#⌠ ALBUM – Kathy. ⌡

[morffyne]

@realginaschock On this Day: March 6, 1982 our @officialgogos debut album Beauty and the Beat hit number 1 and stayed there 6 weeks 

[yourfavealbumisgender]

Beauty and the Beat by the Go-Go's is Genderfuck!

requested by anon

[hwajin]

pulled no hyunjin cuz i never do BUT I GOT FELIX AND CHAN AND SEUNGMIN AND A BIG FAT CHANGBIN POSTER WHICH IS SO SEXYYYYYYYY

[burlveneer]

Painting by Kathy Knuffke, cover art for Keep The Dream Up by Kirk Knuffke / Joe McPhee Quartet + 1

[myvinylplaylist]

Go-Go's: Vacation (1982)

I.R.S. Records

[barrysbaby]

just a lil tag dump. can you believe i'm finally doing this?

[lightening816]

Hey, fellow Adventures in Odyssey fans! Looks like we’ll know what will ultimately happen to Eugene in Album 75, in Summer 2023. Marshall Younger has requested prayers, as he’s currently writing the script that specifically addresses Eugene, and recording begins this January, as I’m typing this. Please be praying for the cast and crew!

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: Various Artists - Live on Mountain Stage: Outlaws & Outliers

Given 21 songs and just over 90 minutes to encapsulate four decades of the “Mountain Stage” radio program, the curators at Oh Boy Records couldn’t have done much better than Live on Mountain Stage: Outlaws & Outliers.

That isn’t to say everything on the various-artists comp is going to resonate with every listener. In fact, with such stylistically diverse material as Wilco’s take on David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” Eric Church’s trad-country “Sinners Like Me,” Indigo Girls’ pop-folk “Closer to Fine” and Alison Krauss’ balladic bluegrass number “Let Me Touch You for a While,” universal satisfaction seems unlikely.

But the LP succeeds in its mission. And the fact show host Kathy Mattea’s “Red-Winged Blackbird” and Oh Boy founder John Prine’s “Souvenirs” are tucked into the middle of the track list, rather than given the VIP spotlight, only adds to the charm of a collection of selections that also includes tracks from Molly Tuttle, Tyler Childers, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Steve Earle, Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, Sierra Ferrell, Tim O’Brien, Margo Price Rhiannon Giddens, Jason Isbell and others.

With the foregoing in both full-band and intimate solo/duo settings, diversity is both the strength and the weakness of Outlaws & Outliers. For while the album doesn’t really hang together, it does bring together Mountain Stage’s vast array of musical offerings.

Grade card: Various Artists - Live on Mountain Stage: Outlaws & Outliers - B-

6/20/24

[specialagentartemis]

tell me more about classic filk i know a few songs but never got deep into it

Heck YEAH

"Filk" is music (often but not always folk music-style, often but not always song parodies to the tune of famous pre-existing songs) about sci-fi, fantasy, and other fannish topics. Filk circles are popular events at science fiction conventions, and that's really where the genre started. The word "filk" actually arose from a typo in a convention program once, and people just rolled with it ever since!

Some of the most iconic albums in the filk world are the anthology albums "Minus Ten And Counting" (songs about space exploration and the real-life space program), "Carmen Miranda's Ghost" (songs about sci-fi space shenanigans and space ghosts), and "Finity's End: Songs of the Station Trade" (songs set in the world of CJ Cherryh's Alliance-Union novels, and my personal favorite. I've never read any of CJ Cherryh's books, but these songs paint such a vivid world.) "Space Heroes and Other Fools" is another big one, it's more hit-or-miss for me but it's iconic. Other really good and foundational ones are "Divine Intervention" by Julia Ecklar, "Avalon is Risen" by Leslie Fish, and "We Are Who We Are" by Vixy & Tony.

I lean more towards sci-fi and space than fantasy, but fantasy and paganism are huuuugely popular filk topics too.

