Women writing about everything from fashion to feminism, pop culture to politics…
Posted in Humour, Music, Parenting, Personal on Sep 26th, 2011
Last week was the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’, which I mostly celebrated by not feeling a need to wear all my dad’s clothes at once or thrash around my bedroom in a hormonal rage. I did listen to it, though, just to see what it sounds like now. The lyrics seem a little confusing, [...]
Posted in Guest Posters, Music, Personal on Aug 10th, 2011
I played a show in Dublin once where the front row was jumping up and down so much and so fast that they all got dizzy at the same time, started knocking each other over. Usually, I stare into space when I play, but this sea-like movement was so visually intriguing that I turned my [...]
Posted in Anti-Heroines, Music, Women on Jul 24th, 2011
I’ve never been one for raw pain. It’s the quality that was, some claim, the essence of Amy Winehouse, her life, her songs. This is musical hindsight. What I heard at the time had more notes than that. The winter of 2003 was fading into 2004 and I would stay in bed late on weekends to listen to [...]
Posted in Feminism, Music, Personal, Women on Jun 15th, 2011
I’ve got a confession to make. I can’t play an instrument. Sure, I can sing, can (badly) strum a few chords on the guitar and mess about on a synth but that’s the extent of my ‘formal’ musical ability. Growing up, I longed to join a band, and yet I didn’t. While there didn’t seem [...]
Posted in Books, Film, Music, Television on May 18th, 2011
Sorry I’ve been crap at blogging lately. I’ll try to be better. Here’s a short one to keep things ticking over… recommendations always appreciated. CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Yuck – ‘Yuck’ Very taken by Yuck’s album… like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, it’s totally derivative but the songs are GREAT. Bits of the Pixies, [...]
Posted in Anti-heroes, Music on May 4th, 2011
1. Because MCA has survived the cancer that put the band on hiatus and the Beasties are back, with their long-awaited new album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (the album’s original release was put on hold after his diagnosis). And after the disappointment of To The Five Boroughs, it’s brilliant to have them not just [...]
In today’s Guardian, several music critics write, sometimes very movingly, about the songs that can bring them to tears. It’s a subject most of us can relate to, including me. Many songs have made me cry over the years; I’ve cried to Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, the Velvet Underground, REM, Palace, Bonnie Prince Billy, Mazzy [...]
Posted in Anti Room Q&A, Music on Mar 28th, 2011
Polystyrene was just a teenager when she became the singer in punk band X-Ray Spex. In 1977, they released their classic single ‘Oh Bondage Up Yours!’ and played on the same bill as bands like The Buzzcocks and Wire. After struggles with her mental health, Poly opted out of music. She has spent the last [...]
Posted in Anti-Heroines, Music, Women on Feb 16th, 2011
Lady Gaga is a Madonna fan. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has a) heard her new, predictably controversial single, a catchy homage to Madge by way of a Vogue/ExpressYourself mash up or b) looked at her, at any point since her explosion onto the music scene. To be fair, Gaga [...]
Cast your mind back, if you will, to 2009. Right from the outset, the last year of the noughties was being dubbed ‘The Year of the Female’; a clutch of young musicians in possession of the X chromosome were being corralled into a makeshift scene, solely because of their gender. Of course, I can’t play [...]
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