLS 45</b></p>
I LOVE COMET GAIN this song is so good it makes me wanna be Billy Liar and Julie Christie at the same time. Songs for soul mods and crummy punkers. Photobooth photograph fans and delinquent squinters.</p>
<b>VIXENS-LP</b></p>
ALL GIRL HC FROM CANADA!!!!! It’s the best. The tape is my tape of the century, and the LP took a while to grow, but it planted its seeds and my brain got rotten from em; if you like the song explode by void, and have a brain send off for this.</p>
<b>Stillsuit LP</b></p>
DUH!</p>
<b>PANG-45</b></p>
All girl group from Oakland who broke up before I saw them or knew of their existence; this 45 rules but I made someone send me their unreleased songs and they are SO GOOD TOO and it makes me sad that this great band dissipated before I got to truly obsess over them! The song Young Professionals sort of reminds me of post-Eno nervous art punk music, it isn’t on the 45 of course, but the songs on the record are great in a UV RACE sort of manner. I mean they just rule and they should at least do a tape discography?! http://pangbandsf.bandcamp.com/<a href="http://pangbandsf.bandcamp.com/">http://pangbandsf.bandcamp.com/</a></p>
<b>The Courtneys-LP</b></p>
The guy that put this out sent me an email saying I would like it and he was SO RIGHT; as soon as I heard it I immediately emailed the music editor at Rookie mag and told her teenage girls must know about this band, she agreed and made another million converts! Three women from Canada who simultaneously channel the Clean and Look Blue Goes Purple making rambunctious music for summer all year round adventures. Plaintive and dorky, hilarious and true, once you get hooked (some of my friends have been slow converts for some CRAZY reason) you can’t stop singing random lines… Driving to Santa Cruz along the PCH blasting this and looking out at the ocean reinforced how much I love this band! They are great live too. I really need a copy of their first tape if anyone has one…</p>
<b>Bleached-LP</b></p>
I know a few people that were disappointed with Bleached after the force and genius that was Mika Miko, and I think it’s not fair to compare. Bleached are for fans of the Zeros / Go Gos / Ramones / early Bangles etc, perfect LA music, and yeah they wanna make it and are sorta corny, but so were the Go Gos… It’s pop music! It’s just good eating greasy food as the sun sets over the ocean sounds, which is a hard sound to master; there are so many terrible terrible post-Burger Records acts littering highways and dollar bins with tired “beach” dreck. The Clavin sisters write great catchy pop music, and this record is all kicks (I will admit to skippin past some of the syrupy ballads)</p>
<b>La Luz-It’s Alive</b></p>
I am putting La Luz next to the Courtneys and Bleached I guess because they are all guilty of having tapes on Burger!? Not that that's a crime. At any rate I love all three. Tobi wrote about La Luz last year and I just didn’t quite get it. The same thing happened with me and the Vivian Girls, it took me until they pretty much weren’t a band anymore to like them! But this time it was a faster process, I got a promo copy of their record and suddenly couldn’t stop listening to it. Everyday on the way to work, while serving customers at work… As someone who hears all the stuff that gets sent to MRR for review every month I get to listen to all the trends in elmo grind / fonzie sock hop jive / trip crust etc etc, and one thing that is apparent is that the kids LOVE the post Ty Segall/Burger Records “California Surf Pebbles Lite” sound. There are so many bands! Most of them unmemorable and as gimmicky as one of those post Jan and Dean surfploitation acts tin pan alley turned out… The garage reviewers grumble about the wimpy music on the constant. Well, I was ready to lump La Luz in with these unlucky hucksters, girl group meets surf music and all, but it was soon apparent that I was addicted to listening to their LP. I mean I love girl groups and certain surf sounds so… I guess I am writing an essay for this one because it’s a current obsession?! They are incredible musicians, the guitar playing is insane, like a session musician from 1964, the singing is silky/doom laden with perfect girl group harmonies, but none of it comes over as sickly and twee and gross and affected. They write great songs, lyrically and structurally, which makes me think that the difference between all the tired acts and this is simply being good at what you do. There is a darkness to their sound that in places reminded me of Quix*o*tic, I think that’s partially because of the echo-y guitar though. It’s very cinematic and the snippets of the lyrics that I can make out are sort of cool and unnerving. Watch this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRIt3aDX7-k">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRIt3aDX7-k</a> and listen to It’s Alive ok. Also I need their first tape too if anyone’s holdin!</p>
<b>GOOD THROB-45</b></p>
Watching this band play was one of the highlights of the year, real John Brannon style HC frontperson style from Ellie, this record is for fans of No Trend and hardcore and Honey Bane, reckless, fuck you, intelligence, vengeful feminists out for blood FOR LIFE! Good Throb are the best. The end.</p>
<b>EX-CON-Cuda 45</b></p>
Out for blood and vengeance; rudimentary destruction that I couldn’t stop listening to, Australian snipers summoning a sort of Babes in Toyland Royal Trux pummel.</p> <a href="http://excon.bandcamp.com/">http://excon.bandcamp.com/</a></p>
<b>Life Stinks 45</b></p>
I know the LP has gotten a lot of props but I haven’t gotten a copy yet, and anyway this is the perfect format for their sound. 45RPM! Just a great punk record. If you like music from Cleveland OH from say, 1975-1981 you will want to use this to dig yr own grave. Free with every copy.</p>
ALSO: Veronica Falls LP / UNA BESTIA INCONTROLABLE-LP / HOAX LP / LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS 45 / SHIRTLESS THUGS TAPE / PRIESTS TAPE</p>
LATE ENTRIES: Household LP / Angie LP</p>
<b>EXCITED FOR IN 2014</b>: <b>spider and the webs</b>, <b>hysterics</b>, <b>La Misma</b>, <b>Ivy</b>, <b>Family Outing</b>, <b>Failed Mutation</b>, <b>Frau</b>, <b>In School</b>…</p>
P.S. add <b>CRAZY BAND LP</b> and <b>SHOPPING LP</b> to my almost made it section!Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-46599562199908176462014-01-05T22:36:00.000-08:002014-01-05T22:39:58.707-08:00best of 2013 by mimi thi nguyen<p>The 2013 standout releases for me include the 45-track survey of Portland’s all-female punk band <b>Neo Boys</b>, called Sooner or Later (K Records); the West London anarcha-feminist art-punk band <b>Androids of Mu</b>’s Blood Robots (1980), reissued by Water Wing Records; Dark Entries’ compilation from Icelandic post-punk <b>Q4U</b> called Q1 Deluxe Edition (1980-1983); the dreamy <b>Elaines</b> 12” from Brooklyn’s post-punk Household; <b>The Younger Lovers</b>’s latest bouncy LP Sugar in My Pocket (Southpaw) and of course, <b>Shopping</b>’s Consumer Complaints LP (Milk), featuring the ever-amazing Rachel Aggs from Trash Kit.</p>
Nyky Gomez may be one of my favorite people I met in 2013. During the week I was on the <a href="http://poczineproject.tumblr.com/">POC Zine Project</a> tour this October, we shared inappropriately timed jokes and over eleven hours’ worth of trivia and revelations on the drive from Los Angeles to Oakland (Nyky drove the entire stretch, with me co-piloting). This bad bitch bruja runs the brand-new <a href="http://www.brownreclusezinedistro.com/">Brown Recluse Zine Distro</a>, boasting a catalog made up of zines written mostly by indigenous peoples and people of color. BCZD is <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/4421lw">currently fundraisin</a>g to help support itself, and to furthermore make the entire catalog available to prisoners for free, and to send one copy of every zine in the catalog to existing zine libraries or those starting zine libraries nationally and internationally, especially in indigenous communities and communities of color. Nyky also does the zine <b>Skinned Heart</b>, and her latest issue is by far one of my zine favorites in recent memory. <a href="http://www.brownreclusezinedistro.com">Buy everything from her</a>.</p>