Some of the most popular names to look into include Leslie Fish (intensely prolific, barely a fraction of her work is on any streaming or music service), Julia Ecklar (famous for her "ose," the filk-world word for sad songs - because they're "ose, more-ose, and even more-ose), Juanita Coulson, Kristoph Klover, Vic Tyler (who just recently died :( rest in peace), Duane Elms, Kathy Mar, Bob Kanefsky, Alexander James (trans, with lots of filk under his previous name as well), Vixy & Tony, and Seanan McGuire. (I like Seanan McGuire's filk music better than her books, hah.) Some other great ones include Cat Faber (most acapella), Astrisoni, The PDX Broadsides, Kari Maaren, and Sassafrass (also mostly acapella. Includes Ada Palmer). Heather Dale, Tom Lehrer, and Jonathan Coulton are kind of honorary filkers too haha.

The best place to get the ones from 80s and 90s cassettes are on the Internet Archive or Youtube; a few filkers who are more currently active have their stuff on Bandcamp.

And I'll leave you with a few of my Favorite Ever filk songs:

"Sam Jones" by CJ Cherryh and Leslie Fish

"Pushin' the Speed of Light" by Julia Ecklar and Anne Prather

"Chickasaw Mountain" by Leslie Fish

"Fire in the Sky" by Jordan Kare

"The Phoenix" by Julia Ecklar

"Freedom of the Snow" by Leslie Fish

"Burn it Down" by Vixy & Tony

"Hope Eyrie" by Leslie Fish, or this Minus Ten And Counting version

"Rocket Rider's Prayer" by Kristoph Klover, Ernie Mansfield, and Cecilia Eng

"Dawson's Christian" by Duane Elms, performed by Vic Tyler or Vixy & Tony

"Somebody Will" by Sassafrass

"Chances & Choices & Fortunes & Fates" by Astrisoni

... my tastes lean sentimental and ose but I swear there's a lot of very funny filk out there too

"Never Set the Cat on Fire" by Frank Hayes (a famous one)

"Banned From Argo" by Leslie Fish (an INFAMOUS one)

"Don't Push That Button" by Duane Elms and Larry Warner

"No More SF Cons" by Juanita Coulson

"One More Ose Song" by B. J. Willinger

everything Bob Kanefsky writes

[timetravellingkitty]

SAPPHIC ARTISTS TO LISTEN TO

(instead of writing your 69th essay about how Taylor Swift is a closet lesbian)

Starting off with my holy trinity:

Rina Sawayama (she/her, bi/pan): if you follow me you're probably aware of what a huge Rina fan I am. Lots of pop and rock, with a chunk of her earlier songs being R&B. Her debut album SAWAYAMA (my favourite album of all time!!) was her major breakthrough moment as it received critical acclaim and her sophomore album Hold the Girl made her the highest charting Japanese artist in the history of the UK. Known for her musical versatility, she made her acting debut in John Wick 4. I recommend: Cherry, Frankenstein and Bad Friend

Janelle Monáe (she/they, bi/pan): pop, funk, neo-soul and psychedelic. They have an entire series of concept albums about an android named Cindy Mayweather (her ALTER EGO?!) as she commits the crime of falling in love with a human. Lots of social commentary. Her album Dirty Computer comes along with a narrative film and a book taking place in its world. She's starred in movies like Antebellum, Glass Onion and Moonlight. I recommend: Electric Lady, Django Jane and Pynk

Raveena Aurora (she/her, bi): Experimental pop, R&B and soul. Her second album Asha's Awakening is a concept album following the journey of Asha, a Punjabi space princess, as it explores Aurora's South Asian identity and past relationships. Such a beautiful and soft voice to die for. I recommend: Headaches, If Only and Kathy Left 4 Kathmandu

Moving onto some other artists I like:

