5 posts tagged “le tigre”
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[1979] Cut
[1981] Return of the Giant Slits
[1997] In the Beginning
[1998] The Peel Sessions
[2005] Live at the Gibus Club
[2009] Trapped Animal
The Slits shocked me when it was announced for their 30th
anniversary forming the band, that they had reformed. I believe only
two of the original band members (Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt) makes up
the new formation, but this is pretty common as far as reformed bands
are concerned (see Guns n Roses, for example).
If words like raw, primal, tribal, experimental, doesn't appeal
to you, then you probably won't like their music. While I do not
generally like the pots & pans music that's so popular today, I do
think The Slits are slightly better than most of the modern stuff.
They've been doing it for ages, and, unlike modern music, they actually
sing and sometime even have catchy melodies.
The other thing The Slits have going for them is that they're
always tackling political and human right issues. "Issues" deals with
child abuse, while "Ask Ma" deals about women rights. These kind of
"freedom"/equality topics are generally associated with reggae music,
and there are a few songs, "Babylon", & "Reggae Gypsy", on the new
album that sounds a bit like reggae. Although, to be fair, The Slits
have always been known to fuse a bit of reggae rhythms and angry female
vocals.
My favorite song is "Cry Baby", which sounds more like a 60s
girl group pop song than the usual Slits style. And speaking of not in
their style, "Be It", sounds like they're singing in Japanese? It's
brilliant, even though I have absolutely no idea what they're singing
about. They are so different that if these songs randomly comes on the
radio, you'd never guess it was the Slits, and I think that's saying
something about their diversity and flexibility in the type of music
they produce.
So find out why Le Tigre name checked The Slits, among others, in their song "Hot Topic". It's because The Slits are, and is, one of the most influencial and important band. Their latest album is Trapped Animal and available at all online stores. Old fans will welcome the new songs, while new fans will be in for a treat with Trapped Animal.
11/03/2009 00:48:26 ♥ vu (
) ♥ theslits.co.uk ♥ myspace.com/theslits
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WOW, another epic podcast, with co-hosts Derek & Soup. Although this episode is more topics-centric (RIAA, MP3s, and state of music), I think the next podcast will be half-topic and half casual.
Download this episode (41 min)
Some topics we touched on:
RIAA vs Muxtape, CDs are too expensive, music blogs, internet radio royalties going up twice as much as traditional radio, taping off the radio, whatever happened to recording hunting?, Taping Kills Music, concerts, what we're listening to...
Music used:
♥ David Yazbek - Introduction (davidyazbek.com)
♥ Weird Al - Don't Download This Song (weirdal.com)
♥ Hellsongs - Breaking the Law (hellsongs.com)
♥ Le Tigre - Get off the Internet (letigreworld.com)
♥ S*M*A*S*H - Take Your Breath Away ( myspace.com/llyc)
♥ Spin - Not In Love (spinrocks.com)
♥ Ladyscraper - Gangbanger (hellsongs.com)
♥ Ironlung - Liar (myspace.com/lifeironlungdeath)
♥ Jeff Hanson - I Don't Quite Remember (jeffhanson.net)
♥ P. Hux - Wear My Ring (parthenonhuxley.com)
♥ Elastica - Operate (live)
♥ AIDS Wolf - Down, Holy Ground (myspace.com/aidswolf)
If you want to join us on the podcast, send me an email - I will need your telephone number or Skype username.
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Le Tigre, "The Tiger", is undoubtably the best project that Kathleen Hanna's been involved in since Bikini Kill. Originally, this band was conceived to be a "live" version of her solo effort, Julie Ruin, but as it developed between Johanna Fatman and Sadie Bennings, they quickly realized this was a birth of a new sound and a new band.
Although Bikini Kill was more DIY/Riot Grrrl, Le Tigre's sound, although still involved in feminism, seems to emphasize on dance, visual performance art, and electro. Take a listen to their first single, Hot Topic to hear what a wonderful tribute to strong women throughout the years, backed by a great drum beat and chorus.
My favorite moment was when I was listening to this song, quite loudly in my car, at a stop light. I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings, but apparently these black youths in the car next to me were rocking out to this song. They absolutely loved it.
I listened to their debut album constantly around this time, and I can tell you these are the songs that never got skipped:
"Deceptacon": absolutely love this song. This is also a great track to play at a dance club, I remember hearing this at Popscene in San Francisco and the audience loved it.
"Hot Topic": See comment above. I love hearing and picking up on all the artists mentioned, including Sleater-Kinny, Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, Leslie Feinberg, etc.
"The The Empty": Contains the best lyrics: "I went to your concert and I didn't feel a thing/Oh Baby, why won't you talk to me?/Oh baby, you just want me empty!"
"My My Metrocard": When I was in New York, I suddenly realized how much this song is so closely tied to the metro: "Next Stop: Atlantic Avenue/Next Stop: Christopher Street/Next Stop: Transfer to the/Next Stop: A, C, or E"
"Les and Ray": The lyrics to this song suggests that these were Kathleen's neighbors when she was very young. She used to put her head next to the wall to hear these two guys composing music and it really inspired her... at least that's what the song is about.