From two of my other favorite zinesters, <a href="http://annavo.wordpress.com">Anna Vo</a> and <a href="http://shotgunseamstress.blogspot.com">Osa Atoe</a> put out the interview-heavy fourth issue of <b>Fix My Head</b> in Fall 2013, just in time for the second POC Zine Project tour. This issue of FMH, like the last, documents punx of color in scenes all over the globe, historically and contemporaneously. This issue includes interviews with Mars from Aye Nako, Textaqueen, Melting Pot Massacre, Daighila, and the amazing Taquila Mockingbird about the early days of punk in Los Angeles. I have to say, however, that Osa’s interview with Golnar Nikpour is my runaway favorite interview. Golnar talks about her all-female QPOC hardcore band In School, her time coordinating Maximum Rocknroll, and her genius thoughts on “punk studies.”</p>
Rosi writes <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/104116330/zine-not-straight-not-white-not-male-3rd">Not Straight Not White Not Male</a>, a text-heavy (literally, there is no layout) zine about being a genderqueer Vietnamese punk kid in Southern California – a zine after my own heart, sniff sniff. The zine was published in December 2012, but I read it in 2013. </p>
Margaret Thatcher died. All our enemies from the ‘80s are dead!</p>
I did a lot of great readings this year, but my favorite has to be the Guillotine Press release of <b>PUNK</b> at WORD Bookstore in June 2013. <b>PUNK</b> is the product/process of a years-long conversation between Golnar Nikpour and me about punk (of course) and race, politics, and historiography. I got to read with Jenny Zhang, a brilliant poet and essayist I first met from the blog Fashion for Writers. Jenny and I both read pieces inspired by Wendy Davis’s all-day filibuster of the Texas State legislature against some of the most restrictive anti-abortion proposals in the United States (which ended in the wee hours of the morning of the release). Novelist and all-around star of smart shit Sarah McCarry, who publishes the <a href="http://www.therejectionist.com/p/guillotine.html">Guillotine</a> chapbook series, hosted the release and started us off with a champagne toast to Davis. </p>
My graduate school friend Steven Lee sent me a video of Helen Slater from <a href="http://threadandcircuits.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/punk-planet-46-sometime-in-2001/">The Legend of Billie Jean</a>, one of my favorite movies of all time, saying, “Fair is fair, Mimi!” I totally cried with happiness.</p>
In December 2013, I co-organized (with Ruth Nicole Brown, Karen Flynn, and Fiona I.B. Ngô) the <a href="http://hiphopandpunkfeminisms.weebly.com/">Hip Hop and Punk Feminism</a>s conference at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. We wanted to put hip hop and punk feminisms in conversation, especially since all the “third wave feminism” retrospectives seem to somehow ignore the emergence of hip hop feminisms concurrent with riot grrrl feminisms in the same decade. (From our statement: “This symposium stages productive conversations across hip hop and punk feminisms, including questions about the genealogies and as well multiple origin stories for hip hop and punk across diasporas and the globe (against a wholly distinct and discrete genealogy, or singular origin story, for each); about the theories of aesthetics and value that emerge from hip hop and punk cultures, including forms of immanent critique as well as political polemic that imagine futurity or negativity, and the uses and challenges to them from women of color feminisms; and about the ephemeral and haptic qualities of hip hop and punk performances, including the events, actions, and encounters between bodies that shape social and cultural formations within hip hop and punk cultures.”) The highlight for me has to be hosting the intensely powerful, and fiercely generous, Alice Bag in my sleepy cornfield-cornered part of Illinois, and otherwise bringing together some of my favorite zinesters –Nyky, Osa, and Anna—in my college town. Osa and Fiona also played with Alice for an electrifying performance, and may actually become a real band, so I feel I accomplished something this year. </p>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-8976234261970399072014-01-04T14:48:00.001-08:002014-01-04T14:48:44.274-08:00best of 2013 by john root<p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PLvIrdbnIAA/UsiPndAiegI/AAAAAAAABAc/CC1rHFlKifQ/s1600/BdCQ_GZCEAAj-Zt.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PLvIrdbnIAA/UsiPndAiegI/AAAAAAAABAc/CC1rHFlKifQ/s400/BdCQ_GZCEAAj-Zt.jpg" /></a>
<p></p>
<p><b>Scenery outside the seen/scene, inside works 2013</p></b>
Acquiring 7 months of sobriety.</p>
The birth of my nephew Nico Dean Root.</p>
Getting closer with my mom.</p>
Returning to college after a 10 year absence.</p>
Meister Eckhart selected writings</p>
Popol Vuh (the band) + Meditating/Yoga.</p>
Riding my bike to Napalm Death.</p>
Reading the Cabalistic Keys to The Lord’s Prayer by Manly P. Hall.</p>
Tripping out on William Blake paintings and Poems.</p>
Resonating with words like
“…the flame that kindles desire and illuminates thought never burned for more than a few seconds at a stretch. The rest of the time we tried to remember it." – Rene Daumal</p> Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-90761482396540891952014-01-03T23:16:00.003-08:002014-01-04T14:58:27.472-08:00best of 2013 by dave harvey<b>Nudity</b> taking flight once again with the seriously amazing lineup of Stephie, Rachel, Max and Tanar. When things get rolling at a show, I really do feel like I'm leaving terra firma behind. (And so stoked to record an LP next month!)</p>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Sh74IUHq9I/Use89uidS9I/AAAAAAAAA_8/jK6UI0Ivbas/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Sh74IUHq9I/Use89uidS9I/AAAAAAAAA_8/jK6UI0Ivbas/s320/unnamed.jpg" /></a></p>
- Letting Joaquin talk me into the cockamamie idea of <b>Госкино</b> composing and performing a 2 hour live rock'n'roll soundtrack to Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent Soviet film "October" about a month and a half before the performance date. I think it's one of the highest artistic accomplishments of my life, and certainly among my favorites. Here's hoping for more performances in 2014!</p>
- Traveling the western hemisphere with Rachel, including starting off the new year in Chile, ringing in my 40th birthday in May on a perfect beachside surfing trip in Costa Rica, and an early fall west coast road trip in the Dart complete with managing to go 4 days in a row soaking in remote hot springs.</p>
- Oh, other people's music? <b>GLITZ</b> rocked my sox off at that sketchy brief-lived loft space in the Trinacria alley. And tho the record came out in 2012, I discovered the latest band in my Gothenburg, Sweden obsession around the beginning of 2013, that being <b>GOAT</b>: fuzzed out psychedelic afro-beat with INCREDIBLE strong female vocals; oddly being performed by, well, Swedes... Oh yeah, and <b>QUEEN CRESCENT</b>, 4 ladies, one from Purple Rhinestone Eagle, doing the rad heavy 70's stuff, including a full-time flautist - oh yeah, oh yeah!</p>
- The Franz Von Stuck exhibit at the Frye Museum in Seattle. It's up thru January - Northwesters, go, Go, GO!!! It's seriously recommended!</p>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-88652950707392715862014-01-03T23:11:00.000-08:002014-01-04T14:52:33.297-08:00best of 2013 by lizet ortuño<b><p>Looking back at 2013 I realized that I went through intense transitions. I moved three times, lived in three different states, and found my home in the most unexpected place; Houston, TX. I fell devastatingly out of love with punk, but with the help of incredible talks with old friends, inspiring art/music, and new friends... I found that LOVE again. With that being said, I didn't make it to as many shows as other years, or bought very many records/tapes/zines, but the music/art that I have mentioned have truly moved me.</p> </b>
1) Spending two months in my hometown of Santa Ana, CA. Every morning I was able to have breakfast with my Grandmother, and every night I shared a bed with my closest cousin, Monica.</p>
2) <b>Institute</b> - Demo + Live in Houston</p>
3) Hanging out in Olympia with Hayes Waring, Dave Harvey, and Tanar Stalker.</p>
4) Art by: Sara Abruña + Emma Kohlmann + Daniel Ortuño</p>