Boygenius: a band comprising of three sapphic women- Phoebe Bridgers (indie darling™), Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker (the first two are bi while the third is a lesbian). Indie, folk and alternative rock. Very melancholic. I urge you to check out their individual projects too (especially Phoebe's, I love her Punisher album). I recommend: Emily I'm Sorry, Satanist and True Blue

Kelela (she/her, queer): R&G, electronic and alternative R&B. Her debut EP Hallucinogen covers the beginning, middle and end of a relationship in reverse chronological order. Her second album Raven showcases Black futuristic art, which I fuck with. I recommend: Contact, The High and Bluff

Zolita (she/her, lesbian): dark-pop, R&B and electropop. She incorporates witchcraft into her music and mvs. She literally has an EP called Sappho what more could you want? I recommend: Holy, Ashley (the sapphic Speak Now) and Bedspell

Victoria Monét (she/her, bi): pop and R&B. She's written songs for artists like Ariana Grande (7 Rings) and Chloe x Halle (Do It). Go stream her Jaguar EP you will thank me later. I recommend: Touch Me (erotic sapphic song), Cupid and Love U Better

And finally some honourable mentions (can't make this post too long now can I): mxmtoon, Michelle Zauner, Arooj Aftab, Sir Babygirl, Dodie, Chloe Moriondo, Lauren Jauregui, Baby Queen, Sara and Teagan, The Butchies, Sofya Wang and Melissa Etheridge

[beetledrink]

i’ve also been taking music slightly more seriously, if you can believe that (but still releasing everything for free)

lil album here

[librarycards]

im reading failure to comply right now (about 50 pages in, really enjoying it) and wanted to ask what inspired you to take this approach of playing with language and grammar to the extent you do? it reminds me a lot of kathy acker but i don't know if there's any other examples of literature you could be building on here

tysm for reading! i kinda researched "backwards" for failure to comply; the language play was really intuitive at the beginning and i did not have too many models to draw from. I was quite literally making shit up and using spacing, wordplay, and grammar-fucking in order to convey Madmindedness as best i could; this is what came out. my biggest "literary" influences in the beginning were poststructuraist theorists like Deleuze and Foucault, because i was an undergraduate gaining my first introduction to the stuff.

later in my work, mentors began introducing me to writing (including Acker's!) within a broader sf experimental/surrealist tradition. I actually have a list of books that "fed" F2C, most of which i read throughout editing and revision stages:

I was also listening to a lot of music that used glitchiness and ambiguity, and spent a lot of time thinking about how sound & text translated / transmitted. A lot of the wordplay and other choices (including the [non]-word, RSCH) interrogate the "pronounceable," not only as shorthand for what is sane/legible/"real" but also in terms of, like, royal "pronouncement." interpellation, being hailed, and who was permitted to identify/be identified under conditions of constant surveillance.

I drew a lot in this vein not only from the interpellation guys™ (Althusser and Fanon) but also from Janelle Monae's early music (Archandroid era stuff) as well as the album 'i can feel you creep into my private life' by tune-yards. here is the public spotify playlist i listened to a lot while writing / is F2C inspired.

hope this was interesting/helpful!

[myvinylplaylist]

Go-Go’s: Greatest (1990)

2020 Target Limited Edition "Sea Glass" colored vinyl.

A&M Records

[king-of-the-birds]

PAUL'S BALL

a launch party for wings

He produced a handwritten invitation, leaving space to write in the invitee's name, as well as a number, which would be used for a raffle drawing toward the end of the evening. (The prize was a magnum of champagne; the disc jockey Jeff Dexter was the winner.) (..) The recommended dress was "glam."(..)

Some 800 musicians, reporters, friends of the band and music business honchos were invited.(..)

As always at such events, there was ample carping, which a reporter for Rolling Stone duly cataloged. After describing the Empire Ballroom as decidedly unhip, a leftover from the days when the Joe Loss Orchestra would play foxtrots, and young ladies shopped for husbands among the dancers, the writer noted that while the wine and cheese were free, everything at the bar was for sale.

