YoungCreature

African Mayonnaise

2011-12-29T16:10:00.005-06:00

Brand new video from Christeene!!! Words cannot accurately describe the amazingness.

CHRISTEENE "African Mayonnaise" from PJ Raval on Vimeo.

BONUS:

Christeene - Fix My Dick

Hey Girl

2011-12-08T12:53:00.001-06:00

KStew needed a 'Hey Girl' meme too, dammit.

youngcreature.tumblr.com

Free Smith Westerns Show in Chicago!

2011-11-29T12:17:00.005-06:00

Hey Chicago friends!

So, in these "tough economic times" what is better than a free show? Pretty much nothing. What's even better? A free show featuring some awesome bands & DJs all brought to you by the best event website in town - Do312. Also, if you do a good deed and bring an unwrapped gift for kids in need, you could win a bunch of awesome swag from Vitamin Water!

Anyways...RSVP NOW to catch Smith Westerns, Franki Chan, Black Light Saints, Windy City Soul Club and Kirby Kaiser FREE at the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago.

If I still lived in Chicago, I would FOR SURE be there this Friday!

Deets:

vitaminwater® and do312 have teamed up once again this year to bring you a night of killer entertainment and is giving you a reason to get out of your house during the frosty weather. did we mention it is free? we are very excited to announce the lineup for vitaminwater® winter escape, friday, december 2nd at the hard rock hotel fender ballroom. smith westerns, franki chan, black light saints, windy city soul club, and kirby kaiser. hosted by 'chicago's wingman' ernest wilkins of redeye chicago.

(UM....YES....) hosted bar from 9pm-11pm and it's all FREE with rsvp on do312!

be sure to bring an unwrapped gift for kids in need to receive a raffle ticket for great swag from vitaminwater®!!

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AND Here's a Smith Westerns track from me to you to get you excited!

Smith Westerns - All Die Young

KiNK & Neville Watson featuring Kim Ann Foxman

2011-09-08T11:37:00.001-05:00

A few days back the internet was hit with a new track from house duo KiNK & Neville Watson. That's cool, but what's really cool is that it features vocals from Hercules & Love Affair's Kim Ann Foxman!! Love her.

Anyways, this is a perfect jam to start your Saturday...even if it's only September.

BONUS:

Kim Ann Foxman - What You Need

Kim Ann Foxman - What You Need (James Curd RMX)

Romance

2011-09-06T10:41:00.005-05:00

Wild Flag have released the video for the first single "Romance" from their upcoming S/T record. The video features animal masks, super-herione masks, buckets of coffee, yard sales and more! Wild Flag loves comedy.

Buy Wild Flag's debut album September 13th on Merge Records and check them out on tour this fall! (I think their live show is WAY more dynamic than their recordings...so even if you aren't a fan of the recordings, see them live!)

Wild Flag - Romance from Merge Records on Vimeo.

DEEP SUMMER // SPARKLE CUTS

2011-08-30T12:59:00.006-05:00

Hey friends,

It's been a while, huh? Yeah, well, "life happens". Anyways, even though I'm SUPER busy, I wanted to make sure to share a new mix from Bruce LaBruiser! Our favorite queer lady bringer of indie electro pop put together a mix for the deep end of Summer featuring Pictureplane, Azari & III, MEN, and lots of other good stuff!

SO...check out this mix AND go hear Bruce LaBruiser kick out the jams at the Not Enough! Festival in Portland on September 16!!

TTYL

DEEP SUMMER / / SPARKLE CUTS by Bruce LaBruiser

Bonus tracks from the mix!

Adele - Set Fire To The Rain (Plastic Plates Remix)

Lykke Li - Sadness is a Blessing (Gold Panda Remix)

Japanese Gays Rejoice

2011-08-13T13:06:00.005-05:00

Your Nubian Princess has arrived and his name is Jonte Moaning. He has danced for Janet Jackson. He is 9'6". He can juggle up to 8 switchblades at once.

Do I really need to explain why this is gay?

You can purchase Jonte's "High Kick Pow" single and sample other tracks on iTunes.

Lovers Lane

2011-08-03T14:48:00.005-05:00

Hey there! There's a brand new video from Hunx and His Punx on the ol' interwebs. It's for "Lovers Lane", which (to be quite honest) is the only Hunx song I really, genuinely wanna listen to on repeat. I'm a big fan of Shannon Shaw's (from Shannon & The Clams) vocals on this one, it kind of makes the song for me. And when I say "kind of" I mean, definitely.

Anyways - Check out the video!!

Hunx and His Punx - Lovers Lane

Beth Ditto covers Vogue

2011-08-01T17:34:00.001-05:00

It's amazing, that's all.

Wish I could hear it better! (Let's get a recorded version Beth!)

Painted Eyes

2011-07-13T14:33:00.005-05:00

New video from Hercules & Love Affair!

I recently realized that H&LA's "Blind" kind of changed my life...well, at least my mind about disco. It opened up a whole new world of amazingness that I'd never bothered to pay attention to before. AND their live show is one of the best shows I've ever seen.

Check out the new video!

BONUS: Hercules & Love Affair - Painted Eyes (Wolfram Remix)

Wild Flag Announce Record, Tour

2011-06-17T15:05:00.007-05:00

Everyone's favorite teenage dream super-group, Wild Flag, have announced details on their upcoming debut album. The record will be self titled and released by Merge Records on September 13. The band will then embark on a 2 month North American tour.

Full disclosure, I don't really like Wild Flag's music that much - however, I saw them at SXSW and their live show was great. BUT - in my old(er) and wiser age, I've learned that my mind can be changed, so maybe the record will surprise me and/or grow on me. Either way, you can bet I'll be going to see them in October. There's no way I could miss Carrie Brownstein in my town.

If you somehow haven't heard Wild Flag yet, check out "Future Crimes" below. I like that one. Oh, and their tour dates too.

Wild Flag - Future Crimes

Wild Flag:

06-24-25 Calgary, Alberta - Sled Island
07-22 Chicago, IL - Subterranean
07-23 Chicago, IL - Wicker Park Festival
08-12 Brooklyn, NY - Williamsburg Waterfront *
10-03 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theatre
10-04 Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
10-05 Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
10-07 Champaign, IL - High Dive
10-09 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
10-10 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
10-11 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
10-14 Boston, MA - Paradise
10-15 Brooklyn, NY - Bell House
10-16 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's
10-18 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
10-19 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
10-20 Washington, DC - Black Cat
10-21 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
10-22 Athens, GA - 40 Watt
10-24 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
10-26 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks
10-29 Austin, TX - Emo's
10-31 Tempe, AZ - Rhythm Room
11-01 San Diego, CA - Casbah
11-02-03 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
11-04-05 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
11-07 Arcata, CA - Humboldt State
11-09-10 Portland, OR - Doug Fir
11-11 Seattle, WA - Neumo's
11-12 Vancouver, British Columbia - Biltmore Cabaret
12-09 Minehead, England - ATP

Post Physical

2011-06-15T15:13:00.004-05:00

It's probably like once a week I post about Pictureplane. Well, maybe not that often, but pretty much anytime there's new stuff from Travis Egedy, you'll see it here. Even when it's not real like on April Fool's (even his jokes have good qualities). Anyways, the song released earlier today from his upcoming record Thee Physical is no joke. It's next age pop. New age dance. Future love.

As a related side note, I'm generally not a fan of male voices (or men in general, to be perfectly honest), but Pictureplane is totally my dude crush with that breathy voice. I'm feeling him post physical.

Post Physical by PICTUREPLANE

Thee Physical will be out July 19 on Lovepump United. Pre-order HERE.

SALEM x Light Asylum

2011-06-15T10:50:00.004-05:00

If you weren't aware that this version of "Shallow Tears" from Light Asylum was a remix, you might just think it's a new SALEM song. There's not much that's recognizable from the original version, but that doesn't take away from it's greatness. Shannon Funchess' voice is pitch shifted, echoed and stuttered all over the place creating a wobbly, foggy, and spooky new tune. SALEM's signatures are all over this, so it's more like a new SALEM track that features a loose and warped Light Asylum sample, but either way, I'm feeling it.

Check it out!

Light Asylum - Shallow Tears (SALEM Remix)

Buy Light Asylum's recently rereleased EP In Tension on Mexican Summer

Mix for Homoground

2011-06-13T13:51:00.005-05:00

Hey all, I made a mix for this rad queer music podcast called Homoground! If you haven't checked it out, now is probably a great time to start.

The tracklist is below and you can listen to my mixtape (along with a bunch of others) over on the Homoground website.

Grimes - darkheart (karnheartrevisit)
Austra - Beat and the Pulse
Arthur Russell - Walk on the Moon (Labyrinth Ear Rework)
Azari & III - Manhooker
Sleep Over - Casual Diamond (Physical Therapy Remix)
True Womanhood - Dark Rift (Pictureplane cover)
Gang Gang Dance - Thru and Thru
Creep f. Nina Sky - You
Holy Other - Yr Love
Lady Gaga - Judas (Goldfrapp Remix)
Light Asylum - Knights and Weekends
Alexis Blair Penney - Lonely Sea (Teen Witch Remix)
Telepathe - Destroyer

Agent Ribbons

2011-06-10T12:20:00.006-05:00

I first became acquainted with the magnificent Agent Ribbons during the blurry week that was SXSW. Since then, it seems like they've been popping up on my radar kind of everywhere. Playing shows at anarchist-y thrift stores, showing up on mixtapes, on my news feeds (and by "news" I mean Facebook) ...pretty much everywhere. And that's ok with me, it's actually great. They've got that sort of vaudevillian spook thing mixed with a dash of Mirah with a smidge of girl group going on, and it's a joy for the ears.

Check out their new video for "That's Not Edgar's Heart" and a track from their last record below!

Agent Ribbons - "That's Not Edgar's Heart" from Ryan McCoy on Vimeo.

Agent Ribbons - I Was Born to Sing Sad Songs

Buy Agent Ribbons' Chateau Crone HERE!

Buy Agent Ribbons' Agent Ribbons and the Star Crossed Doppelganger HERE!

AND!!!!

Catch Agent Ribbons' drummer Lauren (AKA DJ Personal Best) playing records with us Saturday, July 2nd at ALIEN SHE (our brand new queer dance party in Austin!)