5) Spending my summer in Portland: hitting up the tiki bars, going to Tiki Kon, swimming at Hag lake, karaoke, bowling nights, dancing @ hip hop night, being taken in by my dear friend Anne Stark, and sleep overs with Sarah Williams.</p>
6) <b>Hysterics</b> - Live in NY + singing me Happy Birthday @ midnight!!</p>
7) Moving to Houston and discovering I love it and the freaky people in it.</p>
8) <b>Ivy</b> - Demo</p>
9) Las Cruxes + Farewell books in Austin, TX - I'm so happy these places exist and that they're run by amazing people. Kudos to Veronica Ortuño, Mikaylah Bowman, and Travis Kent.</p>
10) <b>The Ukiah Drag</b> - Jazz Mama is Cryin'</p>
11) Taking solo trips to visit Darby Crash's grave and Rozz Williams' urn</p>
12) <b>Crazy Spirit </b>- Live @ New York's Alright Fest</p>
13) Getting tattooed by Christina Gemora</p>
14) <b>La Misma</b> - Demo + Live @ New York's Alright Fest</p>
15) Having a Disneyland Annual Pass and going three times a month!</p>
16) <b>Una Bèstia Incontrolable</b> - Live @ Nuts! #11 Release Party</p>
17) Everything about living in the Highland Park neighborhood of LA, but especially Wombleton Records.</p>
18) <b>Milk Music</b> - Cruise Your Illusion</p>
19) <b>Mystic Inane</b> - Live in Houston</p>
20) <b>Drake</b> - Live in the City of Syrup </p>
Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-72538284042215469672014-01-03T22:52:00.000-08:002014-01-03T23:54:11.354-08:00best of 2013 by joaquin de la puente<b>Top ELEVEN(!) live shows of 2013:</p></b>
<b>Vexx</b> in Olympia...multiple shows all year long</p>
<b>Negative Approach</b> in Portland and Seattle in February</p>
<b>The Specials</b> in Seattle in March</p>
<b>Behead the Prophet (No Lord Shall Live)</b>, The Need, Thrones and Hysterics at Northern in Olympia in March</p>
<b>CCMC</b> (Michael Snow, John Oswald and Al Mattes) and <b>Wolf Eyes</b> at MOCAD in Detroit in May.</p>
<b>Stillsuit</b>, <b>Spider and the Webs</b> and <b>Moon</b> in Olympia in July </p>
<b>Cheap Trick</b> at the Washington State Fair in September</p>
<b>Nudity</b> in Olympia in October (and at midnight on the New Year…does this count? Best Show of 2014!)</p>
<b>The Julie Ruin</b> opening night at Olympia Film Festival in November</p>
<b>Craig Extine</b>, <b>Stellar Angles</b>, <b>Hot Tears</b> and <b>Erica Freas</b> at Sizzis in Olympia in November</p>
<b>Black Rainbow</b> and <b>Defect Defect</b> in Portland in December</p>
<p></p>
<b><p>Top 11 Movie events of 2013:</p></b>
-<b>Pussy Riot, A Punk Prayer</b>, <b>Anita</b> (Anita Hill Documentary) with Anita Hill hanging out talking to everyone, at Sundance in January.</p>
-<b>La Sirga</b> at Portland International Film Festival in February</p>
-<b>David Holzman's Diary</b>, <b>Leviathan</b> at True/False Film Festival in Columbia, MO in March</p>
-<b>Frances Ha</b>, <b>Towheads</b>, <b>Brave Miss World</b>, <b>Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me</b>, <b>Maidentrip</b>, <b>Something in the Air</b>, <b>Soft in the Head</b>, <b>The Rambler</b> at Sarasota Film Festival in April</p>
-The films of <b>Mary Helena Clark</b>, <b>Saul Levine</b>, <b>Basma Alsharif</b>, <b>Kevin Everson</b>, <b>Peter Miller</b>, <b>Jonathan Schwartz</b> and <b>Seamus Harahan</b> at Media City Film Festival (Windsor, Ontario) in May</p>
-<b>Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia</b>, <b>Journey to the West</b>; <b>Conquering the Demons</b>, <b>Trials of Muhammad Ali</b> and <b>Your Day is My Night</b> at the Traverse City Film Festival in August.</p>
-Projecting Dovzhenko's <b>Earth</b> with an 18 piece orchestra, <b>2001: A Space Odysessy</b>, and <b>Wings of Desire</b> reel to reel for over 1000 people in each audience/ watching <b>Up Stream Color</b> and <b>Vanishing Waves</b> in an empty Balcony at the Oriental movie palace during the Milwaukee Film Festival in September/ October.</p>
-Playing in the band <b>Госкино</b> with the film <b>October, Ten Days that Shook the Earth</b>, Seeing Erick Lyle, Basma Alsharif and Cary Cronenwett present their movies, also the films <b>Daisies</b>, <b>Burnt Offerings</b> and the <b>Bigamist</b> on 35mm, <b>Born in Flames</b> on 16mm and the movies <b>Nana</b>, <b>Aatsinki: the Story of Arctic Cowboys</b>, <b>Fat Shaker</b>, <b>Warmth</b> and <b>Combat Girls</b> at the Olympia Film Festival in November.</p>
-<b>Spring Breakers</b> (movie of the year!…as in, a total product of 2013...also completely great)</p>
-<b>The Wolf of Wall Street</b> (!!)</p>
-<b>The Act of Killing</b> (!!!)</p>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-40553438780216949352014-01-03T09:32:00.001-08:002014-01-03T09:33:20.552-08:00best of 2013 by rachel evans & steve dore<b>The Fat White Family - Live and on record.</p>
The Temples of Tokyo.</p>
The existence of Lamingtons as a food source.</p>
Flappers - Six Women Of A Dangerous Generation by Judith Mackrell.</p>
Craft Coffee Shop - 68 Sclater Street, Shoreditch, London.</p>
The Poetry of John Keats and Charles Baudelaire - Sounds poncey, not meant to, POETRY FOR THE PEOPLE.</p>
Eating Vietnamese baguettes outside St Bartholomew the Great, Farringdon.</p>
Sherlock on BBC1.... Cumberbatch fever.</p>
The Lady Vanishes ( original version) at the Brixton Ritzy.</p>
Alpha Papa.</p>
Greenwich Planetarium.</p>
Lew Griffin books by James Sallis.</p>
Lee's Bonfire Night Party in Lewes.</p>
TV - Toast of London.</p>
Japanese Outsider Art at the Wellcome Collection, London.</p>
Mathew Sawyer's barbecues.</p>
Healthy Eaters Shop in Brixton.</p>
Uniqlo boy short knickers.</p>
Bert Bacharach live at the South Bank.</p>
Diana Vreeland - The eye has to travel documentary.</p>
Finding Vivian Maier documentary.</p>
The Sleaford Mods - Austerity Dogs.</p></b>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-76018738368836889962014-01-02T22:24:00.002-08:002014-01-03T09:26:25.421-08:00best of 2013 by billy karren<b>THe SPECIALS</b> u.s.a west coast tour-amazing shows gents!-meeting the Specials!</p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/av7aUCPByn8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<b>Vexx</b> - cool new band-great show at the pizzaria in a Oly Town...great fun kids! keep it going</p>
<b>The Punk Singer</b> Movie--good film ,we looked so cute. a totally adorable film. BIKINI KILL</p>
<b>The Seattle Seahawks</b>-for Winning the SUPER BOWL!!! i hope--dude's do it!</p>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-35807272452347020282014-01-02T21:16:00.001-08:002014-01-02T21:33:58.443-08:00best of 2013 by marissa magic<p><b>I saw new bands more than I listened to new records this year so heres some bands that blew my mind:</p>
</b>
<b>Swarm</b> - Stillsuit was in Philadelphia in a bike shop when we played
with this band that consisted of two drummers, a bassist, a main
singer and then a chorus of three women dancing and singing back ups.
It was exhilarating and emotional. I'm pretty sure I cried. After tour
anytime anyone asked what bands were good this was a always at the top
of my list.</p>
<b>Permanent Ruin</b> - This band is one of those bands to me that i'm kind
of like "yeah, they're a good band" and then I see them and without
fail my jaw drops. Non-stop rage, bass and drums unrelenting, a guitar
that squeals into chaos constantly and a singer that runs from belting
to growling to screaming to holding a note for so fucking long.</p>
<b>Vexx</b> - Wet Drag played a bar in Chehalis that stuffed us with free
food and was totally one of those instances of the bands watch the
bands, no one else really there. The atmosphere was a little awkward
and Larsens bass kept cutting out but they still slated the shit out
of everything. I've been a big fan of stuff that Maryjane does for
awhile now and this definitely fed the obsession</p>
<b>Black Dog</b> - This band is somewhere between total sleaze and the
heaviest of the heavy. They are so absurd that every time I see them I
spend the entire time head banging and laughing hysterically. Their
singer consistently wears corpse paint and does push-ups and
occasionally brings free weights. This year the line up stretched to
include a bass and some general tape loop noise. Basically a bunch of
noise freaks decided to start an over the top metal band and its
pretty amazing</p>
<b>Daisyworld</b> - Grunge at its best. Jaime is such a rad drummer, The
guitar keeps a sickly trance, back and fourth boy/girl vocals.
