Femme Avant-core
Happy Monday, kids. I’ve declared my love for eye-themed visuals before, but this week, I’m on a lips-kick.
[Prada]
[Prada]
[Rivet]
[Andy Warhol]
[Rocky Horror Picture Show]
[Man Ray]
[DVF]
I think I’ve officially exhausted all facial features that could be relevant to art and fashion prints now…
Today, my friends, Kim Gordon turns 60 (yes, you read that correctly, 60) years old. Clearly a tribute to this incredible woman is in order. So, here you have it, my top 10 favorite Kim Gordon moments, projects, accomplishments, traits, whatever. In no particular order. (Determining the list was hard enough- you want me to order them? Not possible.) Add anything I missed in the comments please!
1. This photo:
3. Kim Gordon x Surface to Air
4. That Time I Met Kim Gordon
Michael and I braved some lame shopping event at a store in Oakland to meet Kim Gordon. Everyone was dressed very hip and “fashion-forward” except for us. There was free wine and we got sloshed. Kim was extremely nice, talked to us about art and music and not clothes. I gave her a homemade compilation of female-fronted French punk music.
5. Kim Gordon Interviews Chloe Sevigny, and That Friendship as a Whole
6. Harry Crews
Obviously I’m going to love any collab between Lydia and Kim.
7. Kool Thing Music Video
So ’90s.
8. The Noise Paintings
9. This Elle Interview, followed by This List of Hip-Hop Music to Listen to When You’re Traumatized
10. The First Time I Saw Sonic Youth Live.
Happy Birthday, lady.
If you’re gonna have an amazing punk jacket, you’re obvs gonna need amazing punk patches. While buying them at Hot Topic may be a viable option for 12-year-olds and sell-outs, you’re better than that, I know you are.
May I suggest, as an alternative, hitting up Rah! Rah! Replica?
Hand-made by “a teenager in Suburban Massachusetts,” RRR offers patches of the badass variety, featuring topics like feminism, Ghost World, punk rock, and OH YEAH, custom beauts special made for Ribbon Around a Bomb.
Check it:
And if you really want one of dem Ribbon Around a Bomb patches, I will totally mail you one. Just send me an email at ribbonaroundablog{at}gmail{dot}com with a subject line of one yr favorite punk songs, and your address in the email. Sorry folks, no international shipping.
Let’s talk about the unbelievable boundlessness of true love, guys. I’m totes serious.
[Genesis P-Orridge- circa 1980?]
[Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, post-op- circa... late '90s?]
Last night, I heard a poem about how frustrating the limitations of our bodies are when you love someone SO profoundly that commitment, sex, marriage, whatever- all of that “normal” stuff is simply not enough. In the poem, two people in love were stripped of their skin, muscles and organs, so that they were only skeletons. In this minimal state, the lovers’ bones “clicked, rattled, and scraped” at one another until they dissolved into a single pile of bone-dust, and that bone-dust was reprocessed into a piece of chalk, and they imagined that someone would write the word “love” on the street out of their skeletons-turned-chalk. At least I think that’s how it went.
The point is, our material selves are not amorphous, and thus our connections with other people can only go so far. Or so I thought. For nearly 15 years now, performance artist and industrial music pioneer Genesis (Breyer) P-Orridge has challenged the idea that there are inflexible physical limitations to human expressions of love. I’ll come back to that in a minute though.
I’ve admired the work of P-Orridge for many years now, what could be a more perfect day than h/er birthday (Happy 63rd!) to celebrate h/er life and share some of my favorite work?
[P-Orridge and Brion Gysin.]
I first got into P-Orridge in high school listening to Throbbing Gristle. YES:
[Throbbing Gristle- P-Orridge center left.]
[Throbbing Gristle (1981)- P-Orridge far right.]