Punk Start My Heart

2011-06-08T18:54:00.005-05:00

Photo: Forever (An awesome band on Punk Start My Heart Records)

There are a lot of things I waste money on. Beer, sparkling water, coconut water, fruit smoothies (I'm a fan of drinks, what can I say?) but there's one thing I've spent money on recently that is definitely NOT a waste. That thing is the Kickstarter campaign for Punk Start My Heart records. These folks are filling a very necessary void and as one of my friends said, "What if Punk Start My Heart becomes the next Chainsaw?" Yeah, what if. We NEED Punk Start My Heart, just like we needed Chainsaw. So read the little blurb and watch the video below and DONATE!!!!

About Punk Start My Heart:

In the summer of 2010, out of a collective need to create safer spaces for shows, we started a small feminist booking service for women, people of color, and queer identified musicians called Punk Start My Heart. Almost immediately, emails started flooding in from bands and other collectives from all over the country. It was like everyone had the same idea at the same time. It was really amazing.

Punk Start My Heart continues to be a feminist booking collective, but has branched out to include a record label to showcase the wonderful creativity coming out of our community. But alas, this shit is expensive! Isn’t money always the thing? In an effort to continue paying rent, we started a Kickstarter page in the hopes of raising some money to help us with our first releases!

Punk Start My Heart were nice enough to send over some tracks to share, so enjoy them! And go donate some cash for this great project!!

Forever - Suicide

No/Ho/Mo - Sloppy Secs

<a href="http://fuckinglesbianbitches.bandcamp.com/track/scorn">scorn by fucking lesbian bitches</a>

Bruce LaBruiser

2011-05-26T16:39:00.005-05:00

Here's something you don't see enough of in the world: queer femme djs. So we were pretty stoked when we got a couple of mixes from PDX's Bruce LaBruiser. The first mix is full of a lot of our favorite sort of recent jams (will I ever get enough of "Beam Me Up"?) and the second is again chock full o' quality tracks.

A femme DJ with great taste in music? I think we are collectively in love.

Check 'em out!

Bad girls feel so free in my house by Bruce LaBruiser

throw backs, pop tracks, handclaps and gutter glamour forever! by Bruce LaBruiser

Real is a Feeling

2011-05-19T11:38:00.009-05:00

So, this song came out about 10 days ago, which in internet time is an entire lifetime - but I'm gonna post about it anyways. What is "time" anyways? A temporal experience? A perception? A system to measure events? Who am I to say what time is or isn't, but Pictureplane says "Real is a Feeling", and I agree.

In case you didn't already know, I'm a huge fan of Pictureplane. I love the music Travis Egedy makes and he seems like an overall real cool dude. I'm super excited for his upcoming record Thee Physical (July 19 on Lovepump United) and am still pretty much in love with 2009's Dark Rift. If you haven't heard that record, please do yourself a favor and check it out.

Anyways.

I've been totally feeling "Real is a Feeling", maybe you will too?

Pictureplane - Real is a Feeling

(AND jump over to iTunes to pick up the B-side "Power Exchange"!)

BONUS:

CREEP - Days (Pictureplane's Black Mesh Edit)

Telepathe - Throw Away This

2011-05-18T12:53:00.003-05:00

OMG. NEW TELEPATHE!!!! I love them SO SO SO much. The new song "Throw Away This", debuted today on Stereogum, and it's everything I've always wanted and more. A little more uptempo and a little less weird than the stuff from Dance Mother or their earlier releases, but if this is the direction their new record is taking...I'm totally fine with that.

Less talk, more "rock"?

Telepathe - Throw Away This

Pre-order the 7" from Insound and receive bonus track "Hybrid Moments" NOW!

BONUS:

Telepathe - Chrome's On It (Kingdom Remix)

CREEP ft. Nina Sky "You"

2011-05-16T14:30:00.006-05:00

Brand new video from CREEP! The duo of Lauren Flax and Lauren Dillard have really outdone themselves with this one. I'm pretty sure this is my favorite CREEP track so far. I mean, I love "Days" too, but this one just has a great vibe and Nina Sky's vocals are hot. Such a big fan of CREEP. Really some of the best stuff out there right now.

Check out the video and some remixes below!

CREEP: You [ft. Nina Sky] from Thalia Mavros on Vimeo.

CREEP - Days (Azari & III Remix)

Memory Tapes - Green Knight (CREEP Remix)

Planningtorock - Doorway (CREEP Remix)

Hey YOU!
BUY THE "DAYS" 12" PICTUREDISC ON YOUNG TURKS!!!

Black Hole

2011-05-14T11:11:00.000-05:00

Hey, remember way back to 2007 or 2009 or whenever it was when you loved Fagget Fairys? Well, now it's 2011 and your love can be properly renewed. About a month ago Palms Out Sounds released the Fairys' new EP "Black Hole". The EP is 2 new songs: the titular track and a song called "Turkish Delight". Both songs definitely has a similar vibe to some of the older FF stuff but "Black Hole" is a bit more smoothed out. Maybe a little more house-y instead of electro-y? "Turkish Delight" has the kind sound that you might be used to from the Fairys, along with lyrics in a language I don't speak and some apparently Turkish influences. Both songs are pretty good, but I think "Black Hole" is a little more likely to find it's way into one of my DJ sets soon. (Whenever I DJ again...which is hopefully soon)

Anyways, check them out (and listen to remixes too) right here! Or jump over HERE for links to buy the songs.

POS026 - FAGGET FAIRYS - BLACK HOLE by Palms Out Sounds

Discodromo on Discaire!

2011-05-13T13:01:00.007-05:00

If you follow this blog, you'll know that we're big fans of San Francisco's Honey Soundsystem. They've hosted some of the best DJs around for their parties and put out some super sweet mixes already, and have released music from Alexis Blair Penney (and others) under the HNYTRX label. But now, some of the folks involved have launched a brand new label called Discaire, that promises to be equally awesome.

The first release from Discaire is from the amazing Discodromo and is a total jam. It's called "Mercurio" and it's a spacey, lazer beam filled, new disco future classic. "Mercurio" is currently available as a 12" single and I recommend you pick it up before they're all gone. This is the kind of track you'll wanna have in your collection for years to come.

Check out the song below and jump over HERE to learn more about Discaire.

Discodromo - Mercurio [DSC 001] by discaire-records

BONUS:

Street Hero - End Of The World (Honey Soundsystem Remix)

Loverde - Iko Iko (Pee Play and C.L.A.W.S Edit)

Necrocapital/This is How We Do It

2011-05-11T01:17:00.004-05:00

Jason Fritz Michael, or Joy, is a Bay Area artist whose work is exciting, colorful, engaging and raging. This month Jason has two shows up in the Bay Area; I went to see "This is How We Do It" on its opening night and can personally recommend that you go experience it yourself. Coming up in less than a week is a collaborative installation (w/Eric Stanley) and film program at San Francisco's ATA:

Necrocapital: AIDS in the Age of Surplus Value

Necrocapital is an installation created by Eric Stanley and Jason Fritz that brings together the HIV/AIDS pandemic, global capital, and the work of death. In conversation with the ghosted histories of AIDS art and current writing on biopolitics, we question our silent cohabitation of a world where life is predicated upon access to cash. Through the abundance of American deco design and the everydayness of medication, Necrocapital wants to more than aestheticize the death-worlds of pharmaceutical accumulation, it seeks to obliterate them.

Installation April 14- May 31, 2011
Film program May 26, 2011 7pm

Artists' Television Access
992 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110

"This is How We Do It" is currently up at As Is Exhibitions in Oakland, CA:

JOY FRITZ – 2011 – AS IS EXHIBITIONS

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT

Fritz’s 2011 solo show with As Is Exhibitions, “This is How We Do It” serves as a meditation on fear and comfort, healing and sickness, mind and body, past and future, make believe and reality. Using the vast media culture of the late 1980s and early 90s, which conflated queerness with illness, Fritz provides a counter-reading of these images from our current moment.

For queers, and many others, HIV/AIDS created a fear of ones own body as the promise of a future was thrown into jeopardy. As AA Bronson has pointed out this historical moment was “the continuous interweaving of care-taking, funerals, memorials, anniversaries, and more deaths.“ Indeed, death as a way of life, this work asks if we can change this trajectory already assumed by history. And if we can change our bodies and futures into something not tethered to the chains of death.

Let go of the fear and get better, let positive thinking cure and experience pure joy.

Text: Eric Stanley

Music: Toshio Meronek

visit the As Is website for more information

Here is a postcard that J. Fritz Michael made last year:

And here is an interview with Jason from Original Plumbing magazine. Be sure to visit Jason's website (linked in the first paragraph of this post) to see more of his work.

You Break Too Easily

2011-05-10T11:24:00.004-05:00

As Miranda July maybe would've said, I'm learning to love you more. That's how I feel about Planningtorock. Loving each new song more than the last. And it IS a learning process. Maybe it's just me and my pop sensibilities, but Planningtorock has never grabbed hold of me from the start, but with each listen I see more and more of the awesomeness contained in these songs and videos. Complex, sweet, dark, weird, challenging, beautiful. Everything I want in everything. Needless to say, I'm getting pretty excited about the release of her new record "W" May 24th on DFA.

In the meantime, you can pick up a limited edition 10" of "The Breaks/Doorway" right now.

Check out the video below and a bonus throwback too.

THE BREAKS from planningtorock on Vimeo.

The Knife - Heartbeats (Planningtorock remix)

Listen To The Grrrls

2011-04-29T13:04:00.003-05:00

It's kind of amazing that SSION has been around for so long and has constantly evolved. I remember first hearing the project like YEARS ago when it was a kind of post punk type of thing. Over the years the music has gotten progressively more dancey. The latest SSION song "Listen To The Grrrls" is no exception. Building upon the dance elements of songs like "Clown" or "Street Jizz", "Listen..." takes it to the next level. The song has a smoother, disco vibe and is totally, completely dancefloor ready. Also, really feeling the female vocalist's voice. Who is she? She's great. The song's great. I'm into it.

SO...here it is, and look for SSION's next record Bent in June!