(…)

Eyebrows were raised when, instead of a Wings performance, partygoers were treated to fox-trots, waltzes, quicksteps, and congas, played by McVay's band-along with what McVay remembered as arrangements of sixties and seventies hits, including a Beatles medley and some Beach Boys tunes. They were raised higher still when the heavily sequined and coiffed Frank and Peggy Spence Latin and Ballroom Formation Dancing Teams filed onto the floor to demonstrate their artistry.

"I'm beginning to think that Paul actually digs all this" one guest quipped to the Rolling Stone reporter, "that he actually likes dance bands, ballrooms, and buffet food. That's incredibly camp, you know, incredibly camp. Have you seen his suit? It's like a clown's costume, the jacket is about five sizes too big, and it's not even been finished."

(from the McCartney Legacy Vol. 1)

Paul: A press launch is always a good excuse to have a night out, so we invited friends and journalists, played the album, danced and had a few funny people come on to entertain. I wore an outrageous big check suit that I thought would be good. When I went to collect it from the tailor that morning he told me that it wasn’t finished. I said, ‘Maybe not, but it’s a look!’ So I went to the party with the cotton and the stitching showing, and everyone said, ‘Your suit’s not finished.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I know. Great, huh?’

(from Wingspan, 2002)

Some of the guests that attended were Jimmy Page, Elton John, Sandy Denny, Mary Hopkin, members of the Who, the Faces, Deep Purple, Ginger Baker, Henry McCullough, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Graham Bond, Sandie Shaw, the Greek synthesizer wizard Vangelis, the actors Malcolm McDowell, and Terence Stamp, some of the Monty Python troupe, Sir Joseph Lockwood, the head of EMI, Allan Clarke, of the Hollies, and (Benny) Gallagher and (Graham) Lyle.

After the party a fan encountered Paul:

He went skipping (yes it is true) down the road with Linda and just as he turned the corner to a side street, I took courage and called him back. He stopped and said “yeah” so I ran to catch him up and breathlessly asked him for his autograph. The funny part is my pen was at the bottom of this large bag of mine! He stood patiently watching me with arms folded as I rummaged elbow deep. I asked him if he had a pen as I just couldn’t find mine; he said no (which isn’t surprising as he had this crazy suit on that had no pockets).

(Kathy Turner – From Meet the Beatles for Real: Wings Party)

[muzaktomyears]

Paul McCartney, the one member of the Beatles Mimi felt closest to, started to telephone her on occasion to assure her that John was all right, while at the same time commiserating with her on the worry John was causing them both. Paul was sure it was merely a fleeting affair and Lennon would be back to his old self before long. Mimi wasn’t quite so sure. In the meantime, she considered Yoko “a thoroughly bad influence on him”.

[...] Yoko Ono wasn’t the only woman connected to the Beatles that Mimi felt suspect of. She had adored Jane Asher and recalled the first time Paul had introduced her. It had been at a Beatles concert. Mimi could tell he was proud of her and completely besotted. She watched as she and Jane both stood backstage watching the Beatles in concert and noted how often Paul looked over at Jane with a look of love.

Mimi felt that Paul and Jane were destined to be together forever so was quite shocked when Jane appeared on television and announced that their engagement was off. Yet she didn’t connect the two, when she dropped in at the Apple Offices in London with her niece, Liela, and went into the recording studio. They watched the rehearsal for the new album, but she found the noise deafening and there was an annoying blond woman who moved about thrusting a camera in her face every time she turned around.

It wasn’t until shortly thereafter that the news of Paul’s marriage broke that she realized that the blond photographer was now Mrs. Paul McCartney. She thought it strange that Paul hadn’t made any move to introduce them when she’d been in the studio the week before. And how ironic it was that Paul had spewed his distaste for Yoko, hoping John would never marry her because at the very least she was a divorcee with a child. John, for his part, simply said Paul had finally met his match.

The Guitar’s All Right as a Hobby, John, Kathy Burns (2014)