Julie Ruin//Breakout A Town

I really didn't know what to say to Kathleen Hanna when I found myself at a party with her last month. Let's face it, I just feel kind of weird about talking to random people I don't know, especially when they're famous in some way. It all seems kind of silly but in a way, it would have been so much easier to be at a party with Madonna or Harrison Ford than fucking KATHLEEN HANNA! What do you say to someone who arguably defined and championed a new union of feminism and art, one that feels so personally important? What do you say to the person who basically started one of your favorite music movements? I reviewed my options:

1. "Wow. You're Kathleen Hanna."
2. "Wow. You're really awesome."
3. "This one time you pulled my friend up on stage at a Le Tigre concert."
4. "It was cool how you wrote about my friend on your blog."
Related: you should really go see Erin Markey's show, which was just extended at PS 122.
5. Nothing.

And that's exactly what I did say. I avoided her as best I could. A dear friend sent me a text telling me that she didn't really have a desire to speak with the famous either, which justified my decision.

Regardless of shyness about telling her so in person, Kathleen Hanna is still totally rad. This is a song from her lesser-known solo album, Julie Ruin AKA the project that started Le Tigre (Hanna added members to fill out the sound live and voila). This album is cool because it keeps one foot in the raw punk sound of Bikini Kill while the other takes a big step toward the distorted blippy electro disco punk of Le Tigre.

Also, it just so happens that Hanna is having a tee shirt contest for Julie Ruin over at her blog. You should enter because the deadline has been extended!



Breakout A Town.mp3

You're so tired and I'm so lovely.
You're so great and I'm so bored.

The Gossip//Fire Sign, Bikini Kill//Rebel Girl, Sleater Kinney//Get Up

Hi darling! You look fabulous. It's OSS’s Queer Week!!!!

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for breaking format a lot this week. I’ll be taking three days off over the next two weeks, and I want to make sure the tune-to-biz day ratio stays on the up-and-up, so I’m throwing in some extra sweet songs this week. That said, without further delay, I present to you a feature:

My Super Queer Rock and Roll Crushes Countdown, Part 1: The Ladies

3. Beth Ditto of The Gossip

Beth Ditto is pretty damn sexy. She has one of the most entrancing stage presences of any performer I’ve ever seen. Bonus points for her On Our Backs spread with her tranny boyfriend. Hell yeah! Unrelated and weird sidenote: Ditto and Kate Moss have somehow become BFFs .



Fire Sign.mp3
by The Gossip


2. Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, Julie Ruin and Le Tigre

OMG, Kathleen Hanna. This ultrasexy godmother of riotgirl is one pretty hot topic (get it!?!?!). Jokes. Yeah, Kathleen Hanna is gorgeous in every sense of the word and each of her musical projects kicks ass in a new way.



Rebel Girl.mp3
by Bikini Kill


1. Carrie Brownstein of Sleater Kinney and The Spells

Yeah, I know. I'm predictable. My biggest rock and roll crush http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifever is Carrie Brownstein. And she has been ever since I first bought The Hot Rock and fell head over heals for both her and SK (my previous favorite band, knocked out of position only recently by FFs). Carrie is an amazing guitarist and singer, a great performer and friends with Miranda July. Also, she's totally the finest human being ever. Did I mention she blogs for NPR? REPEAT: BLOGS FOR NPR. What else could a girl want?



Get Up.mp3
by Sleater Kinney

One Gay Fact: The word "dyke," originally a derogatory label for a masculine or butch woman, has been reappropriated as a positive term implying assertiveness and toughness, or simply as a neutral synonym for lesbian.


Rebel girl, rebel girl,
Rebel girl you are the queen of my world!

Le Tigre//Deceptacon

There are a couple things I absolutely cannot do unless I’ve had a few two many beers. One is karaoke. Another is dancing at dance parties.

What makes this song so special is that no matter how much alcohol I’ve consumed, I can ALWAYS dance to it, and I seemingly never tire of it in the dj queue. My theory is that when Kathleen Hanna is at the helm of a danceable track, all bets are off.

Something else about this song is that it reminds me of freshman year. Kot used to set different songs as our alarm clock on her computer. Sometimes, it was really pleasant (waking up to “Havalina” by The Pixies is some kind of perfect). Other times, it was really jarring and horrifying (waking up to “Deceptacon” is jarring and horrifying, like waking up to a Post Wave Feminist Electro Punk Fire Drill).

Also, I should note that this song, like all of Le Tigre’s best songs, comes from the pre-JD era (no offense, JD, but you are no fucking Sadie Benning).



Deceptacon.mp3

Your lyrics are dumb like a linoleum floor.