SSION - Listen To The Grrrls

BONUS:

SSION - Clown (Glass Candy Remix)

The Gift

2011-04-27T01:15:00.005-05:00

The Gift is a documentary film by Louise Hogarth about "bug chasers," people who willing pursue becoming infected with HIV for a variety of reasons. I watched it in class tonight and it sparked a lot of interesting and passionate discussion, particularly around issues of representation, editing, passive judgement on the part of the documentarian and how this leaks into the viewers experience of the film, and personal responsibility regarding revealing one's HIV status/finding out the status of one's partners. Above is part one of the documentary on youtube- you can watch the whole thing there as well. You can also visit the film's website here.

I'd write more about it, but there is so much to cover and I'm not sure that I'm up to the task at the moment. But if anyone wants to respond, please do so in the comments and perhaps we can get a conversation going.

Doorway - CREEP Remix

2011-04-13T12:10:00.004-05:00

The witchy Brooklyn duo CREEP have just debuted an awesome new remix of planningtorock's latest single "Doorway". The fuzzy electronics on the original have been switched out to for a string section and the vocals have been pitched up a bit (and covered in fog) to make an ethereal and somewhat melancholy new version.

Hate to say it, but I actually like the remix MUCH better than the original.

Check it out!

planningtorock - Doorway (CREEP Remix)

Chainbow

2011-04-08T14:17:00.011-05:00

Chainbow is a 2-piece, self-described "he/she band from Austin, TX" who play murky, grungy, totally gay (in all the best ways) rock music. Comprised of Shar McLeod and Kevin Parks Hauser (both play bass & drums), Chainbow creates simultaneously dark and poppy music in a similar vain to Sonic Youth, mid-period Sleater Kinney, a bit of Helium, and all your other favorite bands.

Today, they've released their first full length album titled "Free Rain" and it's a total keeper. The record is a collection of 9 songs that are a little shoe-gazey, post-punky, a bit emo, a smidge queercore...there's kind of a lot going on, but it all comes together to create a great, cohesive album. It has a really nostalgic feel (which I love) but that's not to say Chainbow's music isn't current, because I definitely think it is. It's kind of like a new version of everything I loved before, and that's pretty special.

So, I've gone on enough. It's best to just listen to music than talk about it...SO check out Chainbow's very first single "Dreamy" below and go to their Bandcamp page to buy the record!!

Chainbow - Dreamy

Brenmar

2011-04-06T13:32:00.008-05:00

Hey y'all (I live in Texas now) there are some new (or newish) jams from Brenmar! If you don't know, Brenmar makes future r&b-infused dance music and is a master remixer/DJ. A mix I made recently actually featured TWO Brenmar remixes. I generally don't like to repeat, but he's just THAT GOOD. His original music is pretty much amazing too. It's kind of like time traveling to the future, past, and present all at the same time. Oh, and you're hanging out with Aaliyah in that weird thing she's sitting on in the "We Need a Resolution" video. Not much more to say other than I'm a fan.

Check out his BRAND NEW track that samples the 90's jam "If I Ever Fall In Love" from Shai and a song that came out a little bit ago called Boy U Got Me.

Everyone report to the dance floor.

Brenmar - Be The One

Brenmar - Boy U Got Me

Aaliyah - R U That Somebody? (Brenmar Windy City Mix)

BONUS:

Shai - If I Ever Fall In Love Again

MindKilla

2011-04-05T12:47:00.005-05:00

Not much to say other than I LOVE Gang Gang Dance! Check out their brand new song/video "MindKilla" and look for their new record "Eye Contact" May 10 on 4AD.

Gang Gang Dance - MindKilla

Hercules and Love Affair Remixes!!

2011-04-05T11:51:00.005-05:00

Admittedly, I've been in a bit of a dance music lull since losing my mind a few months back, but along with my (somewhat) restored sanity comes a renewed interest in dance music. Top priority: Hercules and Love Affair. I haven't even heard all of H&LA's latest record "Blue Songs", but what I've paid attention to seems pretty great. AND along with great dance music usually comes great remixes, which is like falling in love all over again.

So, while I spend hours re-upping my dance collection, you enjoy these stellar remixes!

Painted Eyes (In Flagranti Version) by moshi moshi music

My House (Tensnake Remix) by moshi moshi music

My House (Derrick Carter Remix) by moshi moshi music

BONUS:

Hercules and Love Affair - Shelter (The XX cover)

Aeroplane - Whispers (Hercules and Love Affair remix)

Who took the bomp?

2011-04-04T15:29:00.007-05:00

If you are or were a fan of Le Tigre, you probably know by now that they have a tour documentary coming out called "Who Took The Bomp". What you may not know is, it's probably going to be playing in your town. I can't speak for all towns, but it WILL be playing April 15 in the hell hole called Chicago, so if you are unfortunate enough to live there, maybe going to see this will brighten your day. Or maybe you like it there or something and this is just a fun activity you can do. Either way.

Here is a synopsis of the movie:

We all mourned when Le Tigre disbanded, and though the former members have gone on to do other amazing things, we can relive the greatness through Le Tigre On Tour. This hilarious, irreverent tour diary shows just how silly and entertaining Le Tigre was, even in the midst of the most serious, politically biting songs. There is excellent footage of those infectious beats and sequined outfits, but the behind-the-scenes pranks are the real gems here.

Here is a preview:

Here are DISCOUNTED tickets for you Chicagoans:

Who Took the Bomp: Le Tigre on Tour Tickets
(promo code: cimmfest)

Friday, April 15
9:30 PM
Wicker Park Arts Center
2215 W. North Ave.

BONUS JAMS:

Le Tigre - Deceptacon (DFA remix)

Le Tigre - Much Finer (Lauren Flax remix)

As an aside, there is something cool about Chicago...the CHIRP Record Fair! Go Go Go!

April Fools

2011-04-01T17:27:00.006-05:00

We were had on April Fool's Day. Whatevs, enjoy these not-fake songs.

Gatekeeper - Serpent (Brenmar Club Mix)

Mistress Mix/Psychic TV - Wicked (Lucifer Mix)

planningtorock - Doorway

Drunk Dial!

2011-03-31T18:06:00.005-05:00

If you haven't seen Drunk Dial, you are seriously missing out. Drunk Dial is a live, drunk, call-in internet advice show that streams from 2:30-3:30AM (Central) and is the funniest thing you will ever see. It's hosted by blacked out Emily & Jodi who dole out advice to other blacked out or drunk individuals who call in with their (usually) sexual problems. It's hilarious, trust me. I've just joined up with Drunk Dial to help out with techie stuff so I'll be helping producer Jess with any glitches that come up when we're all blacked out trying to UStream. I guess two drunk techies are better than one?

SO that being said...we're going live tonight!!! Call in from 2:30-3:30 AM Central time with all of your most pressing issues and Emily & Jodi will solve them...or at least make you laugh.

Check out some episodes below and CALL IN TONIGHT TO 512.481.BONE and chat us up!!!

BONUS DRUNK JAMS!

LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls (Holy Ghost! Remix)

Sonic Youth - Drunken Butterfly

Anna Joy Springer, Daniela Sea, and Julianna Snapper read from 'The Birdwisher'

2011-03-29T22:09:00.005-05:00

Anna Joy Springer, Daniela Sea and Julianna Snapper read from 'The Birdwisher' from birds of lace on Vimeo.

Well, it only took a year, but the entirety of Anna Joy Springer's performance from her novella The Birdwisher (Birds of Lace Press 2009) at the release party last year is finally online! In the video Anna Joy enlists Daniela Sea (from The L Word, but also from Cypher in the Snow and The Gr'ups, two great East Bay punk bands she was in with Anna Joy) and Julianna Snapper (incredible innovative opera singer) to perform the parts of Detective Geon and Mrs. Little (characters from the book), while Anna Joy swoops in at the 12 minute mark to sing the song that appears as text on pages 73-74 of the book.

Enjoy this magical bit of queer literary history. The Birdwisher is available for purchace here.

Mildred Pierce

2011-03-29T21:21:00.004-05:00

I hope some of you caught parts one and two of Todd Haynes' HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce on Sunday (if not, you can find it on the internet, of course.) Todd Haynes has long been a favorite filmmaker of mine- his eye for transforming what could potentially be a straight-forward, hetero-norm narrative into a startling, complex queer one is exciting and unsettling. In Mildred Pierce he does it again, setting up a mother/daughter relationship fraught with intense power dynamics, desire, fear, love, and class ambition. This, all in just the first two installments- so I can't wait to see where Haynes takes us next week as the miniseries unfolds.

Kate Winslet is excellent, as is no surprise, in the title role, and while Evan Rachel Wood has yet to appear (as an older Veda, Mildred's daughter) I suspect that her brand of haughtiness- played so well on True Blood last season- will suit the role perfectly. That, and I trust Haynes so implicitly as a filmmaker that it'd be a shock to see him steer wrong.

The next installment of Mildred Pierce is Sunday night on HBO.

GHE20 G0TH1K vs. Diplo

2011-03-26T11:42:00.006-05:00

So, as pathetic as it may seem, I generally wake up in the morning and take a look at twitter. It's not the FIRST thing I do, but I look at it pretty early in the day. I like to keep up on things, you know? Well, this morning I awoke to a kind of amazing exchange between @venusxGG (Venus X of Ghe20 G0thik) kind of having it OUT with @diplo (you know, Diplo).

Anyways, this isn't just about a twitter war, it's about authorship and biting styles, co-opting cultures, exploiting the underground, and all of the other things that the music industry (in this case represented by Diplo) do to rip off, copy, and exploit people who are making REAL, interesting, amazing, creative, (often) totally queer and genius stuff. (See also: Lady Gaga)

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a Diplo remix from time to time, but his whole M.O. has always kind of sat uneasy with me. Again, LOVED those early M.I.A. mixtapes, but, at the same time it's not really very cool to travel around and steal ideas and sounds from underground scenes in other countries/communities. What I'm trying to say is, I'm not a total Diplo hater, because everyone bites from time to time, BUT I am super impressed with and stand behind what Venus X is trying to say.

