Monday, August 24, 2015

Why are chicks SUCH Biatches!? To each other a lot of the time.

Part of me thinks people are just harsh on one another, in general - even as they turn and smile at you and give compliments...

...But I've noticed I'm really hard on female singers. I critique them harshly; probably more harshly than the men I see performing, singing. But when I love them I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, and for forever.

PJ Harvey, Cat Power, Holly Golightly, Eartha Kitt, Locals like Datri Bean, Lauryn Gould, Karla Manzur, Laura Scarborough, Liv Muellar...lord I can't think of any more that I like right now... The Catastica girls!!! ((You're welcome to add in the comment bar your favorites -- we all different I get it.))

But, in order to show I'm not a total bitch here is a link of 4 more I haven't heard of that you might like. See? I'm ok. you're ok.

I see a lot of live music! And, in a way, I can almost always find something to like about it: about the musicianship, the songwriting, their haircuts, their outfits : you know the important stuff.

But back to my perceived problem. Why don't I like the chick singers I see or hear on the radio that much? First off, there are a lot less of them to choose from. But, Here's what goes through my mind:

Their timber is harsh or grating, particularly in the high registers. Their songs are lame, they're pitchy (dude I KNOW I AM but I play the sax and I think that helps) They're boring to watch, or I happen to know them personally and they're not friendly or they're competitive so I can't get behind them. They're too vanilla, or they sound like someone else.

I was listening to a new female artist who looked very interesting to me: Andra Day. I saw her on the airplane back from Brazil. She is a hottie, black woman, with a very vintage 50's look. I LOVE RETRO! And Spike Lee directed her video. I watched it. I listened to her interview. I liked her a lot. Most of her songs seemed to be about relationships. The video was kinda boring. And, she sounded just like Amy Winehouse.

Look GIRLS if, when you open your mouth to sing and you sound like Amy Winehouse CHANGE YOUR SOUND. She'd regrettably dead, and she'll be the queen of that affected, distressed, I want to fuck you sound forever....

HO HUM. I can't stop.






I'm an intellectual! Is that so wrong? Art, underground music, and the age of Podcasting

Hi guys! It has been eons since I've made a post. I've wanted to, but I'm in a very scattered phase apparently and though I haven't been terribly busy, a chaos seems present that swirls around in my brain.

At the same time, I've been devoted to enjoying this long hot Texas summer. My new BF has a parks pass and we've been swimming a lot and cooking a lot! 

...I haven't seen my girlfriends in soooo long! Sorry ladies I'll come running when this pink cloud bursts. You too my brothas. 

I digress. What am I talking about? I'm thinking about this professor in college. It was when I was a freshman, and I think it was English Lit. 

He said the very first day, "Who here is an intellectual?" 

Only like 2 people raised their hands; Out of a HUGE UT class- not including me. He went on to discuss the art of learning, reading, expanding. 

He said lets talk about why that noun-jative (lol noun AND adjative- I made that up, see I so smart) is such a "dirty word" in our culture. 

I'm summarizing, but I'll never forget this. I don't remember what was discussed that day, or who this professor was, but in my mind it goes like this:

Our overarching American culture of censorship, suppression, conservatism and idealism enjoys weighing down ideas or ways of life that aren't conservative or more importantly free thinking. 

I'm not saying anything new! I know that. And this sounds like a diatribe. 

But my personal point is not to rant. 

It is that I love Podcasts. 

I LOVE them! On a flight to Atlanta (a stop on my way to HONK! Rio!!!! I'm going to blow some sax with Environmenta Encroachment, Brass Band Chicago) 

I have listened to 3 - all Fresh Air podcasts. With Terry Gross. 

The first was about The Ladies of Broad City - thank you gals you have made something that is laugh out loud funny and I LOVE the show) 

The next a writer Robert Stone who is now deceased; who wrote novels and memoirs about his life in the 60's with Ken Kesey and the Mary Pranksters, "Dog Soldiers" . I now want to read it! 

The third was/is I'm still listening to it/ a previous militant Islamist extremist who,  inspired by Orwells Animal Farm, moderated his thinking and beliefs and reformed himself. He puts us into the mind of how and why this thinking takes root. He tells us his amazing story! 

All is to say I'm obsessed with podcasts and before that, all there was was this crappy talk radio- but I listened to it, A lot! On my little radio. 

And now -- drumroll--- it's MY turn! I'm starting a podcast with 2 of my buddies. 

It's called On Common Ground and we are interviewing local ATX musicians about how a song of someone else's has influenced one of their songs. 

This is soooo me! Sooooo fun and exciting for me. I've always wanted to do something like this. And thankfully I have go-getter partners that know many of the new ATX artists ( they are a good 10 yes younger than me) and they are integrated into the new musical scene here. 

I am the older brigade. We are all musicians, and we all are enthusiasts. 

I hope the podcast feeds the brains of the intellectuals out there that live music, culture and the arts.

We release in the Fall!