Defenitely another band that falls into the category where I like them
and then I see them and my jaw drops.</p>
<b>Styrofoam Sanchez</b> - These noise weirdos. They all dress in suits and
build masks and monoliths out of styrofoam that are ripped to shreds
by the end. Earsplitting and filled with doom, a wall full of static
and bleeps and growls. I once caught a glance of a lyric sheet and it
said something like "the toxic rivers run through your blood"</p>
<b>Condominium</b> - This band lands in the space of hardcore that I love,
the part that gets real freaky all of the time. They have this seven
inch called Carl that jags through an entire intro and then falls in
line in the most seasick sense. Everything is barked out in disgust. I
saw them live they were wearing flannel.</p>
<b>Not new bands I saw favorites:</p></b>
favorite summer of my adult life: 2013 - Basically <b>Stillsuit</b> put out
our own record, Wet Drag put out a tape and a seven inch, both went on
tour, all experiences were excellent.</p>
<p>
Realizing I still have feelings and I can get lost in love and get my
heart broken</p>
Starting The Blues with Max Nordile and daring to play quiet</p>
Reading <b>The Dialectic of Sex by Shulamith Firestone</b>, getting pretty obsessed</p>
Salami and Cheese snack packs</p>
Moving into a room with a real window and door</p>
Yogurt</p>
Anything by <b>Roky Erickson</b></p>
Ok now I'm just rambling...</p>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-38315112752425222802014-01-02T21:12:00.000-08:002014-01-02T21:12:41.383-08:00best of 2013 by justin trosper<b>Artist with most play time on my stereo regardless of the year it was released</b>:</p> Alex Degrassi!</p>
<b>New records I bought AND liked:</b></p>
<b>Janelle Monae</b> “The Electric Lady”</p>
<b>Daft Punk</b> “RAM”</p>
<b>MIA</b> “Matangi”</p>
<b>Queens of the Stone Age</b> “Like Clockwork”</p>
<b>Congo Natty</b> “Jungle Revolution”</p>
<b>Adrian Sherwood</b> “Survival and Resistance”</p>
<b>Neko Case</b> “The Worse Things get…”</p>
</body>
</html>
<b>...and the Reissued LPs:</b></p>
<b>PIL</b> 1st ed. (Light in the Attic)</p>
<b>I Am The Center</b> comp (Light in the Attic)</p>
<b>Chrome</b> “Half Machine from the Sun: The Lost Chrome Tapes 79-80”</p>
<b>Bl’ast</b> “Blood” (Southern Lord)</p>
<b>Rodan</b> “Fifteen Quiet Years” (Touch and Go)</p>
<b>Iasos</b> “Celestial Soul Portrait” (Numero)</p>
<b>Apochryphal Hymns</b> comp (Numero)</p>
<b>William Onyeabor</b> “Who is…” (Luaka Bop)</p>
</p>
<b>Live stuff I saw and liked:</b></p>
Western Hymn, Mira Billotte/White Magic, Nudity, Raw Geronimo, Darto, Screaming Females, Pinback, Hysterics, Obits, Octagrape, Streateaters, Hungry Ghost, Broken Water, Neko Case, Greys, Modest Mouse</p>
</p>
<b>Interesting stuff that I heard from people on the internet worth checking out:</b></p>
<b>Gregor Schellenbach</b> Kompact mix on Soundcloud, <b>Ben Lukas Boysen/HECQ</b>, <b>Fuck Buttons</b> “Slow Focus”, <b>The Knife</b> “A Tooth for an Eye”, <b>Darkside</b> “Psychic”, <b>Anciients</b> “Heart of Oak”
<b>Death Grips</b> “Government Plates”, <b>Oozing Wound</b> “Retrash”, <b>Chelsea Wolfe</b> “Pain is Beauty”,
<b>Julia Holter</b> “Loud City Song”, <b>Burial</b> “Rival Dealer”,<b> Jon Hopkins</b> “Immunity”
<b>Tim Hecker</b> “Virgins”, <b>Gesaffelstein</b> </p>
</p>
<b>Music related reading:</b></p>
<b>David Byrne</b> “How Music Works” paperback</p>
<b>Morrissey</b> “Autobiography” paperback</p>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-12870136114743431192014-01-01T14:11:00.002-08:002014-01-04T00:27:15.492-08:00best of 2013 by nadia buyse (aka DUBAIS)<b>Best Performances of 2013</b></p>
Maybe this is a gross generalization here, but 2013 was a year of division. The consensus from everyone I’ve talked to about their personal 2013 was an expressed duality; both the highest highs and the lowest lows, massive accomplishments and overwhelming defeat. The world at large felt separation, internal/exterior struggle, and then polarized this energy to turn grit into diamonds.... but perhaps I’m being too romantic. </p>
I definitely felt a divide on how to approach this ‘best of’ list. Do I talk about my favorite albums of the year? Do I talk about my favorite bands this year? In the end I decided to make my list focus on the best performances I ” saw” in 2013. So here it is, in no particular order or fashion, the best performances of 2013 according to me!</p>
<b>1. MATTRESS (Portland, Or)</b></p>
I decide to start with Mattress because Mattress is the band I have seen the most this year, not only because we toured, but because MATTRESS is literally one of my favorite Portland bands. Every show has ambience and sex appeal. MATTRESS is the music baby of Rex Marshall. Rex grew up in Las Vegas. Legend has it Rex started singing at the ripe age of 7 after getting a gig at the CIRCUS CIRCUS from his showgirl girlfriend. Since then he has perfected a post post minimalist lo fi lounge experimental persona that is undeniable. He is also the lead singer of the Vietnam vet core blues-rock band SLIM FORTUNE. </p>
<b>2. SKIING (Berlin, Germany)</b></p>
Everett Darling is a pop genius and Berlin is lucky to have him. I first met Everett the day I moved to Olympia; we started our first band that day. After that we were in many bands together in Olympia (The Itch, Becky, Fierce Perm) and one this summer in Berlin (Business Lunch.) Fast forward years later, Everett is living in Berlin and has started the band Skiing. Skiing is pop gold, (think Michael Hurley if he was into shoe gaze and riot grrl.). I saw them play multiple times but every show was an inspiration. So, at this point I should say the Berlin ‘punk/indie/whatever the kids are calling it these days’ scene is a total boys town (not to be confused with the electronic/experimental/performance scene which is a feminist/ queer utopia. ... And more Brown people are coming around too.) Every time I saw Skiing play Everett would sing in falsetto and dress in drag or wear a t shirt that would say something like “ in this T shirt is the body of a gay man” or do something to get the attention of all the sadwhiteboys and make those queens DANCE.</p>
<b>3. BODY/HEAD (Portland, Or T: BA festival)</b></p>
BODY/HEAD is the newest project by Kim Gordan. If you were a teenager in the 90’s I guarantee you LOVED Sonic Youth probably as much as I LOVED Sonic Youth. I, like most people, felt the loss after they disbanded but was more excited to see what Kim would do next. She has always been one of my favorite feminist icons and I knew whatever she did would be AMAZING. What I didn’t know was that I would be performing the Pop Opera I had been working on for the last year after BODY/HEAD’s first Portland show at the Time based Art festival. Their performance was incredible; an epic sonic drama enhanced with cinematic projections. (PICA really knows how to Program a show!) </p>
<b>4. The Quaintrelles (Los Angelas, CA)</b></p>
I should preface this by saying that this was the year I really felt a separation with punk scene/ punk music. Even if the music was good, (which often times it’s just regurgitated crap made by college kids who think being poor is cool) I was just hyper aware of the superficiality, exclusivity, and false hierarchy that exists at a lot of shows and in a lot of bands’ performance energy/presentation. It’s just kind of gross. But the Quaintrelles reminded me of the reasons I first fell in love with punk. The band couldn’t have been older than 20, two girls, two boys; all of which had made their own sharpie t-shirts. They did some covers (California Uber Alles) and originals (one song that was introduced as being about cheese and communism.) The music didn’t move me but the energy those kids had brought me back to be a young punk and just being so excited to play with my friends. You’ve never heard of this band, and you might not ever hear them… but all of those kids will continue to play music and be on some great bands I bet. The band was given their name by Taquila Mockingbird who is the main curator/ founder of the Punk Rock Museum. </p>
<b>5. Weird Fiction and the artificial empathy Machine (Portland, OR)</b></p>
Weird Fiction is Weird… it’s not just a clever name. They played a show at Valentines with World Gang to pretty much no one. At this show they created the Artificial Empathy Machine, which the band played inside of. This machine had the ability to take your picture, fulfill your desires, and send sexy texts… I still don’t know how the machine got my phone number. PS. World gang was pretty great too, for the record. </p>
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<b>6.Bahrain Music Camp for girls Showcase (Manama, Bahrain)</b></p>