Plus, Ghe20 Gothik really are doing the most interesting stuff in any nightlife scene, at least as far as I can tell. They always have awesome DJs (Kingdom, Physical Therapy, Nguzunguzu, Brenmar, Pictureplane, etc, etc.) and have the total package of weirdness. For instance, Venus and her DJ partner $hayne describe the party as this “a best-of hardstyle apocalypse mix with Nicki and RiRi cameos and mega witchcraft and cats.” ALL RIGHT, NO WRONG.

So, yeah, if you want some twitter entertainment with your Saturday morning coffee, check out the drama.

And if you want your mind blown, download "The Cat and The Raven" mix (for V Magazine, January '11) from Venus X and $hayne!

The Vicious Red Relic, Love

2011-03-25T23:37:00.003-05:00

Anna Joy Springer's fabulist memoir The Vicious Red Relic, Love is due out next month from Jaded Ibis Press. Jaded Ibis is unique in that each of their books has three elements: the book itself, a limited edition art version of the book, and a musical element. For The Vicious Red Relic, Love, Springer (of whom Kathleen Hanna says, ""There is only one Anna Joy Springer. Only one. Her words take me from kitten to monster and back again in a way only she can do.") enlisted Rachel Carns (Kicking Giant, The Need, The King Cobra) and Tara Jane ONeil to create a spooky, uncanny story/soundscape that fits the tone of the novel perfectly. You can listen to their collaboration here.

In a recent interview Springer said of her book, "Yes, in The Vicious Red Relic, Love, which is coming out on Jaded Ibis Press sometime next year I want people to notice that the novel itself is designed as a metaforest, not an orchard and definitely not a city. It is not an efficient or efficiency machine. It tries in performance to prove what it postulates – that ease of reading reproduces belief in certainty. There is no certainty through narrative ease in this book, and that is the hopeful part. Hopeful, but not nice. One is supposed to be annoyed by the interruptions, invasions, and repetitions. The desire to remain comfortable or non-irritated is, within the book’s philosophy, a main basis of violent aggression. Seeking certainty is really a desire to seek final rest. Living death. What stories with one line of logic do is recapitulate that such rest is possible and even desirable. Which is not to say that it is not a particular metaforest, with particular markings as guides. English language is one such guide, as are the captions and the dates. There is a difference between violence to maintain certainty and violence to undermine it – there is importance in intention. There are different kinds of fear – fear that wants to be resolved by comfort and fear that wants to be explored and witnessed."

Be sure to check back at the Jaded Ibis website soon for pre-order information for The Vicious Red Relic, Love- I already know it's going to be my favorite book of the year, and if you're as sicksmart as I think you are it'll be yours, too.

EDIT: pre-sale begins tomorrow (4/1), with a big discount for pre-orders! Go here to make it happen.

Life would still go on believe me

2011-03-25T20:53:00.003-05:00

Petra Haden - God Only Knows

Big Freedia All Day, Every Day

2011-03-25T10:53:00.004-05:00

So, this has been a Big Freedia sort of week already, but two new Freedia songs have hit the 'net, so I thought I'd post 'em! Both songs are from Big Freedia's first national release, Scion A/V Presents: Big Freedia. I honestly had NO IDEA she had been making music for 10 YEARS and that this Scion A/V EP is her first nationwide release...CRAZY!! (Thanks to XLR8R for always providing factoids I can steal)

Either way, you may have heard these songs before if you've seen Big Freedia live, or perhaps they're already out there, but here they are for you constant enjoyment in SCION HIGH DEF SUPER SOUND. (The full EP is available March 29th)

As an aside, do you remember when those boxy Scions first came out and they marketed them towards DJs? I remember seeing a photo of some douchebag with turntables set up in the back of his dumb looking Scion. He was surely "rocking the party" in the most annoying way possible.

SONGS:

Big Freedia - Excuse

Big Freedia - Let it Go Nah

Mx Justin Vivian Bond

2011-03-24T11:11:00.002-05:00

So, whether you know it or not, you know Justin Bond. You may just know v as Kiki from Kiki & Herb, the 90's (through 2008's) greatest queer/drag/cabaret/lounge act. BUT Mx Justin V Bond has been making solo records and performing v's brand of queer weirdness all over the world for the last several years. One such project being Justin Bond is Close To You, "a reinterpretation of the Carpenter’s classic album Close To You performed in its entirety in Central Park and subsequently presented by The Sydney Opera House in Australia and San Francisco’s fabled Castro Theater." (from JustinBond.com) AMAZING!!! Others have included Christmas Spells, Re:Galli Blonde (A Sissy Fix), and Lustre, all of which have garnered tons of critical acclaim.

Anyways, I always liked Kiki & Herb and although Bond's work is a little too theater-y for me, it's still TOTALLY worth sharing, and Justin V. Bond is a TOTAL queer icon and national treasure.

SO...check out v's new video for American Wedding, a poem by Essex Hemphill v set to music. AND if you pre-order the new cd "Dendrophile", you'll get a SIGNED copy of the album. Pretty sweet deal. Pre-order HERE.

(Oh, also, if you are confused by the pronouns I used in this post...Mx Bond wrote a really great essay about it (and more) over HERE. PLEASE check it out, it's super smart and inspiring!)

BONUS: Kiki & Herb's total genius version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (my favorite song ever, btw)

BONUS x2:

The Carpenters - Close To You

Eurovision 2011: Voldemort Is Back, Guys

2011-03-23T18:31:00.006-05:00

IT'S MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR. EVERY YEAR. WITHOUT FAIL. It will always be better than my birthday, my bestie's birthday, Cinco de Mayo, and probably weed. I'm not talking about finally growing my first chest hair, I'm talking about EUROVISION dun dun dun!

Eurovision is the most amazing, gayest, glitteriest, choreographed bonanza to happen to the world since EVER. Past participants have included France Gall, Katrina & The Waves, ABBA, Celine Dion, Lordi, and Lulu (just to give you an idea of the madness). Apparently, everyone participates in this song contest except for people who will never be able to understand the magic of performance, dance, and song aka America. And possibly Mexico, but you know if BELINDA finds out, then we're just gonna be left in the dust. Again.

Anyways, Eurovision 2011 has brought some magical slices that may possibly one-up 2010's craziness. And we're talking about you, Jeppe.

If you remember, Eric Saade was in the last Eurovision with his song "Man Boy". Hormones were released in the air. Girls fainted. And during his outro, homeboy decided to take a giant shower onstage. In front of the world. This time, there's no such scene. But he does strike the same knee bent/side pose for half the song while praying for his popularity. Not quite as gay as 2010. But just as weird.

CALL THE POLICE. The Moniker has totally hijacked Dima Bilan and his flowy locks. I specifically remember my Russian Unicorn utilizing treadmills in his opening performance speaking upon the invasiveness of modern day paparazzi. But it's OK. This dude just seems to be walking around, in a love daze, like something out of George Harrison's dreams. Sweden really knows how to be real gay without intending to be gay. And that is why I love Sweden. They just love stuff.

The real winners of this performance are the back-up dancers and perms. The losers are our ears and rhinestones. I'm glad we finally got an electro power ballad. But compared to Russian Unicorn, homeboy looked like he was about to pass a kidney stone. But seriously, just watch the dancers.

I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR. I PRAY THAT THE MAYAN CALENDAR DOESN'T COME TRUE BECAUSE I NEED EUROVISION.

Y'all Get Back Now!

2011-03-23T18:06:00.006-05:00

As a recent Austin, TX transplant I've been taking in all the sights and sounds this crazy, hot town has to offer...but NOTHING has been more fun than GayBiGayGay. Taking place this past Sunday, after an AMAZING and EXHAUSTING week of SXSW, GBGG was a weirdo queer's dream come true. Laying around on blankets, all day beer drinking, people dressed as unicorns, hot folks, old friends, new friends, pure MAGIC. BUT GayBiGayGay, is, when it comes down to it, a music festival...so a bit about that.

Most of the music during the day was pretty low-key, bluegrassy kind of stuff (all really good, but you know...not MY scene) but when night fell, things got wild! One of the highlights of the wild night was Big Freedia. I've had the chance to see the diva herself a whole bunch of times, but somehow managed to miss the show EACH AND EVERY TIME...but I finally caught the act at GBGG, and I think it was probably the perfect venue for her show. Tons of nearly naked queers shaking it on stage with Freedia and the crowd going off under a SUPER MOON in 70 degree weather. It was pretty amazing.

BUT as amazing as Big Freedia was, the night hadn't seen even close to the wildness it was going to. Because she was followed by the one and only Christeene Vale!!!! If you are not familiar with Christeene, you are TOTALLY missing out. Christeene is a 'drag terrorist' who is one of the most energetic, exciting humans I've seen in a really long time. She raps about "buh-holes" and "workin on Grandma" and "Oprah's Angels" but even though she's super funny, it's not a novelty act. Christeene's rappin' skills blows people like...well, I'm not gonna name names...but other gay-famous rappers out of the dirty, stanky water.

SO...without further adieu, check out Big Freedia's brand new video for "Y'all Get Back Now" AND some choice Christeene selections! AND BUY YOUR PLANE TICKETS NOW FOR NEXT YEARS GAYBIGAYGAY BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS IT.

Big Freedia - "Y'all Get Back Now"

CHRISTEENE "Bustin' Brown" music video (HD)

CHRISTEENE "Tears From My Pussy" Music Video (HD)

CHRISTEENE "slowly/easy" music video (HD)

BONUS:

Big Freedia - Rock Around The Clock

Tongues Untied + Absolutely Positive

2011-03-23T02:01:00.006-05:00

Tongues Untied is a 1989 semi-documentary film made by Marlon Riggs that focuses on love, desire, relationships amongst African American men, snapping, HIV/AIDS, racism & homophobia (both internal & external) and the complex intersections of those themes. Using documentary, dance, music and poetry, the film really works to create a portrait of queer life that refuses the erasure of merged identities that so many other documentaries on queer life fall prey to. The film also features Essex Hemphill and Willy Ninja, who you may remember from the excellent documentary Paris is Burning.

I'm in the midst of a great class called "AIDS in America," hence all my recent posts about films- we're seeing so many good ones in class & I can't help but want to share them with you all!

