Patrice Pike @ Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival
June 19, 2008
So, this isn’t really much news, because I’m pretty sure Patrice Pike was established to play at Michigan Womyn’s Music Fest long ago.
But it gives me a springboard to explore the amazing mass of talent this woman unleashes.
Patrice Pike is a super-chick hailing from Austin, TX. She’s got a much award-winning songwriting capability that she flexes in one of my personal favorite songs, “Hopeful Morning,” co-written by Wayne Sutton. She owns the pop-ish folky genre, and even puts claw marks in the rock genre. Ultimately not “right” for the band whose third member/lead singer was decided in CBS’s reality show Rock Star: Supernova, Pike remains unhindered and as full of kickassery as ever, having been given positive reviews throughout the course of the competition and advice to take on a solo career.
Oh, and did I mention she’s bisexual? No shock to me or anybody who knows my musical preference, of course. I must be doomed to falling in love with the music of bisexual and gay women everywhere.
So, run out, pick up a CD or two of Patrice Pike (I personally recommend her with her band, Black Box Rebellion, on the CD named Live at the Brushwood Lounge). Also, be sure to arrange a stop by the music fest in August should you live in Michigan. I want pictures and videos.
The Most Addictive Songs You’ve Never Heard
June 9, 2008
At the risk of a way too long title (though I’m a fan of those…), this is officially:
The List of 20 (and growing) Most Addictive Songs You’ve Never Heard, But Should
I will try to keep it short, sweet, and to the point. I’ll leave it up to you to find them on youtube, hype machine, project playlist, or Amazon (Unless you’re a pirate. Arrrrr) and leave it at this. These are in no particular order, and one of my favorite songs is close to the middle, so note that.
- “Foundations” by Kate Nash
- “Night Reconnaissance” by The Dresden Dolls
- “Sugar Cube” by Porcelain and the Tramps
- “Painted by Numbers” by The Sounds
- “Breathe Me” by Sia
- “Snail Song” by A Particularly Vicious Rumor (Note: anything by them is addictive)
- Cover: “In The Air Tonight” performed by Anousheh Khalili (Available for free eargasm on her myspace page)
- “In This Life” by Delta Goodrem
- “Virginia” by Tori Amos
- “The First” by Tegan and Sara
- “Aprรจs Moi” by Regina Spektor (Don’t deny that you pretended you could speak Russian after hearing the bridge…)
- Cover: “The Unforgiven” performed by Apocalyptica
- “All Over Me” by The Danger Flowers (From the Loving Annabelle (2006) soundtrack)
- “Shutterbug” by Veruca Salt
- “Hopeful Morning” by Patrice Pike (This one’s hard to find, but worth it)
- “Shy” by Ani DiFranco
- “Freedom” by Melissa Ferrick
- “Run Baby Run” by Garbage
- “Where I Stood” by Missy Higgins
- “Mystery Achievement” by The Pretenders
Now, keep in mind I chopped off about 15 songs total in reviewing this list, because they were way too popular to keep true to the “You’ve never heard” bit.
That said, I feel I’ve done well. With every song on the list, I’ve either listened to it way too many times for my own good, most of those times within the first week of knowing it, or I’ve spent hours upon hours searching for some way to find it (“Hopeful Morning” is a big one for that criteria, along with “Mystery Achievement”).
Some people with a very ecclectic musical taste may have heard all these, but I’m sure most people will find at least one they haven’t heard.
And yes, I know, I have an awesome taste in music. You can tell me, but it doesn’t need to be said.
The Dresden Dolls @ Sunshine Theatre
May 29, 2008
Well, it’s been a few days (almost a week) since the last post. What happened?
Saturday: The concert! Not kidding.
Sunday: I get online, check my email. Turns out this was marked as a spam blog.
Naturally, I didn’t post here (or anywhere else, for that matter) for fear that this could all be deleted, thus being meaningless. Additionally, I didn’t realize I could.
It’s been a good few days patiently waiting to hear from google. Today out of frustration I looked here, and of course, its status as spam has been removed. No idea when that happened, but it happened, so thumbs up, google.
Now, on to the story:
THE DRESDEN DOLLS & SMOOSH LIVE AT THE SUNSHINE THEATRE IN ALBUQUERQUE, NM
What was it like?
Holy crap — amazing!
The opening act, Smoosh, is a band without a lot of publicity, so I’m giving them some very well-deserved coverage here.
Smoosh is a relatively new band currently comprised of 16- (Asya), 14- (Chloe), and more recently, 11- (Maia)-year-old girls, all sisters, and all pretty damn good at what they do. They play a lot of different songs, thoroughly unrelated and dissimilar from each other, ranging from pop-punk to very classy rock ‘n’ roll.