One of the most exciting things this year for me was getting the opportunity to go to Bahrain to start the Bahrain music camp for girls with my friends Beth and Sarah. Everyone who has been to a Rock Camp Show Case knows how awesome they are. This One was particularly special for me though, maybe it was the pre showcase epic dance party we had…. Also there were a lot more rappers than usual… I dig that. </p>
<b>7. Morgan and the Organ Donors (Olympia, WA)</b>
Just when I thought Morgan and the Organ Donors couldn’t get any better Olivia (from one of my favorite bands of all time C.O.C.O) joined the band… WTF!? </p>
<b>8. The Legend of Drake (Portland, Or)</b></p>
So I’m pretty sure that one of the best things to happen to music this year was Drake’s album nothing was the same. It’s the best things that happened to R&B since Frank Ocean’s Orange Channel album last year, that’s for sure. Drake came to play Portland while on tour supporting his new album last month. I was so bummed because 1. I didn’t hear about it until the day of 2. I was DEATHLY sick, so naturally 3. I didn’t get to go. But I have to say that the ripple effect and ephemera of his time in Portland was magic. So first of all, Drake went to Black book after the show, which is the former Yes and No; a bar in downtown Portland that only a very small group of people cared existed until it closed and later re opened as Black book. The Instagram was all a buzz. The next days there were local news outfits telling stories of Drake visiting a homeless shelter in downtown and to give a large chuck of money to them for blankets and other necessities. Even though I didn’t get to see his show, the spectacle of his presence in my city was omnipresent. </p>
<b>9. The Germs (Los Angeles, CA)</b></p>
The Germs were one of my favorite bands and I was pretty convinced it was impossible to see them live. The version I did see; consisting of original members Don Bolles and Pat Smear, was supplemented by Charlotte from the GoGos and Shane West, the guy who played Darby in What we do is Secret. I don’t think it was particularly the best show I’ve ever seen, I mean everyone playing nailed it and it sounded pretty good; but the fact that I was watching some dude, a Hollywood actor, do Darby Crash drag, was a weird experience. But good weird, It was like a flesh version of the 2 Pac hologram. </p>
<b>10. 48 hour performance art marathon at Month of Performance art Berlin (Berlin, Germany)</b></p>
So last, but not least I got to give a shout out to the 48hour performance art marathon, which is the pinnacle of the Month of Performance art Berlin. It is my belief that Germany rolls DEEEEEEP in an art way. For anyone that has ever been to (d)OCUMENTA, Gallery Weekend, 48 hours Neukoilln, or any other German art party is my witness… Shit is cray cray. I mean, the UDK (Universitat der Kunst) open studios is like every dance party you’ve ever been to times 100 in the middle of mediocre student art (made even more mediocre by the European art school industrial complex.) Month of Performance Art was no different. The 48 hour Marathon took place in one building, every thirty minutes for two days someone would be doing a performance. The performances were varied but the real spectacle was watching VERY serious German artists essentially squatting in the gallery for two days, like sitting on the sidewalk slurping soup and brushing their teeth outside style. </p>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-47920571706886267032014-01-01T13:54:00.000-08:002014-01-04T00:24:34.158-08:00best of 2013 by chris o'kane2013 was a busy year for me with many highs and one prolonged and tedious low. I spent a third of it in England, a third of it in Berlin, and a month or so in Olympia; which was excellent. I spent much of the rest of it applying for jobs in Seattle; which has obviously been shit. What follows is an unranked list of my favourite bits in 2013.</p>
<b>TV</p></b>
I’m sort of embarrassed to admit that the time I spent watching TV in 2013 outranks all my other cultural pursuits. Since that is the case I thought I would put it first.</p>
<b>Justified.</b> The best written, best paced, and most constantly entertaining show on TV.</p>
<b>Enlightened.</b> A warm-hearted satire of the self-help industrial complex and the vacuous sort of progressive politics it promulgates.</p>
<b>Top of the Lake.</b> A film noir about the patriarchy!</p>
<b>Rectify.</b>A meditative small-scale drama about how a man, his family and a small southern town react when he is released from prison after spending two decades or so of his adult life on death row.</p>
<b>Eastbound and Down</b>.Another satire that manages to be equally stupid, incisive and hilarious. In my opinion, it’s also far better at representing the decline of American hegemony and the obscene norms of American masculinity than Mad Men or Breaking Bad etc. </p>
<b>In the Thick of it.</b> I finally got around to watching this, and it lives up to the hype.</p>
<b>Veep. </b>Not as good as In the Thick, and not as much swearing, but its still good.</p>
<b>Archer.</b> It makes me laugh. I also like that the USSR still exists in it.</p>
<b>Breaking Bad.</b> The hype was tedious and the last episode was a let down, but it was still gripping.</p>
<b>Music</p></b>
New</p>
<b>Big Business</b> – Battlefields Forever. </p>
<b>Paysage D’hiver</b> – Das Tor</p>
<b>Chelsea Light Moving</b> – S/T.</p>
<b>Vexx</b> - S/T.</p>
<b>Hornet Leg </b>- Wrecking Ball.</p>
<b>Body/Head </b>– Coming Apart.</p>
<b>Stillsuit</b> – S/T.</p>
<b>Unwound</b> – The Kid is Gone.</p>
<b>The Fat White Family</b> – Champagne Holocaust.</p>
<b>The Rebel</b> – S/T.</p>
Old</p>
<b>Arthur Alexander</b> – You Better Move On, Detroit City, Call Me Lonesome</p>
<b>The Fall</b> -- up to and including I am Kurios Oranj</p>
<b>The Go-Betweens</b> – Live in Vienna</p>
<b>Black Flag</b> – The 1982 Demos</p>
<b>Pallbearer</b> – Sorrow and Extinction</p>
<b>The Saints</b> – Eternally Yours</p>
<b>The Country Teasers</b> – Satan is Real, Destroy all Human Life</p>
<b>Thin Lizzy</b> – The Peel Sessions</p>
<b>ZZ Top</b>’s first three albums. </p>
After ending up on the same plane as <b>Mudhoney</b>, and having Mark Arm flip shit at me, I decided to listen to them on a lark and got into Superfuzz Bigmuff, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge and My Brother the Cow.</p>
<b>Reading</b></p>
<b>Endnotes 3</b></p>
<b>Viewpoint 3</b></p>
Werner Bonefeld – <b>Critical Theory and the Critique of Political Economy</b>.</p>
Roberto Bolano – <b>Woes of the True Policeman</b>.</p>
Rachel Kushner – <b>The Flamethrowers</b>.</p>
Ellen M. Wood – <b>The Ellen Meiksins Wood Reader</b>.</p>
Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos et al. – <b>A Political Economy of Contemporary Capitalism and its Crisis</b>. </p>
Ingo Stutzle et al. – <b>Polylux Marx – A Capital workbook in Slides</b>. </p>
Ingo Elbe – <b>Between Marx, Marxism and Marxisms—ways of reading Marx’s Theory</b>. </p>
Karl Marx – <b>The 1861-1863 Manuscript</b>s.</p>
Louis Althusser – <b>Essays in Self-criticism, The Humanist Controversy, Philosophy of the Encounter, The Future Lasts Forever</b>.</p>
Georgakas and Surkin – <b>Detroit do I Mind Dying?</b></p>
<b>Films</b></p>
Mike Kelley - <b>Going West on Michigan Avenue from Downtown Detroit to Westland.</b></p>
Mike Kelley - <b>Going East on Michigan Avenue from Downtown Detroit to Westland</b>.</p>
Stewart Bird et al. -- <b>Finally Got the News</b>.</p>
Chantal Ackerman – <b>From the East</b>.</p>
John Carpenter – <b>They Live</b>. </p>
Noah Baumbach – <b>Frances Ha</b>.</p>
Hal Ashby – <b>The Last Detail</b>.</p>
Bob Rafelson – <b>The King of Marvin Gardens</b></p>
Werner Herzog – <b>Happy People: a year in the Taiga</b>. </p>
David C. Thomas -- <b>Mc5: A True Testimonial</b>. </p>
<b>Shows</p></b>
<b>David Hasslehoff</b> at the Berlin Wall.</p>
<b>The Melvins</b> playing Lysol, Egnogg and Stoner Witch.</p>
M’lady’s Birthday Party with <b>The Hysterics, Vexx, Ruby Pins and Nukular Aminals</b>.</p>
<b>Melvins Lite/Big Business</b>.</p>
<b>StillSuit/Death Drive</b> etc.</p>
<b>The Witch/Hornet Leg/Western Hymn</b>.</p>
<b>Joey Shithead/Movieland</b></p>
<b>Mudhoney</b> at the Seattle Center.</p>
<b>Wet Drag</b></p>
All the other times I saw <b>Vexx, Big Business and The Hysterics</b>.</p>
<b>New Year’s resolution: Communism.</b></p> Failing that; get a job, spend more time writing and less time applying to jobs, and watch more films and less TV. </p>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-21285022588325589112013-12-31T20:39:00.000-08:002014-01-04T15:32:31.173-08:00best of 2013 by tobi vail<b>the jigsaw underground</p></b>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Useh1a10X3s/UsOeR-AUWkI/AAAAAAAAA_s/8hWf8TBhFCU/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Useh1a10X3s/UsOeR-AUWkI/AAAAAAAAA_s/8hWf8TBhFCU/s320/photo+(1).JPG" /></a></p>
<b>band of the year - STILLSUIT</p>
record of the year - Body/Head - Coming Apart</p>
best feminist pop album - Ruby Pins-Ruby Pins</p>