Another excellent documentary we've watched in the class is Absolutely Positive (1991), a film by Peter Adair that interviews folks from widely varying social, racial, and sexual backgrounds about how they are coping with their HIV+ status. Both Absolutely Positive and Tongues Untied should be available via Netflix and I highly recommend them both.

xo

Last Address

2011-03-19T00:10:00.004-05:00

Last Address from Ira Sachs on Vimeo.

Last Address: Remembering NYC Artists Who Died of AIDS is a quiet, simple, beautiful film documenting the last addresses of artists such as Cookie Mueller, David Wojnarowicz, Keith Haring and Klaus Nomi, amongst others. You can visit the film's website here to learn more about the artists whose homes are documented here. The filmmaker, Ira Sachs, wanted to pay homage to a generation lost to us, cosmic mothers guiding us from the ether.

Hottie Biscotti

2011-03-15T12:32:00.003-05:00

If you've been following the blog fir a bit, you've noticed there has been a lack of posts lately. All the bloggers have been moving around the country for the past few weeks and I think it's safe to say we've all been able to somewhat settle down finally. I'm able to post somewhat regularly now, thank goodness.

And what prizes we've had. If you've been keeping up, Hercules & Love Affair released their sophomore album "Blue Songs", but not before guesting on Wolfram's debut self-titled album on the song "Fireworks". Other guests include collaborator Sally Shapiro, Holy Ghost!, Sebastian, and Haddaway (of "What Is Love?" fame). It's a pretty fun, upbeat spring record, and a good sign of things to come, as Yelle, The Sound Of Arrows, and FEMME FATALE are coming out this quarter. 2011 rules so bad already.

Wolfram - Fireworks (ft. Hercules & Love Affair)

Yelle - Que Veux-Tu

The Sound Of Arrows - Nova

BONUS song I've been jamming out to. Please take the time out to listen/purchase songs from CRAFT SPELLS.

Craft Spells - After The Moment

Baby Xalm Down Bye

2011-03-07T19:54:00.003-06:00

Hey you lucky people! San Francisco performance artists/filmmakers Lovewarz, who've been featured here on Young Creature a few times, have made some of their films available online. You can watch their excellent "Baby Xalm Down Bye" in its entirety on youtube. Here you go & your're welcome:

Part One:

Part Two:

You can also see more of their work by visiting their youtube page here.

xo

We Were Here

2011-03-02T01:45:00.008-06:00

We Were Here (made by David Weissman & Bill Weber) is a really important, heavy & inspiring film about San Francisco and its queer community during the onset of the AIDS epidemic. I saw it tonight and got big knotty lumps in my throat as I listened to people tell their stories, and the story of their community and how it rose to/beyond the call of duty. How the lesbian community stepped in to nurse and care for their sick brothers, how a florist donated to people flowers so that they could bury their friends with beauty & respect. The film will be getting limited release in more cities this year- you can click the link above for more information. It is playing all week at the Castro Theater in SF.

After the film David Weissman, as well as some of the folks interviewed for the film and Cleve Jones, spoke with the audience. They wanted to tell their story from the point of view of folks who'd been there- not from an academic perspective but from one engaged directly in caring for their community, from the heart & body. One nurse spoke of how she entered the first AIDS wards and cared for people despite not knowing how the virus was spread because she had to, because she could, because people were suffering and she could help ease that suffering. And they said, for those of you who were too young to know what this time in queer history was like- here it is. We have so much to learn from those of our elders who survived. Think of everyone we lost, and then think of those they knew who are still living. We need to record and listen to these voices. We Were Here is a part of that process, that recording of our history, making our lives tangible and available as documents of our existence.

How does a community come together when not in the throes of a terrifying epidemic? How could we love each other this well now? I think of all that loss- of how there are still very many people in this world experiencing loss at this level on a daily basis- and feel frozen. There is a questions of, how much grief can you accept into yourself and remain forward-moving? The answer is, a surprising lot. I don't know the exact answer.

DDDanceee

2011-02-23T12:53:00.005-06:00

I've been in a sort of non-dance music phase over the last few months, but I think I'm starting to get the beat back. In celebration of my renewed interest in dance music and the impending S U M M E R, here are some recent dance tracks from some of our favorites!!! And by 'our', I mean, 'my'. And by 'favorites', I actually mean 'artists I like'. Unless The Need released a dance record I don't know about.

Enjoy some audio and video.

Beth Ditto - Goodnight Good Morning (Original Mix)
from Beth Ditto EP on Deconstruction Records BUY HERE

CREEP (f. Romy Madley Croft) - Days (Azari & III remix)
BUY HERE

Sam Sparro - You's A Nasty
from Sam Sparro's FREE Pink Cloud EP Download Here!

BONUS:

Jacques Greene - Tell Me (Kingdom Edit)

If you haven't already buy Kingdom's That Mystic EP HERE

YCTV

2011-02-11T13:20:00.005-06:00

So, as some of you may know, I've moved to sunny Austin, Texas! It's warm here, people are friendly, and I drink too much. It's great! Anyways, now that I'm somewhat adjusted y'all, here are some great new (or new-ish, whatevs) videos from some of our faves. And not to be an empty-promiser (again) but I'm hoping to get back on track with this blogging thing, like for real for real.

MEN:

Planningtorock:

Planningtorock - Doorway from DFA Records on Vimeo.

Hercules & Love Affair:

BONUS JAMS:

Hercules and Love Affair - My House (Hercules and Love Affair Remix)
Buy the record now on Moshi Moshi

Jessica 6 - White Horse
Buy the record April 18th on Peacefrog (via FACT)

And God said let there be MEN

2011-02-04T14:58:00.005-06:00

Did you even know MEN were releasing a full length? And it came out February 1st? Because shitting you not, I had no idea. And you can't blame drugs, alcohol, or laziness because I've been job hunting, hanging with Treefort members, and doing a drawing a day. Then again, I don't really have an excuse because it's been shitting snow every other day on the east coast ever since I got back. It took me 2 weeks to relearn how to drive and pump gas. I am beyond disgusting. Anyways, back to MEN.

On February 1st, MEN released their first full length album entitled "Talk About Body" courtesy of IAMSOUND (also home to Telepathe, Salem, Florence & The Machine, and Little Boots). It's a pretty well rounded record. I like it, but I'm not in love with it quite yet. Then again, if it doesn't involve pizza or Mackenzie from Toddlers and Tiaras, I'm not very passionate about it. Shallow bitch holler. No but seriously, this album is a grower. Most of the tracks have been released beforehand (I still love that 3 song MEN EP and the cute cardboard/silkscreen packaging). I also used to have the hugest crush on JD Samson and would regularly rock out to that Ginger Brooks/Mirah album all throughout highschool. Also Michael O'Neill also plays in The Ladybug Transistor who are another fabulous band I love. Check their Blogsite for tour dates and ways to purchase the album and forthcoming "Who Am I To Feel So Free" single. Most of them are in like, Europe, but the starting (TONIGHT @ NEWBURY COMICS) and end date (TT The Bears) are both in Massachusetts. Odd story about TT's, the first time I ever did "not-legal substances" was during a Freezepop show. Why they were playing is beyond me, but seriously WORST EXPERIENCE EVER.

Also hurr:
MEN - Shake Off aka MY JAM

MY BOO

2011-01-28T08:15:00.005-06:00

My girlfriend has released the first official single and video from his upcoming album Lupercalia (formerly titled The Conqueror), called "The City". I don't know what city he's frolicking around in, whipping his hair back and forth, rocking those 90's Lee mid-waists, but who gives a shit. Patrick Wolf is back, guys. Voldemort is BACK. Look for the full-length album in May courtesy of Hideout/Mercury Records UK or whatever. Seriously, there are way too many subsidary labels these days.

Dark Allies

2011-01-21T18:06:00.008-06:00

LOVE LOVE LOVE Light Asylum!!! Great song and a great looking video from artist Grant Worth. Not much else to say.

Dark Allies - Light Asylum from Grant Worth on Vimeo.

SHAKEDOWN

2011-01-18T14:18:00.009-06:00

I'm gonna start by saying, this project in very near and dear to me. I've had the opportunity to help out with it a bit and the filmmaker, Leilah Weinraub is an amazing artist, filmmaker, thinker, and friend. So yeah, I'm a little biased, but from the parts I've seen of the project, SHAKEDOWN is SO SO necessary and NEEDS to be seen by the queer community and the whole wide world! So, please read about the project and watch Leilah's video below and DONATE if you can! There's only 20 days left for her to reach her goal, but if all pitch in a little, we can TOTALLY make it happen!!!!

____________________________________________________________

SHAKEDOWN is the story of a black lesbian strip club in Los Angeles. The film is anchored in the stories of three women: Ronnie Ron, the creator and emcee of Shakedown, a large butch/stud lesbian and former Jehovah's Witness; Egypt, a single mother, beauty pageant fanatic, and dedicated self - (re)inventor; and Jazmyne, the complicated and sometimes conflicted "Queen" of Shakedown. We go through the process of their labor with them and record what they do, and how they feel about what they are doing.

We need your help to complete the edit of the film, master the sound and score, color correct the images, fly to LA to shoot our final interviews with the dancers and have an amazing premiere in cities across America.

The films structure employs the cycle of money exchanged and passed through the world as a metaphor for energy; from costume maker to security guard to patrons to the dancer's children. SHAKEDOWN emphasizes the symbiotic nature of how things work in a system. Shakedown's system functions like a family, put into motion for all of the reasons that people need a family, support (financial and emotional), a place of self-growth and a place for self-expression. Through the lens of family, a desire for stability and love, the film meditates on dense topics like three generations of teenage pregnancy, lesbian motherhood, chosen family, and money as a symbol of that love.
From a meta-perspective, queer cultural production remains at the fringes of society today. It is largely undocumented, and therefore communities and art forms continuously disappear as stories are forgotten. So far, SHAKEDOWN, is an entirely self-funded project

The film features a score by Tim Dewit of the band GANG GANG DANCE. This score, an artistic achievement in its own right, is critical to shaping the audience's understanding of the dance sequences in the film.

DONATE!

BONUS: Gang Gang Dance - House Jam (XXXChange Remix)

We're late for diva day!

2011-01-13T12:25:00.006-06:00

GURL U IN DANGER.