Then I found out about ’70s experimental performance art troupe COUM (also ft. the FAB Cosey Fanni Tutti):
It was actually pretty recently that I discovered h/er most daring and important project to date:
Genesis P-Orridge’s quest to become ONE pandrogynous being with h/er wife Lady Jaye Breyer, culminating in the personhood of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. The experimental endeavor involves plastic surgery, hormonal therapy, cross-dressing and other physical alterations, in order to merge the two lovers’ bodies and spirits. S/he calls this identity-flux, “re-union and re-solution of male and female to a perfecting hermaphroditic state.” Take a look at their accomplishment:
Pretty amazing, amiright? Lady Jaye passed away in 2007, but P-Orridge continues the project even after her departure from a perspective of, “S/he is still her(e).”
I think this a beautiful example of (for lack of a better term) a “straight” couple breaking away from heteronormativity and engaging in some good ol’ gender ambiguity. To be real, I also find it totally creepy. Not so much because of the operations, but because of the inherent loss of one’s individual identity in the process. It’s like a total rejection of selfness that I think would leave me depressed and confused. What about your separate histories and different dreams? Only admiration for P-Orridge though. If you’re interested in this, check out the movie, The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye and of course this exhibition at the Warhol.
POWER to P-Orridge, and again, happy birthday!
I’ve been feeling the buttons lately. My friend Krissie bought me some Twin Peaks pins recently, and I just went to an event at this legit Chicana/punk art gallery (Everlasting Love) put on by a friend at Radio Valencia. I was stoked to purchase new pins there too- Plasmatics and Vice Squad, the two for a buck. Anyway, it got me wanting to round up cool pins for a post. Have at ‘em:
I never know quite how to wear them though. On my denim jacket? On a bag? I’m awkward.
When am I NOT in the mood for androgynous women? Answer: Never. Favs:
Phranc:
Grace Jones:
As Mercenarias:
Laurie Anderson:
Penelope Houston:
Tribe 8:
Dyke, het, trans, whatev, I’m into it. Also, if you haven’t visited the Peculiar Kind, you ought to.
Tonight I’ll be on Radio Valencia from 10pm until 2am! Tune in via radiovalencia.fm. The first 2-hour block is my regular show, Ribbon Around a Bomb. Tonight I’m spinning all Japanese female-fronted punk, post-punk, noise, garage and experimental music.
The second block I’m covering for Ian’s Disco Breakdown, so I’ll bring the dance-y disco-y songs, with some post-punk thrown in for good measure. Tune in! Catch the podcast next week. If you don’t know what to do while listening, may I suggest online bingo-y gaming action at FoxyBingo?
Way “back in my day,” I used to do a radio show for the best college station west of the Mississippi: KCSB. It was called the Aleph, and it was a pretty spectacular mash-up of punk-funk, post-punk, post-disco, no wave… you get the idea. Sadly, I was too busy getting straight A’s and hanging out at the Hard To Find to ever record more than one edition of the show. All I have is one very early recording, before my taste was a bit more, um, refined, or you know, obscure and awesome.
[Aleph poster designed for me by my ex-bf, who I haven't spoken to in ~6 years, and who at the time played in Springtime Is Wartime.]
[DJ poster, again designed for me by same ex, who immediately after our break-up abandoned his math-rock ways in favor of a starting a sax-y, dance-y post-punk-funk group called Easter Teeth. I like to think I influenced the creation of their entire first EP, but I'm pretty vain. This song, at least, is apparently about me.]
So, if you didn’t catch that Myspace (yes, Myspace!) link to the Aleph in the first paragraph, here you are again. I also found a “complete” list of my favorite music from back when I was a teenager (according to Myspace), which may or may not be listed for shits and giggles at the end of this post. But you can def expect some fabulous sounds from A Certain Ratio, Wire, Unwound, ESG, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, etc if you listen to the whole podcast, which is broken into 4 parts. One of my regrets is failing to record the interview I did with Cynthia Sley of Bush Tetras during a later edition the Aleph. In fact, not recording A SINGLE OTHER show in general was kind of stupid.
After I did the Aleph for almost 3 years, I spent my last year programming a ’60s soul, motown, and R+B show entitled Motortown Revue. I actually don’t have ANY recordings of that one at all, but it was fun, and it was during the day, so I didn’t have to worry about stalkers and whatnot.