best punk record - Stillsuit-Stillsuit</p>
favorite video by an underground artist: <a href="http://vimeo.com/75694113">Freakapuss-'New 21st Century Dimension</a> </p>
best counter-hegemonic punk group - death drive </p>
favorite band that didn't release a record: comet gain</p>
favorite record to dance to: bleached - ride your heart LP</p>
tape of the year - La Luz -Damp Face EP</p>
favorite touring band I saw live: dead river</p>
favorite pop song of the year - Janelle Monae - Q.U.E.E.N.(why isn't this #1?!?!)</p>
best live band: VEXX (like Viva Knievel meets FANG at Tomata du Plenty's grave!!)</p>
fav record I checked out from the public library: the who, live at hull (2012)</p>
band to watch in 2014: gSp </p>
best show at the Capitol Theater - The Julie Ruin, Survival Knife, Hott Fruit</p>
best show put on by the Olympia All Ages Project at Northern - Priests</p>
local band that broke up(or moved away or went on hiatus or whatever) that I wish was still playing all the time: sonskull tied with weird tv</p>
best post-colonial pop album addressing neoliberal realities: MIA Matangi</p>
best mainstream pop record: beyoncé-beyoncé</p>
best "last show ever" - western hymn at the palace flophouse</p>
best live original score to a film: Госкино to Eisenstein's October: ten days that shook the world</p>
favorite feminist punk singer/performance artist: mary jane dunphe</p>
fav nw garage pop: Morgan & the Organ Donors w/ Olivia on bass guitar & vocals</p>
killer pop album made by a singer/songwriter - The Blow - The Blow</p>
best music for the morning commute: daft punk - random access memories tied with wire pink flag (1977)</p>
best avant rock-n-roll album Magik Markers - Surrender to the Fantasy</p>
best local rockers to see live: "nu" nudity line up w/ stephie & rachel raging on 2nd guitar/keyboards</p>
favorite hardcore band to see live: hysterics</p>
best record I received as a gift: good throb 7" (released in 2012)</p>
fav reissues/new release by an older group: tronics lps on m'lady's</p>
favorite flexi: <b>Gag</b> (Perennial) </p>
biggest hyped band I liked the least: savages</p>
most played songs: unreleased tracks by bikini kill, spider & the webs shhh</p>
favorite feminist noir fiction: Sara Gran's Claire Dewitt detective series</p>
favorite young adult novel: Eleanor & Park</p>
best work of fiction written by a punk rock goddess: The Vicious Red Relic Love A Fabulist Memoir by Ana Joy Springer (actually came out in 2011?)</p>
favorite graphic novel about working in a library: bookhunter by jason shiga (2007)</p>
favorite classic American novel: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)</p>
favorite novel published in 2013 that's not a mystery: the woman upstairs by claire messud</p>
favorite author from a long time ago I only discovered in 2013: Dorothy Baker (Cassandra at the Wedding WTF, like Carson McCullers meets Jane Bowles!)</p>
best book from 2012 read in 2013: Sara Schulman - Gentrification of the Mind</p>
favorite movie: spring breakers </p>
personal best: being published by the Feminist Press(Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer & The Riot Grrl Collection)</p>
<b></b></b>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-55960157609505927572013-12-31T19:21:00.000-08:002013-12-31T19:21:13.504-08:00best of 2013 by brett & fiona of m'lady's records<b>1. Stewart Lee, and everything that Stewart Lee has written or performed publicly. (tie) Bridget Christie and everything that Bridget Christie has written or performed publicly.</p>
2. Urupukapuka Island, Bay Of Islands, New Zealand</p>
3. Hysterics & Vexx live in Olympia and in Portland and on record</p>
4. Fred & Toody live and "unplugged" (though fully electric) at Doug Fir in Portland</p>
5. Cate Le Bon "Mug Museum" LP and live, especially the single "Are You With Me Now?"</p>
6. Neo Boys "Sooner Or Later" 2xLP reissue (K/Mississippi)</p>
7. Ohana Sushi train, Portland, Ore.</p>
8. Tig Notaro "Stool Movement" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo1oyoRGkCg)</p>
9. Vaux's Swifts roosting in the chimney of Chapman Elementary, Portland, Ore.</p>
10. Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds, and Blue Basin, John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon</p>
11. Going to Los Angeles for a week in winter [just a week, mind...]</p>
12. Portland Museum of Modern Art, in the basement of the Mississippi Records building, especially the Mr. Otis show, Portland, Ore.</p>
13. Multnomah County Health Services</p>
14. Edna Vasquez performing at the Lents International Farmers Market, Portland, Ore.</p>
15. The women of the current cast of Saturday Night Live</p>
16. Legalization of marijuana in Washington state</p>
17. The Russian women's sychronized swimming performing to the theme from "Suspiria" (see no. 16)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUFJ2cGZtQk</p>
18. Helsing Junction CSA / Shaksan strawberries / 3 day punk festival</p>
19. Bowpicker Fish & Chips, Astoria, Ore.</p>
20. Sou'wester Lodge's artist-in-residency program, Seaview, Wash.</p>
21. Golden Teacher "Bells From the Deep End" 12" EP (Optimo Records, UK)</p></b>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-90135500311938113092013-12-31T18:55:00.000-08:002014-01-02T21:34:15.777-08:00best of 2013 by chris suttonWhen I was thinking about my best ofs I started to realize that 2013 must have been the year of the music documentary. In fact, the last couple of years have produced so many amazing films attempting to shed a little light on artists or movements that would have otherwise disappeared into the ether of memory. I feel lucky (or perhaps apprehensive) living in a time where technology can recreate these moments in history. Here are my top 10 favorite music documentaries that I saw last year (they may have come out before but I saw them this year).</p>
<b>1)Kill All Redneck Pricks</b>-A lovingly made tribute to the mysterious Olympia band KARP. The live footage is unbeatable!!</p>
<b>2)Searching For Sugar Man</b> -A movie documenting the rediscovery of underground folk hero Rodriguez and his subsequent rise to belated fame.</p>
<b>3)A Band Called Death</b>- The amazing tale of obscure all-black proto punk band Death. </p>
<b>4)20 Feet From Stardom</b>-The background singers are sometimes more important than the pretty face in front. These are some of those stories. This might be my favorite.</p>
<b>5)It Came From Detroit</b>-This somewhat gossip-y movie attempts to document the Detroit rock music scene during the height of The White Stripes fame, while tying in it's rich history and then subsequent hangover after public interest waned.</p>
<b>6)Nothing Can Hurt Me</b>-A film about the mythical and influential band Big Star. Stunning music.</p>
<b>7)The Source Family</b>-Advertised as a movie about the music of the Ya Ho Wa hippie cult from Los Angeles. Instead they focus more on the leaders polygamist relationships and volatile behavior. The small info they offer on the musicians and records is interesting though.</p>
<b>8)Muscle Shoals</b>-Probably the best made documentary on this list, incorporating dramatics and factual information seamlessly into great cinema. You see the music move and literally hear the vibrations of the swamp influence some of the most amazing soul music ever created.</p>
<b>9)The Punk Singer</b>-Essentially a tribute to the art of Kathleen Hannah, but the importance of the Punk and Riot Grrrl communities that fuel her music almost take center stage and remain in discussion throughout the film.</p>
<b>10)Beware Of Mr. Baker</b>-A film about the life of wildman and Cream drummer Ginger Baker and focusing mainly on said wildmans relationship with Africa, Fela Kuti, and his libertine lifestyle.</p>
<b>More documentaries in 2014!!! Happy Holidays!!</p>
</b>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-6636810674964188792013-12-31T11:57:00.000-08:002014-03-14T14:33:44.008-07:00best of 2013 by stephie c<b>TOP TEN LIVE BANDS I SAW IN 2013</p></b>
1. LOS CRUDOS</p>
2. VEXX</p>
3. IN SCHOOL</p>
4. 86 MENTALITY</p>
5. BEHEAD THE PROPHET NO LORD SHALL LIVE</p>
6. HOAX</p>
7. NUDES</p>
8. NUCLEAR SPRING</p>
9. GAG</p>
10. HEALTH PROBLEMS</p>
<b>TOP TEN RECORDS OF 2013</p></b>
1. PUSHA T - My Name Is My Name</p>
2. GUN OUTFIT - Hard Coming Down</p>
3. VEXX - s/t</p>
4. CAIRO PYTHIAN - Unity Mitford</p>
5. HOODED HAGS - Mental Revenge CS</p>
6. YOKO ONO AND PLASTIC ONO BAND - Take Me to the Land of Hell</p>
7. HORNET LEG - Wrecking Ball</p>
8. NEKO CASE - Worse Things Get</p>
9. MOON - s/t CS</p>
10. EARL SWEATSHIRT - Doris</p>
<b>SIX INSPIRING PROJECTS OF 2013</p></b>
The People's House (Olympia)</p>
The "Beyond Inversion" comp (DC)</p>
POC Zine Project </p>
Rock Camps for Girls/Queer Rock Camp (NW and worldwide!)</p>
This Is Not a Step fest (Bay Area)</p>
Nuts! Fanzine (NYC)</p>
<b>TOP TEN REISSUES/NEW OLD STUFF RELEASED IN 2013</p></b>