First things first. All hail the ultimate diva, Mackenzie of Toddlers and Tiaras fame. She will snatch the weaves right off your favorite idol's head. If you even look at her wrong, she'll place her ni-ni gingerly on her crystal bedside table before ripping you a new asshole. God forbid this girl develops any singing talent because she will destroy everything we've ever known about music.

In lesser diva news, Brit-Brit is back, y'all. "Hold It Against Me" has broken who the fuck knows how many records. I don't even care to look them up. You can wiki that shit. I was driving along route 9 and blasted the fuck out of that dubstep/grime bridge. Those 30 seconds alone made life worth living. I'm just excited she's back. And looking healthy. Her untitled album is due March 15th. Allegedly.

And in a surprise turn of events, Yelle has coughed up the title track of their forthcoming album "Safari Disco Club" due sometime in March. Yelle and Britney in one month. My head is going to explode. Their last single "La Musique" didn't really do much for me but the new single is fitting really well in my "blast in the car" iPod mix.

Frankmusik has also debuted a new single "The Fear Inside" off his upcoming second album release "Do It In The AM". The link to his FB also has a link to download a free EP of odds and ends. He's also the subject of some creepy looking chatroulette looking boner photos. WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS? AND WHY DO YOU THINK I WON'T FIND IT?

Britney Spears - Hold It Against Me

Yelle - Safari Disco Club

Frankmusik - The Fear Inside

Kim Ann Foxman in Chicago!

2011-01-12T15:18:00.006-06:00

Hey Chicago friends, Kim Ann Foxman (of Hercules & Love Affair) will be at Berlin tomorrow night for the weekly good time Stardust! She's DJing along with DJ Erik Roldan (of Think Pink Radio/CHIRP) and Kerthy Fix (one of the filmmakers behind the Magnetic Fields movie "Strange Powers") will be guest hosting. It will be a great night for sure!

Check out the amazing Faze Action remix of Kim Ann's first solo release "Creature" below and get your dancing shoes ready for tomorrow night!

Creature (Faze Action Remix) Kim Ann Foxman , Andrew Butler by KIM ANN FOXMAN

Welcome, 2011!

2011-01-04T22:53:00.006-06:00

Happy New Year, Young Creature readers! I've not been blogging here much for several reasons, one of which is that Birds of Lace has just released a new chapbook by Rohin Guha, whose work I have previously bouyed here on YC. The chapbook, Relief Work, is available from Birds of Lace through etsy here. One series of stories from Relief Work, published at Union Station Magazine, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize; it can be read here.

To celebrate the release we are having a party/reading in Brooklyn! Please come celebrate- there will be free cupcakes & giveaways, plus readings by five darling faggots:

And lastly, but not leastly, don't forget to submit to the next issue of Prayers for Children! The submission deadline is Jan. 31st; so far we've gotten some incredible work & can't wait to see more!

p.s. I know I am super late on this one, but I heard this song for the first time at the goth club last Monday night and danced up a STORM to it; please, let me offer this as your jam for the new year, a disco ditty with ecstatically gorgeous vocals by Antony Haggerty and a rhythm so danceable it'll chew yer socks off:

xox

Big Freedia on NYE

2010-12-30T15:48:00.005-06:00

Hey Chicago!

Don't have plans for New Year's Eve yet? Check out Big Freedia & The Divas (with Nobunny and a DJ set from Rusty Lazer too!) LIVE at the Empty Bottle tomorrow night!!!

We've got discounted tickets for ya, so there's no excuse not to start the year off with some bounce!

ALSO - This show is a benefit for Howard Brown, so have fun and support a great cause.

Get your discounted tix with the link below and the code 'BOUNCE' and check out a track from the queen diva herself!!

YOUNG CREATURE EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTED TIX!

Azz Everywhere by Big Freedia

Dick and Fanny

2010-12-20T17:06:00.006-06:00

According to their website, London party Dick And Fanny is "a quarterly club night for homosexuals of all persuasions, where we bring the Star of Bethnal Green (London, UK) to the boil with classic house and techno, italo, hi nrg and disco for a mixed crowd of dykes, fags, trannies and their admirers. DAF is a place for all gays to mix with a high dosage of fun, dancing, amazing music and no attitude. Previous DJs include Kim Ann Foxman, Jerry Bouthier, Lauren Flax, Severino, Kim Anh, Jim Warboy, Maya Jane Coles, Discodromo, Feral AKA MC Kinky, The Duchess of Pork, Queer Council, Philippos N, Miss Bailey, Dirtbox, Holestar, Gay For Disco, Polanski, Jenny Woolworth."

Sounds pretty magical.

You know what else is magical? This Dick and Fanny mix from Sandra Le. It's pretty great AND I'm always super stoked to hear mixes from girl DJs. So it's like double great.

Check it!

Sandra Le - Dick and Fanny Mix

BONUS!

Cut Copy - Far Away (Hercules and Love Affair Remix)

Are you ready to die?

2010-12-18T14:18:00.004-06:00

Because this vid just made me jizz my pants and shit myself at the same time. Kathleen Hanna of Le Tigre/Bikini Kill/MY LIFE fame took part in Our Hit Parade on December 15th in NYC @ Joe's Pub. I guess it's like a live top ten pop song countdown live show? How rad is that?

Anywho, Kathleen goes into a humorous monologue about how Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came into fruition as well as performing an excerpt of "Rebel Girl". I'm not dying. I'm literally dead. It's so good to see members from Le Tigre doing stuff since announcing their hiatus in 2004 or whatever year it was. It's also real cool to hear the stories behind these insanely radical, progressive years in underground music from someone who actually partook in the Riot Grrl movement.

I miss this lady. She influenced so much of my teenage years in such a positive way and I'll always be grateful for that.

Beth Ditto x Simian Mobile Disco

2010-12-17T11:47:00.008-06:00

If you liked last year's Beth Ditto and Simian Mobile Disco collaboration "Cruel Intentions" (from SMD's Temporary Pleasure)...you'll be excited to find out that they've teamed up again for an EP due in January! The EP will contain 4 songs will be released as a 12" (and digitally) on Deconstruction Records.

Pretty exciting news if you ask me!

Check out the sampler released this morning and a couple of good reworks of "Cruel Intentions" below!

Beth Ditto EP preview by Deconstruction Records

Simian Mobile Disco f. Beth Ditto - Cruel Intentions (DJ Pierre Acid Reflux Remix)

Simian Mobile Disco f. Beth Ditto - Cruel Intentions (Maurice Fulton Remix)

Buy ALL of the "Cruel Intentions" remixes HERE!

End of an era

2010-12-17T10:08:00.002-06:00

I've been completely MIA for a long ass time but seriously, I have an excuse. In about 2 weeks, I will no longer be calling Chicago my city of residence, as I'm ditching y'all for Boston. Why you ask? Because I've been living here since 2003 and I need a change in order to preserve my sanity. I want to be closer to family and friends. I want to meet new people. I'm also looking into going back to grad school. Plus I'm not dating anyone so really, who gives a shit?

Chicago will always be the birthplace of the blossoming of my identity. It was here I learned the many aspects of underground culture I've grown to love to this day. It was also the kick start to searching out a queer identity more deeply rooted in discovering new cultures and alternative interests to the repetitiveness of Boystown. That shit gets old fast, I don't care what you say. I remember going out to The Bottom Lounge (back when it was right next to the Belmont red line stop) and seeing my favorite bands every other night. Going to Clarke's after thinking that place was so cool (traded that shit in for Beef & Brandy on State St.). Sneaking into dive bars. And if that shit failed, there was always a house party. Alas, I'm coming closer to 30 now so I can't really get away with any of that anymore. But you get the drift. At 18, discovering the city was awesome. At 26, it's time to buckle down and really focus on things I want to accomplish. And I decided Chicago was not part of the equation. I'll still be posting here at Young Creature, it'll just be with news from the east coast. If we have any Boston readers, I seriously have no idea what is fun in your city anymore. It's been 8 years since I've lived there.

Anyways, I do actually have music to share. It seems the last quarter of 2010 has picked up (unlike the movies this year. OMG I got around to watching Sherlock Holmes and was like, thank god this was On Demand cause I would've been pissed if I paid $11 for that). Patrick Wolf released a cute single. And now we have some good shit from Clive Tanaka y su orquestra AND ceo (Eric Berglund from The Tough Alliance). Clive Tanaka recently released his album "Jet Set Siempre No. 1" ON CASSETTE. YES. There's not really much information on this band/person, but who cares when the music is good? It sort of continues that chillwave craze we had over the summer (way better than electroclash) but elaborates on the emotional and musical skill.

And with The Tough Alliance on a break, Eric Berglund has created his side project ceo. He recently released the "Illuminata" single from the full length "White Magic" with the cute b-side "Halo". And yes it's a cover of Beyonce. And yes, this is what I wish the original was. I really recommend buying his album because it's an unexpected treat.

Clive Tanaka y su orquestra - Neu Chicago

ceo - Halo

The Future

2010-12-15T15:14:00.010-06:00

Photo by Autumn de Wilde

I've been a fan of Miranda July for pretty much my entire adult life. I LOVED her audio projects Margie Ruskie Stops Time (with one of my fave bands, The Need), 10 Million Hours a Mile, and Binet-Simon Test. I also followed her video projects Big Miss Moviola (later Joanie4Jackie) and her online art project Learning To Love You More. Oh, also, did you see "The Swan Tool"? I did. Amazing, btw. Basically, I think she's kind of an underappreciated genius.