While waiting for their sophomore album, I found this little EP, From the Desk of Mr Lady, at Circuit City. I think, also by this time JD Samson came on as a full member of Le Tigre, while Sadie retired quietly in the background.
I thought there were a couple of good songs on the EP: "Get Off the Internet" (relates to me...) and "Gone B4 Yr Home" (a nice pop song)
I did wanted to talk about their song "Bang! Bang!", it's about Amadou Diallo, who was shot 41 times by four officers. When I saw Le Tigre live, when they performed this song, they asked us to note how long counting to 41 was (it was the longest part of the song it seems).
By the time Feminist Sweepstakes came out in the winter of '01, I was still in love with Le Tigre. I thought this album was a little militant and I kind of felt slightly discriminated because I wasn't "a lady or a fag", as they put it on "LT Tour Theme".
Some may argue that it's not anti-men, but I really felt like this album didn't want any men to listen to it. The women-only theme continues on "F.Y.R." (which stands for "Fifty years of ridicule"), "Dyke March 2001", "TGIF", just to name a few.
One of the few favorite off this album, for me, was "On Guard", which contains a catchy line: "En Garde, let me see you shake it baby, shake it some more"
After picking up the rather disappointing Remix EP, containing remixes by various DJs, I was pretty much convinced that I should stop buying remix EPs (which is why I've avoided getting This Island Remixes). Like Randy, I'm not a fan of remixes (although occasionally, I will admit, some remixes are much better than the original).
I would only recommend people to pick up the Remix EP if you're a hardcore Le Tigre/Kathleen Hanna fan, otherwise, I couldn't endorse this.
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In 2004, This Island made its debut on a (gasp!) major record label, Universal Records. No idea why a major label would want to pick up a band with such a niche audience (no offense, but Le Tigre are more political and feminist-charged rather than "mass appeal").
There's a couple of good tracks off the new album, which is tame compared to Feminist Sweepstakes.
I liked "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo", which was a fun song, The Pointer Sister cover song, "I'm So Excited", and "TKO". They tried to market the later as single, it contains the ironic line "TKO/heard it on the radio", which as you know never quite made it to popular radio.
There was another effort to release After Dark as a single, but I have never found this single (and never bothered to do ebay, etc).
So, where are Le Tigre now? They're currently taking an extended break since 2007. The band (minus Kathleen Hanna) formed Men, but I haven't heard anything from this band yet. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for new material from Men, Le Tigre, or Kathleen Hanna, so keep on livin'.
It looks like it's mediaChick's birthday today. If I was your DJ, I would put this song: Chicks on Speed's "We Don't Play Guitar".
This is another fun and catchy song. The main chorus is "We don't play guitar, we're on stage with a microphone but we don't play guitar! Can you play guitar? I said, we don't play guitar!"
After about one minute, you'll come to the conclusion that Chicks on Speed doesn't play guitar.
You might be surprise to find out that their origin lies in meeting in Munich, Germany, at the Academy of Fine Arts. It seems that they are all art and fashion students. They got their name from passerbys who was looking at their artwork, commenting that the art looks like they were done by "chicks on speed".
And you know what? Their DIY official website looks like they were designed by chicks on speed as well. It's possibly even uglier than myspace! If you don't believe me, go there and look at the bright pink, yellow, blue and try reading their news: IN ALL CAPS! Unbelievable, I think I'm blind now.
Anyway, this is a pretty awesome fun song. You can find out more details about this single on their website as well as download Sell Out from Labels (German).
July 07, 2007 1:00 PM
vu vu@weheartmusic.com
www.chicksonspeed.com
I got inspired by BAng BAng PArty !, so I'm adding a few in. I do have a lot more "Bang" songs, including that awesome "Bang a Gong" song by T.Rex, but that's already mentioned in that post.
So a short introduction to each Bang songs:
● Bangs (not "the Bangs") are from Olympia, Washington, so I often associate them with Sleater-Kinney. I love this song, "Scorpi-Oh".
● S*M*A*S*H are another personal favorite. They've only have one album before breaking up due to drugs and depression. They reformed a few years ago, and I have an official/fan website on them (s-m-a-s-h.net).
● Bertrand Betsch has a French version of "Bang Bang", it's pretty good.
● I also like Isobel Campbell's version of "Bang Bang" as well ... if you listen on headphones, it uses "stereo" so you'll hear some sounds in the left and right speakers.
● Art Brut has an album and title track called "Bang Bang Rock & Roll".
● I have all of Le Tigre's albums and EPs on CD as I am a pretty big riot grrrl fan. I actually haven't really liked the latest Le Tigre's stuff, but am more of a fan of old Bikini Kill. However, the first Le Tigre album is amazing. Maybe in my next post, I will talk about another favorite, Bratmobile :)
● Lastly, here's the Archies doing "Bang Shang a Lang", which I believe was a big hit for this cartoon band :) The real "band" are session musicians, assembled by Don Kirshner. Most of the hits were written and sung by Jeff Barry.
● SMAP is not my audio. It's in Japanese.
Super-easy, but bonus points for anyone who can guess where the title of this post came from.
vu 
wikipedia.org/Bangs | s-m-a-s-h.net | bertrandbetsch.com | isobelcampbell.com | artbrut.org.uk | letigreworld.com
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