1. The Human Expression - Love at a Psychedelic Velocity</p>
2. Anonymous - Inside the Shadow</p>
3. V/A - I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age in America 1950-1990</p>
4. Urinals - Negative Capability...Check it Out!</p>
5. Gene Clark - Here Tonight: The White Light Demos</p>
6. Digable Planets - Blowout Comb</p>
7. Big Star - Nothing Can Hurt Me OST</p>
8. Unwound - Kid is Gone</p>
9. Townes Van Zandt - Late Great/High, Low and In Between</p>
10. Patrick Cowley - School Daze</p>
<b>TOP TEN RECORDS I LISTENED TO MOST IN 2013 THAT WEREN'T MADE IN 2013</p></b>
1. Gene Clark - No Other</p>
2. Royal Trux - Cats and Dogs</p>
3. Big Star - Radio City</p>
4. Cock Sparrer - Shock Troops</p>
5. The Velvet Underground - third album</p>
6. The Byrds - Notorious Byrd Brothers</p>
7. Scott Walker - Scott 4</p>
8. Dead Meadow - Feathers</p>
9. The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street</p>
10. The Scruffs - Wanna' Meet the Scruffs</p>
<b>SIX ANTICIPATED RELEASES OF 2014</p></b>
The Mona Reels</p>
Flesh World</p>
In School</p>
Spider and the Webs</p>
Dirty Joe and the Brick Walls</p>
Hysterics...</p>
Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-24253490277451617522013-12-31T11:43:00.000-08:002013-12-31T11:43:26.540-08:00best of 2013 by zarjaz<b>Lauren Laurano by Spider & The Webs.</b></p>
This track stood out as soon as I heard it. It is some of the best music ever. It is a masterpiece. The style and playing ability just goes to a mix that exudes greatness. Listening to it and I find myself burning incense and praying to my effigies asking WHY? WHY? WHY? Why can’t I be like this? Why can’t I make this sound? You do that too right? Seek Lauren Laurano out and consume.</p>
<b>Tell Me Where It Is You Go by GURR.</b></p>
Come together between Europe and the USA this band is a true rock n roll legend. Beginning and swiftly going from limited playing experience toforming and developing across the Atlantic, uncanny, incredible sound,talents and songs. Guys, watch out! GURR are gonna getcha!</p>
<b>Field Elevator by Sapphire Mansions.</b></p>
How much more does it take for people to see that the mainstream has got nothing, has always followed the underground, the DIY and the unique? SM are the archetypal example of this and in particular the 12 inch mini album, Over America, that this track is taken from. Not only is this style and sound unique and clearly coming from the hearts and minds of the players to establish new territory, because they rightly so believe in it, but the recordings are also made by some of New York’s finest, including
Jay Hough, now a veteran of punk ass dope shit, along with Serge Pinky on bass, trumpet by Gary Olson and recorded at Brooklyn’s Marlborough Farms studio.</p>
<b>Outside In, Hysterics, M’lady’s Records M’LR 044</b></p>
WHAT DA FUK!? It’s aces. Sit tight punkups. 2014 will be spectacularly good for punk rock n roll.</p>
<b>Cayucas by Cayucas.</b></p>
There are a lot of things I like about this track. The song is cool, the playing style, but most of all I like the reverb they seem to have adopted as their own unique sound. The rest of the album fades off with no real exemplary songs but that’s OK, this track is enough for me.</p>
<b>No Place To Go by The Oscillation.</b></p>
Although a different style, like with Spider & The Webs I’m at my effigies again with this praying to Jupiter and Venus, asking why can’t I do this? No Place To Go is set apart from most musics, again because of greatness and it is also indicative of the rest of The Oscillation’s output. I just find outstanding the blend of the entire psychedelic 60’s and all we learned from the Pink Fairies, Syd Barrett and Hawkwind and then with all the best of the urban industrial legacies of the 1990’s up to the present and here leading the way, The Oscillation bringing fresh and life giving magic to the parley. To avoid a serious revolution against the music industry, The Oscillation, with their seriously extraordinary psychedelic light show by Julian Hand, should rightfully be one of the biggest arena playing bands of the near future.</p></p>
<b>Ever After High Theme Song by Olivia Olsen</b></p>
Such a great spirit, such a great song, such a great voice. I love this.</p>
<b>Oz The Great And Powerful, movie</b></p>
Along with Alice In Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz has always loomed large in my legend. I don’t know if I’m addicted to it or what. All I know is I have always been totally taken by it, mesmerized and wanting more. I have studied the Judy Garland movie incalculable times, can possibly word off the script and I even often listen to a recording of the entire film backing music track with secondary and background dialogues, with the main script dialogue taken out, as Im driving in my car. I watched with some interest from first hearing of a great Oz production being developed with intrepid horror of what abominations they would trivialize this masterpiece in the name of a new Hollywood production for the latest dim stars and distribution rights. Some time ago I heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger was to be in it and that Britney Spears was set to be Dorothy. After the terrible film by Sophia Copola trashing my Majesty Marie Antoinette in one of the worst commercial abominations I have ever come across I feared the worst for the merry old land of Oz. Not just for the personal feelings I have towards my Majesty and her family but as probably the most momentous period and set of events in our entire
history, misrepresented, misinformed, trivialized. I expected the same for OZ. After now watching Oz The Great And Powerful, several many times over I am extremely pleased with how it turned out. The total opposite to the Marie Antoinette disaster movie. I think a lot of care and respect has been shown to present a land of OZ, pre Dorothy by say 50 years or so and the origins of how the fairground tricker became Oz the great and powerful and setting the stage for Dorothy to come. Totally charming.
Totally beautiful SFX and spectacular wicked witches.</p>
<b>World War Z, movie</b></p>
I’m a total zombie head. I used to jump at the chance to sit in half empty cinemas watching Zomby Flesh Eaters, Day Of The Dead and many others when they first came out. Zomby Flesh Eaters was originally an option for the stage backdrop video for the 2012 Freakapuss – Tronics USA shows but I
opted for Perversion Story, because Melissa Mell was in it but also Elsa Martinelli, the first actress to appear fully naked in a mainstream film but who was dying at the time, in real life, practically unnoticed by the film world. Since these great beginnings I think zombie films took a down turn, especially with the British comedic versions that other zombie heads seem to prefer. Seeing the development of zombies speeding up to a frenzy in Dawn of The Dead was a thrilling development. Now in World War Z they are totally swarming at a frenzied pace and stunning visual FX. Seeing Brad Pit in it was unusual. I don’t often go for a lot for films Brad is in, as great as he is, but the moments of action and implied threat were more than making up for it. Besides World War Z is something I can more than relate to as I continue to assault the world with Freakapuss and other crack pot notions.</p>
Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-68861469518468651092013-12-31T11:24:00.003-08:002013-12-31T11:45:10.912-08:00best of 2013 by ka na kofavorite bands I saw live in the underground</p>
<b>VEXX</p>
GAG</p>
WET</p>
NAPS</p>
WILD MOTH</p>
WILD HONEY</p>
DR SLEEP</p>
DOGJAW</p>
Ô PAON</p>
VOICES</p>
STILLSUIT</p>
NEGATION</p>
BIGAWATT</p>
NU SENSAE</p>
TARAJANE</p>
HYSTERICS</p>
LINDY VISION</p>
DREAM DECAY</p>
OLDER WOMEN</p>
LORI GOLDSTON</p>
PLEASURE LEFTIST</p>
SAN PEDRO EL CORTEZ</p>
SHANE YEE'S EGO</p></b>Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123795672671480637.post-53638598813087354262013-10-27T18:14:00.000-07:002013-10-27T18:26:21.565-07:00jigsaw talks to stillsuit<a href="http://wp-images.emusic.com/assets/2013/09/stillsuit-092313-download.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://wp-images.emusic.com/assets/2013/09/stillsuit-092313-download.jpg" /></a>
<p><b>listen to stillsuit <a href="http://stillsuit.org/">here</a></b>
<p><b>JIGSAW: Describe the feminist punk scene in 2013.</b>
<p><b>Jaime</b>: There is no "sound" or social clique that umbrellas the scene. It is more a "movement" (for lack of better word) of people and bands who are working towards at the very least events that feel comfortable and inclusive to everyone and at the most a world that feels inclusive to everyone. Death Drive, May B Knot, Centre, Best Friend/Girl Friend, Wizard Apprentice are only a few. All of these projects sound totally different from each other but everyone in them is completely inspiring and working on really cool shit outside of music as well.