Anyways, all gushing aside, she's debuting a new feature length film this year at Sundance called "The Future" and I couldn't be more excited. (Well, I probably could if I were a different person with proper levels of serotonin, but you know.) Admittedly, I am more of a fan of July's other projects than I was "Me And You And Everyone We Know", but I still think she made wrote and made a pretty good film in the grand scheme of things considering how 90% of movies made are total garbage. "The Future" seems as if it's going to fit right into July's body of work and offer us another totally weird version of a romcom. In case you were wondering "Hey, what is "The Future" about", well, besides certain world destruction in 2012, this version of "The Future" has been synopsized as such:

Sophie and Jason are a thirty something couple who have hit a bit of a brick wall in their lives. They live by themselves in a one-bedroom apartment and spend a vast amount of time online. They make a decision to adopt a terminally ill cat named Paw Paw. Like a newborn baby, he’ll need around-the-clock care. Despite their good intentions, Sophie and Jason are terrified of the responsibility and the looming loss of freedom, so with just one month left, before they are due to collect the cat, they decide to quit their jobs to pursue their dreams. Sophie wants to make a dance, and Jason wants to throw his life open to the profound excitement of chance—on a whim he volunteers to be a door-to-door canvasser. As the month slips by, Sophie becomes increasingly immobilised, unable to make even the slightest progress with her dance, and in a moment of desperation, she begins an affair with someone she barely knows, Marshall – a tough, square, fifty-year old man she met briefly at the animal shelter. Using elements of magical realism – a talking cat who narrates his own sad tale, a living tee-shirt, and strangely familiar Moon – the film bravely creates its own particular universe. With pathos and humor, it invites us to share the bitter sweetness of this moment in the lives of this young couple.

HIGHLIGHTS: Cat narrator, living tee shirt, people quitting their jobs.

So, yeah "The Future" is something to look forward to, both in film and "life" I guess.

AND Here's one of my favorite Miranda July audio tracks. Enjoy.

Miranda July - How's My Driving

from 10 Million Hours a Mile (BUY)

Peaches Christ Superstar in Chicago!

2010-12-13T18:52:00.007-06:00

You all have undoubtedly heard that Peaches has been performing her version of "Jesus Christ Superstar" called "Peaches Christ Superstar" all over the world the last few months, but did you know you can see it here in Chicago TOMORROW NIGHT? Yes, Peaches and Chilly Gonzales' take on the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice rockpera will be performed tomorrow night at the Portage Theater and tickets are TOTALLY still available! In fact, my friends, you can get exclusive Young Creature discounted tickets! Sweet.

Click on the link below to buy tickets and enter the promo code "BERLIN" for the special discounted price! AND check out a video of Peaches talking about the performance (as well as clips from the Berlin show) and a Peaches remix for good measure!

YOUNG CREATURE EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTED TICKETS
Again, the promo code is "BERLIN"!!!

Peaches Christ Superstar
Tuesday, December 14th
8PM (6:30 PM Doors)
Portage Theater
4050 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Peaches - Fuck The Pain Away (Skyrunner Remix)

*As a side note, did you know that The Teaches of Peaches is 10 YEARS OLD? I feel super old.

Dancing In Slow Motion

2010-11-22T23:22:00.004-06:00

So, this has been around for a couple of weeks but I'm just now getting around to posting it. LOVE Shannon Funchess' voice and I've been a fan of Teengirl Fantasy since I saw them open for Telepathe last year or something...so this is a GREAT combo! There's something really sweet, sad, and magical about this song. It's become a staple.

Anyways, enjoy the psychedelic video and song below!

Teengirl Fantasy f. Shannon Funchess - Dancing In Slow Motion

BTW, blogging is hard work when you are trying to figure out 'real life'...sorry for the sparsity.

submit to prayers for children issue 3

2010-11-07T00:49:00.003-05:00

Prayers for Children, an online queer art and literature journal, is now taking submissions for our 3rd issue. Send us things: beautiful things, sick things, exciting things, terrifying things, lovely things, explicit things. Click on the flyer to enlarge and please do re-post as you see fit.

I've had the time of my life

2010-11-05T09:03:00.005-05:00

And I'm not talking about that shitty new Black Eyed Peas single. I'm talking my boo. It's been way more than a New York minute since we've heard anything from my husband Patrick Wolf. I can only compare it to that itchy, nervous feeling you get when you're about to get a shot. Or waiting for blood work results. And then the doctor calls and everything is fine and you're all like, "For real, I'm such a fucking BABY".

But it's true. I am a baby for Patrick Wolf. I love everything about him. And once December 6th hits, we've got a new single. I'm probably not going to buy a physical copy (Saving that shit for the next Britney), but I will definitely drop the 99c on iTunes for this perfect man-boy. Unless the single artwork is him reclining on a bed of rose petals stuffing his face with a 50 piece McNugget bucket (THEY EXIST AND YOU ARE ALL WRONG FOR DOUBTING ME). BUT if you wanna buy the single, you can buy it digitally OR on 7" vinyl b/w the Leonard Cohen cover "Anthem" on December 6th courtesy of his new label Hideout/Mercury. His follow up album to "The Bachelor", entitled "The Conqueror" (insert bottom jokes here), is due for release in May 2011.

Patrick Wolf - Time Of My Life
2010 is officially cool again.

Kim Ann Foxman - Creature

2010-11-04T14:19:00.013-05:00

You know what was a total pleasant surprise today? Finding out that Kim Ann Foxman had a brand new song and video! Granted, I've been out of the loop for a little bit...but I didn't even know she was working on solo stuff! The new song/video is called "Creature" (fine choice) and is a total house jam! It's got that early 90's vibe and Kim Ann's sweet, sweet vocals and I CAN'T WAIT to get a hold of the track. The video is really pretty awesome too, with it's black and white graphics and amazing dance moves it totally fits the feeling of the song. But I wouldn't expect anything less than a total package from Kim Ann Foxman. Also, totally love that she's wearing the Air Jordan VI in a scene or two, as they are one of the best looking sneakers of all time.

You can buy "Creature" (OG version + remixes from Faze Action and James Curd) along with another brand new track titled "What You Need", both on Andy Butler's Mr. Intl Records and available now on Beatport!

Anyways, check out the video and listen to the stream over and over again below!

Mr. INTL: Creature by La 3e heure!

BONUS:

Faze Action - Tattoo Man (Rudy's Midnight Machine Mix)

Damaged

2010-11-03T16:41:00.007-05:00

It's been a minute since we've heard from Erase Errata but they're back with a brand new 7" on Kill Rock Stars! The record contains 2 tracks recorded by Shellac's sound person Christina Files and also features her on analog synths. The A side "Damaged" premiered today on The Fader and it pretty much rules! Although it sounds a little different than what we're used to from Erase Errata, it still has the dissonance and post punk/no wave/whatever/whatever vibe I love about that band. Also, Jenny Hoyston's voice sounds AMAZING. So, yeah, this song makes me totally excited to hear more stuff like this from the band, and hopefully soon!

So check out "Damaged" below and go buy the Damaged/Ouija Boarding 7" HERE for only 5 bucks!

Erase Errata - Damaged

BONUS:

Erase Errata - Tax Dollar

(from 2006's Nightlife...Buy it here!)

Indestructible

2010-10-28T14:16:00.006-05:00

New video for Robyn's "Indestructible"! I happen to love Robyn. I was talking with a friend the other day who thinks she is pretty terrible, but I think she's making the best pop music around! It's got such heart.

Anyways, this video is all making out and heavy petting and Robyn in a literal tube dress, but I think it gets the point of the song across. Can't hate on the lesbian action either.

Check it! (Along with some other versions of the tune!)

Robyn 'Indestructible' Official Video

Robyn | Myspace Music Videos

Robyn - Indestructible (Acoustic Version)

Robyn - Indestructible (Hobbz Remix)

Off Our Backs video

2010-10-27T15:47:00.009-05:00

Being a fan of underground music is kind of frustrating. It's fun because there's SO much out there to discover, but it's kind of annoying because you discover it like a million years before everyone else. Since you discover it a million years before everyone else, you kind of hear the same songs for like another million years. Such is the case with MEN. Yes, I like the JD Samson fronted electro-pop band, but I've been hearing these same songs for a really long time. This isn't MEN's fault. It's the internet.

Either way, the brand new video for the song "Off Our Backs" breathes a little new life into the song. There's choreographed dance moves, grinding, mustaches, tug 'o war, lots of dust, jean shorts, and bears - all shot during the magic hour. It captures the energy and fun of MEN and is a good introduction if you've been living in a cave or something and haven't heard of the band yet.

"Off Our Backs" will be released as a 7" single and digital bundle November 8th and their first full length Talk About Body is due early next year (I'm assuming on IAMSOUND?)

Anyways, enjoy the video and check out a few remixes of "Off Our Backs" below!

MEN - Off Our Backs (Lemonade Remix)

MEN - Off Our Backs (Nastique Remix)

MEN - Off Our Backs (I'm not a Band Remix)

Not In Love

2010-10-27T10:35:00.006-05:00

So, this was posted yesterday, which in blog world is like a million years ago, but I wanted to post it here too. I don't really have too much to say other than this version of Crystal Castles' 'Not In Love' featuring Robert Smith on vocals is pretty great and kind of just what I needed.

Listen to it below and look here to download the track!

BONUS: OG version!

Crystal Castles - Not In Love

DOUBLE BONUS:

The Cure - Boys Don't Cry

Diamond Rings' Something Else Video

2010-10-22T17:08:00.003-05:00

This video is kind of like an even more gay version of George Michael's "Faith"...if that's possible. Enjoy!

RIP Ari Up

2010-10-21T09:16:00.007-05:00

I'm not going to pretend like I'm the world's biggest Slits fan, but I think it's important to note that without The Slits there wouldn't have been A LOT of the music that I hold dear. Ari Up and the rest of The Slits created music that was unlike anything that came before it and paved the way for girls to make music with no regard for dumb punk rock boundaries.

Listening to The Slits today after hearing the news of Ari Up's death last night, they are still totally unique and fresh sounding after 30-some years. Ari Up forming The Slits at 14 and the music that came from her and the band really, honestly changed the world and I'm sure she will be dearly missed by those who knew her.

So take a listen to The Slits today and remember Ari Up when you are listening to pretty much any riot grrrl band or Nirvana or Gossip or Sonic Youth or whoever because they were most likely inspired by The Slits.

The Slits - Typical Girls

The Slits - I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Spooky Dance Party

2010-10-20T18:55:00.003-05:00

Halloween is around the corner. This year, I don't really care about dressing up or partying. I am going to either have a horror movie marathon or I'm gonna eat my way through a giant bag of mixed $1.99 CVS brand candy. And there better be creme caramels or I am gonna throw a fit. Side note: You can't call yourself a 7-11 if you run out of Big Bites (MONTROSE & CLARK!!!).