Let’s start with Asya. She’s the lead singer, keyboardist, and up-stager extraordinaire. She’s tall, and, like her sisters, blond, and I can see her being a very sought-after girl once she’s just a tad older.
Chloe is the drummer and, on a few songs, back-up singer. Let’s just say Chloe has the drumming cojones and badassery to rival the likes of Samantha Maloney, notable drummer of Motley Crue, Hole, and Peaches’ The Herms. Yeah, that’s right, Samantha. You got a rival in the body of a 14-year-old girl (don’t hurt me, please).
Finally, Maia, the tiniest member, owns the bass. She hasn’t had enough tempuring to have a lively, powerful stage presence like her sisters, as she’s still eleven (11!), but I can see her holding her own in a couple years.
Oh, wait, the concert?
It started a little later than anticipated.
Smoosh came out, owned the stage, their fans left (unfortunately for them, as the girls were incorporated into quite a bit of the rest of the night). Shortly after, out come Amanda and Brian, donning military commanders’ hats, long trench coats, and masquerade masks. Sadly, the light was far too low to snap a good picture (add to it the crap quality on Pete’s camera phone, and you have the makings of disaster).
After a few songs, Amanda felt the urge to do something during “The Gardener” I expected, but I doubt security expected, as the look on Guard #1’s face was pretty priceless: She jumped off the stage, and entered the audience.
Ahhh I know right?Just a few minutes later, Amanda parked on the drums, Brian grabbed his acoustic guitar, Smoosh was back on stage, along with some of the crew and the mistress of the merch table and Zoe Keating’s sister, Laura. Naturally, they spewed beer all over more or less everything on the stage. Again, naturally, the minors did not have any alcohol in their possession.
Closing the night with bang, The Dresden Dolls returned for their encore: a screaming, angry, twisted performance of “Half Jack,” one of my favorite songs. After screaming along for a good two minutes, my voice was shot, and Pete and I left to return home for some good R&R. Neither of us felt we had the energy to snag an autograph, though I regret it more than slightly now.
Should you have a chance to see The Dresden Dolls or Smoosh perform live, do it. Do it now.
KT Tunstall to play Pinkpop
May 24, 2008
In (not so much anymore) news, Scottish pop/folk-rocker KT Tunstall is scheduled to play the Mainstage at Pinkpop Festival on the second day, May 31. Other line-ups for the day on Mainstage include Foo Fighters and Kaiser Chiefs.
Additionally, on June 1st, well-known chick rocker Alanis Morissette is due to perform on the same stage, and on her 34th birthday, no less. Happy ahead-of-time birthday, Alanis!
Other Alanis-news includes her new album, titled Flavors of Entanglement, will be released very soon:
- Germany, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg on May 30th.
- Internationally on June 2nd.
- And, unfortunately for me, in the United States on June 10th.
Alanis herself has summed up the album as a cross between “joy and levity” a la So-Called Chaos and a “kind of rock bottom, ‘Holy shit, I am a broken woman’ moment.”
I expect, this being Alanis, to give rave reviews, so you may as well do anything in your power to sign up for an advanced copy — or at least camp Wal-Mart for the release.
No, Virginia…
May 22, 2008
After two long years, the much long-awaited new album release of The Dresden Dolls has now entered the public eye!
New album No, Virginia… consists mainly of absolutely fantastic studio recording of many songs previously only heard live, and usually downloaded from Automatic Joy, an online collection of live recordings made by fans. While the quality of such recordings left a lot to be desired, many of us have fallen in love with the songs, and I’m sure I speak for most when I say it’s nice to be able to understand exactly what Amanda is singing in “The Gardener.” It also contains songs previously recorded, but which did not make the album Yes, Virginia… for reasons Amanda considers “the flow of the album,” rather than issues with the songs themselves. Another song, “Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner,” was on the Japanese release of their former album, but was not on other releases.
The album kicks off with a song I was not previously familiar with, “Dear Jenny.” Closely after, “Night Reconnaissance,” their new single, follows, and brings the album to a relatively upbeat ambiance. A few fantastic tunes later, “Pretty In Pink,” a cover of the Psychedelic Furs song, comes along. The old track “Boston” ends the album with a solemn tone.
If you’re looking for a good listen that will last you for years to come, run out and buy No, Virginia…. I guarantee it is worth every penny. Not only for the music, but also for the sake of supporting one of the most truly talented bands around.
In other news, Amanda is continuing work on her solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer?, which is due to hit shelves around September 2008.
And in my personal news, in two short days, I will be seeing The Dresden Dolls live at the Sunshine Theatre in Albuquerque. I can hardly contain my excitement.