<p><b>Vanessa</b>: (it's hard for me to answer this one because i've been a real curmudgeon about shows lately, hate everything) but there seems to be a resurgence of queer/feminist/ conscious of the fucked up world punk in the bay area in the past year or so. some bands are sbsm, believe, may b knot, crabapple, no babies, death drive.. an interesting thing is that while bands might have similar politics, they all sound totally different- from electronic or dancey stuff to stuff to variations on punk stuff. permanent ruin and replica are good hardcore bands that are happening here, alabaster choad is a great band that doesn't exist anymore.
<p><b>JIGSAW: Who are your favorite bands to play with? </b>
<p><b>J</b>: We just finished a month-long tour with <a href="http://fuckthebeatles.com/">Death Drive</a> and Velvet Chains, which is the solo project of Ryan from Death Drive. Those are my favorite bands to play with. Not only is Death Drive a really fucking good band, they are amazing people and we were incredibly fortunate to get to spend so much time with them. I got home from tour feeling refreshed and excited as opposed to drained and grouchy, I credit Marissa and Vanessa and the Death Drive crew for that outcome.
<p><b>Marissa</b>: I kind of like playing shows with shredder dude type bands because I always think of it as this really cool challenge. Last years tour it felt like we were playing a lot of shows with dudes with guitars doing things that were maybe technically challenging but altogether boring. I definitely spent a lot of time watching these bands and just waiting to annihilate them. It happens a lot where we’ll get the cold shoulder until after we play. I honestly see myself as a relatively inept guitar player but I also view this as a large aspect of my style of playing. My style is messy chaos, it’s ripping off slash but not trying to copy him. I also like playing shows with hardcore bands. We played a show in St. Louis with a band of teenage girls that had a definite Flying Lizards vibe to it which was really cool, they’re called Willis. In Philadelphia we played with this absolutely mind blowing band called swarm. They had two drummers, a bassist, and a singer and then three dancers that were also singing for the whole time in like a chorus type way. It was interesting I realized that we only played legit establishments like 3 times out of a month long tour, everything was mostly basements.
<p><b>V</b>: Playing with death drive was really great. being on tour with them kinda made me feel excited about music in a way i hadn't in a while. i feel like i hadn't danced so much to a band in a long time. i like shows in small places put on by nice nerds.
minneapolis was also a great show, we played at a friends' house and all the bands were really good, there's a really good band from there called tips for twat- we played with them last year and they were my new favorite band. also gula gila, from chicago are really awesome. i like house shows with easy load in situations the best really.
<p><b>JIGSAW: What are your songs about?</b>
<p><b>M</b>: Vanessa and I write lyrics pretty separately, occasionally we’ll fill each other in on what we are singing about or even write like a chorus that we both sing. I tend to write stuff about mental illness, feminist identity politics and critiques of the world around me and how I’m treated as a woman in the world. My lyrics on 5656 are based on an essay by Jo Freeman pertaining to feminist trashing. There's really only four lines “deny reality/infect but don’t admit/do I still exist?/am I in my head?" The first two lines are mainly about passive aggressive exclusion of someone in order to make them go away, the last two lines are referring to a part of the essay where Freeman talks about during being trashed, essentially being passively aggressively blacklisted, she began to believe she was a figment of her own imagination. There is another song 9 that I really like the lyrics of and the origins of the lyrics – I was really really upset by the death of Whitney Houston which was weird because I never really considered myself a fan or anything but when she died I cried for days and as was just so upset. As with anytime when it seems like the whole world is upset about something people come out of the woodwork saying what about the starving children or the victims of war and whatever other world atrocity you can think of and why aren’t you upset about that? This implies that it is somehow not possible to be upset over the death of a celebrity while also being upset about any other injustice in the world. It’s ridiculous. Not to mention I find it pretty fucked up to be lectured on what is and is not appropriate to be mourned. So on that song some of my lyrics are “which atrocity is worth it? which atrocity deserves it? who am I to decide?” which is pretty self explanatory
<p><b>JIGSAW: Is playing in a band a viable political action? </b>
<p><b>M</b>: As a band we have definitely talked about being blatantly political. I think a lot of the time we end up preaching to the choir in a lot of ways which is fine. It’s interesting because we’re not doing anything that I kind of default to when I think of being political, we’re not really lecturing crowds or handing out pamphlets or anything, but it’s real that we play music that is pretty traditionally gendered as male and that is a political act in and of itself. That idea also applies to things like playing at girls rock camp and picking specific songs to demonstrate specific ideas, like for that we made a point of playing a song that heavily features a guitar solo –or how we end up playing a good amount of shows where we are the only performers who aren't cis-men. I also consider it political that we put out our own record sans crowd sourcing and we make a point of having free access to everything we've put out. I think all of these things are import at the same time I don’t know if we are necessarily effecting change.
<p><b>V</b>: i think culture is still a really good place to struggle, if for nothing else than being a performer, being a decent person, demystifying the idea of playing music playing in a band. i want to show that we're just totally regular nedrs who just figured out how to make music in our own way, and that that is something anyone can do.
<p><b>JIGSAW: Does Girls Rock Camp reinforce the gender binary? If yes, what way do you see around that limitation?</b>
<p><b>J</b>: Retrospect is 20/20, I think that given hindsight the founders of girls rock camp would have named it otherwise. i don't have experience working with any other rock camps, but have been very involved with bay area girls rock camp for over 5 years and i think that "girls" and "rock" wouldn't likely be included in the name of that organization given a chance to do it all over. again, i only have experience with bagrc, and can't speak for every rock camp out there, but i don;t think rock camp reinforces the gender binary in that it is open to and serves not only girls but also gender non-conforming youth. the body of volunteers in mentorship roles represents a huge spectrum of gender identities as well. there is a constant and on-going discussion around gender during programs; we talk a ton about gender expression, respect campers' pronoun preferences, and witness a lot of gender exploration under the rock camp roof. the bummer thing about the name is that gender non-conforming youth potentially face having to out themselves or be read as a gender they don't identify as as to the "rock" question, very few of the songs turn out sounding anything like traditional "rock" music. yes, the instruments involved make up the stereotypical rock band (with the exception of turntables, which rock camp has offered in the past), but most of the campers have no background in western music theory or experience playing on their own or with others. some songs definitely have a "rock" vibe, but most songs are more on the punk or experimental tip. right now there is a really good R&B band that formed during a 2012 summer session. they are called True Religion, keep your ears to the ground for them.
<p><b>M</b>: At this point I feel like it just happens to be called girls rock camp – there's options beyond just the traditional rock instruments and while there is the big element of forming a band I don’t think its like meant to be a breeding ground to produce more women playing rock, its more about self-esteem and a way to express yourself and something that you can do with your body beyond sex and childbirth. I think of it as being similar to sports in this sense. Forming bands is more of an exercise in learning how to collaborate and work with others the rock is just a means to an end. When I was working on ladyfest 2005 I remember one of the other planners at some point said something along the lines of “I don’t necessarily identify with being a woman but I do identify with oppression.” And that really struck me –recently some people organized a ladyfest here in the bay area and while it definitely wasn’t sticking to gender binary in content it still had this name that seemed outdated. Also queer rock camp in olympia is specifically moving beyond this boundary
Tobi Vailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052149126555935296noreply@blogger.com2