To sweeten up this mess of a month, some faboosh Young Creature faves have been releasing new music pretty quietly this year. Or loud. I thought the new Chris Brown jam was gonna be the highlight of my year, but lo and behold, here comes Robyn. And N.E.R.D. And Yelle. October is turning out to be a pretty good music month.

Glass Candy - Sugar and Whitebread

Robyn - Indestructible

Yelle - La Musique

N.E.R.D. - Hypnotize U
PRODUCED BY DAFT PUNK <3<3<3 NOMNOMNOM

Don't Kill Yourself Cuz People Can't Deal With Your Brilliance

2010-10-14T20:29:00.005-05:00

I just listened to this song for the first time in a very long time and oh my goodness: BIG FEELINGS. Just go ahead and see if you can listen without wanting to tear your chest open and smear what's inside all over the walls.

I went to see Team Dresch on their reunion tour a few years ago and it was a sight to behold. Not just the band- who were obviously excellent and riveting- but also the crowd. Dykes in the pit with fists triumphant in the air, singing every single word, faces upturned with a kind of shining i'm-home feeling that is so sadly rare to see. It was magnificent.

Captain my Captain and Huggy Bear's Taking the Rough with the Smooch were my first two queer punk records, so they hold a particularly special place in my mushygushy heart. I hope that queer kids are still discovering these records and having their lives changed by them; I don't think I will ever listen to these records without being completely overcome with a love so gargantuan it feels like its leaking out my pores and smutty holes.

The title of this post is a lyric from a Team Dresch song. I think of all the recent queer teen suicides and I wish- I wish, I wish I wish, even knowing that it may not have helped- that I could have given them this song, that they could've listened and held those words close to their hearts. So, I send it to them now, to whatever beautiful ether they're in, and hope it sounds sweet to them even now.

Something Else

2010-09-27T12:11:00.010-05:00

Boy, have we got some catching up to do. For those of you who don't know me "IRL", my life has been in a bit of tailspin for the last couple months...so this blog has taken a backseat to things like "mental health" or lack there of. I hope you understand.

But that's enough about me.

So, we've posted a bunch of times about Toronto's Diamond Rings. You may remember John O'Regan's totally cute and catchy "All Yr Songs" from like a year ago, or his more recent jam (or the choreographed video!) "Show Me Your Stuff". But now Diamond Rings is back at it with a new single that's a little different called "Something Else" from his upcoming full length debut.

"Something Else" still has an infectious bedroom beat, but adds a sort of jangly guitar, and an 80's synth line with more than a hint of melancholy that differs a bit from his other songs. Upon first listening, it might not be quite as captivating as "All Yr Songs", but it shows that Diamond Rings is more than a one trick pony and will probably put out a good, well rounded record. Or maybe I'm just hearing it a little differently (See Above). But speaking of records, Diamond Rings debut full length Special Affections will be released October 26 on Secret City Records. Hopefully the record release will have an accompanying tour!

In the meantime, you can buy the song on a 7" that also includes a Diamond Rings/Owen Pallett cover of Milla Jovovich's 90's hit "The Gentleman Who Fell".

If you like to try before you buy, here's "Something Else" and Milla's original song!

Diamond Rings - Something Else

pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">

Milla Jovovich - The Gentleman Who Fell
Buy

Riot Grrrl/Queercore/AfroPunk & More!

2010-09-18T12:19:00.005-05:00

Hey Chicago! I'll be DJing (along with DJ Ang G) all of your favorite riot grrrl, queercore, afropunk, local punk, and other "rocking tunes" tonight at Exit (1315 W. North Ave.)!

I don't know about you, but I'm really excited to hear these songs blasted out of a speaker system that's NOT in my living room.

So tell me your favorite riot grrrl songs and come hang out with us tonight!

(and here are a couple of my favorites to get you excited)

Huggy Bear - Pansy Twist
(Buy it if you can find it!)

Bikini Kill - New Radio
(Buy it!)

Team Dresch - Take On Me
(Buy this too!)

Flight Facilities

2010-09-14T12:11:00.005-05:00

I've been pretty much OBSESSED with this Flight Facilities song (and it's generally stellar remixes) for months now, but the official video was just released a couple of days ago. Not much to say about the video other than it was made by Rhett Wade-Ferrall (of the fantastic Moop Jaw collective) and the girl is a girl and the boy is a girl and that's pretty awesome.

Flight Facilities - Crave you Feat. Giselle [Official Video] from Flight Facilities on Vimeo.

And here's my favorite of the remixes:

Flight Facilities (feat. Giselle) - Crave You (The C-90s Remix)

On Gay Psychotica

2010-09-11T22:29:00.001-05:00

Every time I write these things I feel like I have to shit so bad, because I’m terribly excited. What started it tonight is what I will call ‘Gay Psychotica,’ a genre of literature that is my body-felt favorite.

I’m thinking of Bertha Harris’ Lover where the entire world is an inverse star-shaken tube of water and glitter. Characters mutating from one body into the next, one way of thinking to the next. The easiest, sweetest and sharpest movements of internal logic that, when read, shake my whole helpless self shook imperceptibly, caught moving only in some time-stopped alternate universe ten million freeways away. There is a mixture of sadness and glee that roots in the beginning and multiplies effortlessly as you go on.

I’m thinking of June Arnold’s Applesauce which sawed into me so beautifully, each rusted red tooth simultaneously raw-cutting and suturing. Anna Joy Springer’s everything-- her words, you might say, all hold hands with each other, if by “hold hands” you mean reach in through the slickest holes of each other to grab onto that musculature which feels most familiar and warm. James Baldwin’s Another Country, the only book that has ever made me empathize with a rapist and grasp at an understanding of what misogyny does to straight men, too.

Art Party PDX

2010-09-10T16:23:00.009-05:00

Hey PDXers! First of all, there's SO much stuff going on in your fair town (See: Not Enough! Festival). Second, one of those awesome things is happening this weekend! This Sunday go to Art Party at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art! It's gonna be a super queer night of art and music curated by Jenny Hoyston (Erase Errata, Paradise Island) and Sarah Gottesdiener (ex-Gay Deceivers) that will feature performances from Light Asylum (one of our faves), Bronze, Matrimony, Weed Wolf and more. You'll also get to hear tunes spun by DJs YETI and Ladyfingers. Sounds like a great time to me.

Art Party is part of the PICA's TBA (Time Based Arts) Festival that also includes tons of other cool stuff, so make sure you make time for the rest of the fest too!

If you've left your heart in Portland but are in some other hellish physical location like me, take some drugs (or chant or something), listen to these tracks, and mind travel there right now.

Light Asylum - Shallowtears (Teengirl Fantasy Big Room Mix)

Matrimony - Tell it to Me Slow

Bronze - Deep Freeze

Lesbian Herstory: Lavender Menace Edition

2010-09-01T01:06:00.006-05:00

"The Lavender Menace was an informal group of lesbian radical feminists formed to protest the exclusion of lesbians and lesbian issues from the feminist movement at the Second Congress to Unite Women in New York City on May 1, 1970."

Read more about The Lavender Menace here

an AWESOME interview with Karla Jay, who was a part of Lavender Menace:

CULT at Berlin - Tonight!

2010-08-26T15:04:00.009-05:00

Hey Chicago! Don't miss this month's edition of CULT at Stardust Thursdays (at Berlin)! This month our blog friends The Ratcatchers are bringing you all the mall goth & realness you can handle with House of Ladosha (NYC), Acidkids (DimMak), and a Fire For Effect DJ set (KC/SSION). All this plus residents Teen Witch and Baby Bamboo! NOT TO BE MISSED (Although with my recent head injury, I may actually have to miss ☹ )

Anyways, to get yourself excited, check out the CULT 6 Mixtape from Teen Witch and some tracks from tonight's guests!

Ratcatchers - Mall Goth

ACIDKIDS + GIRL UNIT + JEFFREE STAR + DJ NATE + SHANNON + TEEN DAZE + CRAZY COUSINZ + RIHANNA + FIRE FOR EFFECT + MARIAH CAREY + MODERN WITCH + SBTRKT + KATY PERRY + HOUSE OF LADOSHA + BOK BOK

BONUS:

Acidkids - Big Foot (feat. Marina) (Radio Edit)

House of Ladosha - Burning Like Paris

Fire For Effect - Paradise Drudge

Mr. INTL

2010-08-25T10:41:00.015-05:00

Andrew Butler of Hercules & Love Affair has released details on his new house label MR. INTL Records. According to Butler, MR. INTL will stick to a sound straight from the early days of house and techno and won't really feature anything else. Butler is quoted as saying "I want to evoke strictly that sound on this label, so I've been pretty hard ass with people in terms of what the output is". "I don't want anything that sounds pre-'85 or post-'94."

The first release on the label will be a collaboration between Butler and Honeysoundsystem's Jason Kendig on a late 80's sounding track called "And I'm (So In Love With You)". The song will see digital release August 30 and a vinyl release later this fall and will also included remixes from KiNK and Deetron. If you are looking for even more MR. INTL, you can also try to track down the white label 12" remix of Madonna's "Into The Groove" they put out few months back.

Check out "And I'm (So In Love With You) from MR. INTL and it's remixes below, as well as a recent video of Kele performing with the new Hercules & Love Affair lineup at the Lovebox festival.

Mr Intl by casio1988

BONUS! Check out these tracks from KiNK and Deetron!

KiNK - Bittersweet

Deetron - Isotope

Mystic Bummer

2010-08-23T18:28:00.005-05:00

Can't say I've ever heard of Mystic Bummer before now, but this Pictureplane remix is a fine introduction. Mystic Bummer took Pictureplane's "Cyclical Cyclical (Atlantis)" and made it into what is pretty stellar rap track without a rap. As Travis Egedy says on his blog, Three Six Mafia should probably be rapping over this one. But even without a rap, Mystic Bummer's remix is a great rework of a song that already rules, so I've got no complaints. That's not to say I wouldn't like to hear it end up on a mixtape with an acapella over top. Just sayin.

Anyways, check out Mystic Bummer's remix and the original Pictureplane jam below!

Pictureplane - Cyclical Cyclical (Atlantis) (Mystic Bummer Yacht Club Mix)

Pictureplane - Cyclical Cyclical (Atlantis)

and buy Pictureplane's Dark Rift here...It's a great record!