It’s pretty hard for me to write about KCSB without getting more than a little sentimental. It’s where I met some of my best friends, where I started my first “meaningful” job, and where I learned what it means to be part of a community. Santa Barbara was always a little too “small town” and “fratty” for me, but when I found KCSB that first quarter of college, I knew immediately- this is where I belong. I think I spent more hours at that station than my dorm room, apartment and classes combined. If I wasn’t at KCSB, I was at Biko, the Hard to Find, the Merc, Muddy Waters, or that weird woodshed downtown where we put on shows for a couple years.
Last year, I attended the KCSB “50 years of people-powered radio” reunion, and it was really inspiring to see everyone keep on keepin’ on, as well as hear Elizabeth Robinson’s farewell speech since she retired last year. I know she was a mentor to thousands, but really, that woman may have influenced me more than any other person in my life. She invested me in things like social justice and feminism, and being around her was a lesson in how to live your life being ALL three of these things at the same time: kind-hearted, wise, and a total badass. I’ve never met someone so simultaneously skeptical and accepting. (Still working on the latter, myself.) Elizabeth still does her show, which I listen to from time to time, called No Alibis.
Let it be known: if not for KCSB, I would have never met my husband, moved to the reservation, become involved in arts education, and continued to carry the torch for community radio.
Here’s a bit of personal visual history for you:
[Me, 16, deciding where to go to college, all like, "fuck this shit" so I just chose the most frat-tastic, sororitiest school possible- UCSB.]
[Rebecca, all like, "Rush KCSB, Rush anarchy!"]
[Yay, I discovered KCSB! Here I am on KCSB's training station, called "KJUC."]
[Me on KCSB.]
[Clitorectomy and the Mutilators. In IV.]
[Me, DJing an event at Muddy Waters in Santa Barbara]
[Matt Jackson and I Thurston for Moore- at CMJ.]
[My favorite show I EVER saw in IV may have been when post-punk group The Homosexuals came to Pink Mailbox.]
[Looking bored at art shows- It's what I did.]
[Me trying to get people to pledge their $$ to KCSB.]
[Fund Drive continues.]
[Watercolor Paintings. Still friends with these awesome kids, but sheesh, I must've seen their band like, 40 times.]
[Hangin' out at those weird ruins hidden off the coast in IV. Wish I still had those lavender Docs from high school.]
[KCSB ExComm family photo. <3 Interesting fact: EVERY SINGLE one of the people in the top row of that photo, now lives in San Francisco. Michael is in a relationship with my bff from childhood. Pat plays in a local band called Cool Ghouls.]
[From when we saw D. Byrne at the Arlington.]
[KCSB visits KBOO for the Grassroots Radio Conference.]
[Hoshwa (of Watercolor Paintings and 5432...FUN! fame) always took WAY too many photos, and diligently tagged everyone on FB.]
So there you have it. If you’re into KCSB and/or punk music, you should absolutely check out a late ’80s KCSB show called White Trash. It’s what inspired me to do this post in the first place.
And finally, just for the sake of SB-love, this poster from that time the Ramones played La Casa:
According to my Myspace, when I was 19, I loved…
A Certain Ratio, As Mercenarias, Au Pairs, Baron Zen, Glenn Branca, Bum Kon, Bush Tetras, James Chance / Contortions, Rhys Chatham, Ciccone Youth, Crispy Ambulance, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Desperate Bicycles, DNA, The Dynamics, Electrelane, ESG, Essential Logic, The Ex, The Fall, Fire Engines, The Frantic Elevators, Fugazi, Glaxo Babies, Philip Glass, Gorilla Biscuits, Isaac Hayes, Richard Hell / Voidoids, The Homosexuals, Josef K, Paul Lansky, The Last Poets, Fela Kuti, LiLiput, Liquid Liquid, Lounge Lizards, Lydia Lunch, Magazine, Mars, Maximum Joy, The Minutemen, Mo-Dettes, Modern Lovers, Monochrome Set, Pere Ubu, The Pop Group, Pylon, The Raincoats, Arnold Schoenberg, The Slits, The Stranglers, Suicide, Swell Maps, Talking Heads, The Tea Set, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Television, Theoretical Girls, This Heat, James “Blood” Ulmer, Wire, La Monte Young, Y Pants, etc.
Not far off from now, actually. (Nvr evolve? / Fuck Tom Waits!)
Michael Stipe can suck it. January 4th is the birthday of three cool chicks: Ann Magnuson, Barbara Rush, and (why yes indeed!) myself.
It’s also a generally fortuitous day. Below, a flier the exact night before my birth (January 3rd, 1987… and in San Francisco, at that!), the brutality clearly foreshadowing the epic culmination of my bearing the next morning.
And here’s another one on my birthday:
So, what about Ann Magnuson and Barbara Rush? Ann Magnuson is a woman I have admired for many, many years. She’s an artist, actress, nightclub performer, and was generally involved in all kinds of crazy antics in downtown NYC during the late ’70s and early ’80s.
[Lady Wrestling Night!]
Barbara Rush is an actress I recently discovered when a friend showed me the brilliant TV series The Outer Limits. We watched the episode “Forms of Things Unknown,” and Barbara Rush plays the demure but nerve-y character Leonora. She was also in It Came From Outer Space. Barbara Rush is precisely 60 years my senior. She and I actually have several other strange connections too.
Sooo, what am I going to do since it’s my birthday? Take the day off work, (obviously) day drink at my favorite SF dive bars, and have a sleepover with my 4 bffs while watching 2 of the all-time greatest movies: Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion and (nvr sry) Clueless. Oh, and probably listen to the Birthday Party, ’cause, yeah you know.
I’m also excited to be making my glorious return to the airwaves this Saturday after two weeks off. Ribbon Around a Bomb Radio is Saturday nights from 10pm-midnight on Radio Valencia!
Browsing the internet, guys. It’s the hot new thing for 2013. If you’ve ever wondered “Where does La Lengua go when SHE feels like browsing that world wide web?” you’re in luck. My fantastic recommendations for the new year are:
1. San Francisco Area Punk Visual History:
This is my favorite thing ever. SFAPVP is my go-to nearly every morning to make myself feel even shittier about the fact that I am dead and work a soulless corporate job. There are a lot of sites with pictures of bands and reviews of albums, but I love this blog because it has a brilliantly narrow focus. Punk fliers, for the most part. Oh and it’s all Bay Area, all the time. What could be better than that?
Music, zines, garage, girls, obscuro, punk, and general subcultural effluvia to offset the inevitable consumption of toxic mainstream bullshit. My favorite new feature is the podcasts. This Bay Area dude knows his shit and plays some downright (or straight up) fabulous DIY/indie/punk tunes. He also spouts off about film and other curious topics over at the Hedonist Jive.
3. Bruise Violet:
Recently-discovered Bruise Violet is hella visual inspiration. This is the only blog out of the 5 listed here where I really get a fashion fix, and visit just to browse all the damn pretty. But pretty in a cool, angsty, ’90s/’70s way. For those of you who do the Pinterest thing, it’s like, “Oh hi, don’t mind me while I pin EVERY FUCKING IMAGE on yr blog.” If this chick didn’t live in the UK, I’d probably ask her to be my bff and we’d have mixtape sleepover parties.
4. Boystown:
Why do all of the best things come out of the Bay Area? Here is yet another SF-based blog, with endless aesthetic stimulation focusing on queer and femme music along with other obscure artistic oddities. Then there are the mixes. Oh, the glorious mixes. The TV Dinner mixes are simply UNREAL. I want these bizarre DIY ditties to be the soundtrack for my dreams.
Every couple months, Bess posts a new interview she’s done with (how did you guess?) a badass woman from the garage/punk/psychadelic music scene. There are some serious gems over here, like conversations with members of the Luv’d Ones, Pandoras, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, and (!) Cheap Perfume. Read up.
There. You. Have. It.
