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| My woman crush in action |
Priests are a punk / riot grrrl band from Washington DC that formed back in 2012. The band consists of Katie Alice Greer on vocals, Daniele on drums and back-up vocals, Taylor on bass and back-up vocals, and GL Jaguar on guitar (he's freaking phenomenal). I have been obsessed with them since 2014 when they opened for The Dismemberment Plan. This is the first time I would see them headline so hooray!
Their new album "Nothing Feels Natural" dropped at the end of January. Since I wanted an element of "surprise" I didn't listen to any of the songs ahead of time. I figured I'd purchase the album after their set and would automatically like what I heard. Of course this was very true and so much more.
Bands Ursula and Snail Mail opened. Each unique in their own way one more angry / edgy, the other more like Sunflower Bean in their sound. Katie came out in almost a prom dress ensemble with boots. My friend complimented her ensemble and she said she hoped dancing around would make her less cold.
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| Katie in the moment |
The band basically played almost all the songs off of their new album. The only two older songs I remember hearing off their first album was "Right Wing" and "And Breeding." She cleverly changed the lyrics in that song to "Fuck Donald Trump! I'm gonna get him for it!" Their new album should really be an anthem for 2017. I equate Katie to the likes of Nadya Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot. She's very politically aware and not only a musician but an activist in my eyes. On the mic she's very intimidating and powerful (several times I thought she was going to crash into us during the performance!) but behind the merch table she is very sweet and soft spoken. There was a cool moment when the lead singer of Snail Mail and her friend started skanking during Priests set. Katie encouraged it. Katie also had a moment when she climbed on top of the drum kit and played around with the hanging lights.
Sadly I didn't have a lot of cash on me and just purchased their album. The zine for sale looked pretty amazing though. I told Katie I saw them open for Ought at PhilaMoca and she said, "Thanks for coming back!" Ahhhh I love her. Today I played their new album non-stop. My favorite stand-out tracks are: Nicki, No Big Bang, Suck, and Nothing Feels Natural. The whole album is mind-blowing. I have a soft spot for their first album but this one exceeded all expectations. I highly recommend all my Sleater-Kinney fans to check out Priests. Lance Bangs is a fan so I'm assuming Corin is on board too. Here are some more shots from the show....
My friend Amy has a really great blog called Vinyl Hysteria. She blogs about her recent record hauls, her current favorite songs, and other music-related topics. Her latest project is interviewing women who collect vinyl. I was so happy to participate when she came to visit me one weekend. Amy took some really great shots of my favorite records and I answered some very thoughtful questions she came up with. Check it out and subscribe!
Every day my inbox is flooded with upcoming shows from local venues. When I scrolled down to the bottom of TLA's message I noticed they featured a photo I took from the Santigold concert earlier in the month! It was really neat to see something I enjoy doing being displayed on their Instagram page (it got over 100 likes!) Validation is wonderful.
The album of the month is Big Bill Broonzy Sings Folk Songs. I'm pretty diverse in my tastes so I'm curious to give it a listen. Here's what I bought from the membership store....
Grimes - Geidi Primes
First Grimes album? The songs on here are not as produced as her latest albums but being a completist I picked it up nonetheless.
Lizzo - Big Grrrl Small World
Lizzo opened for Sleater-Kinney. That's how I first heard of her. The band usually has amazing openers when they tour. I did not see Lizzo at any of the shows I attended but was drawn to her first album LizzoBangers when listening on Spotify. I really need to pick this one up too. Her latest single she's been promoting on Instagram "My Skin" which has a powerful message of loving yourself no matter your size, shape, color. Being a Missy Elliot fan I highly recommend Lizzo.
Savages - Adore Life
I was hooked after listening to their previous album on Spotify, I actually went back to the online store and purchased Adore Life a week later. This album has taunted me for the past week displayed in tons of record stores. I kept telling myself, "Any day now! It's coming in the mail! Hold on!" My favorite song is "Surrender." I CANNOT wait to see them in late March. It got to the point where I was actually considering Irving Plaza and taking the late train home to see them perform. Luckily they are playing closer to me so I don't have to go through that ordeal.
After venturing to the movies, I took a little trip to a record store called Tunes that buy and sells cds, dvds, vinyl, etc. I did spend a lot of time looking through the albums, especially the discounted albums for $1. My first find was on the wall display, The National's "Boxer." I know it's a certain someone's favorite and being I only own "High Violet" I wanted to try another. Then I stumbled upon my favorite Bjork record so that was an easy "yes." Not too far away in the tabs was my second favorite Depeche Mode album "Some Great Reward" for $20. Definite yes. My last find was Morcheeba's "Big Calm." My very first concert was Lilith Fair in 1998. Morcheeba was on the side stage and I remembered not really liking their set. Then a few years later I found myself listening to some of their songs and eventually purchasing this album. I really like this album, it's very relaxing to listen to and very late 90s sounding if that makes sense.
The dollar vinyl section is really inconveniently located on the floor so I had to crouch and flip. Really I almost made it through all the albums but got impatient towards the end. Too many Barry Manilow, Chicago, and Rod Stewart albums that I kept seeing during my flips. They were having a special, "Buy 10 albums, get 5 for free." Honestly I couldn't really find 10 that I wanted and settled for these. Out of these four I was the most excited for Samantha Fox and the Pointer Sisters. Jump for my love! I already pulled that album out first when I got home and danced like a complete dork to that song in my room. Mission of nerdy album listening bliss accomplished!
Scored!: Jefferson Airplane - Gold, Samantha Fox - I Wanna Have Some Fun, The Pointer Sisters - Break Out, Yes - 90125, Bjork - Post, Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward, The National - Boxer, Morcheeba - Big Calm
On second thought (albums I put back): Blur - The Magic Whip, David Bowie - Earthling, Lush - Best of Singles
Customers: During my visit to the record store, again I was practically the only female in the store. One customer had a MASSIVE sale of crates and crates of cds. The clerks said it would take them 4-5 hours to price everything. A shame I don't collect cds anymore otherwise I would've been interested in what he was turning in. One girl came in and said she had no clue what she was doing but wanted to sell back some Wii games and cds. Another younger girl came in with her dad. He kept suggesting albums to her but the only thing I heard her mention was New Found Glory. A good handful of college guys were browsing through the Jazz section along with the R&B / Soul section. Interesting. It's funny because I never cease to amaze my fellow male record collectors of my vast music knowledge. Older guys who know their shit are pretty amazed at what I pick out or make positive comments when ringing up purchases. So that gives me hope!
Be warned this is a MONSTER of a list. I did not buy all of these albums brand new. A good majority came from flea markets, yard sales, or used. There are others that I got through Vinyl Me Please. So here you go all 98 of them...
Grimes: Visions / Art Angels
Caribou: Our Love
Doomtree: All Hands
Bad Brains: Bad Brains
Sleater-Kinney: Sleater-Kinney / Call the Doctor / The Hot Rock / All Hands on the Bad One / One Beat / The Woods
Marianne Faithful: Broken English
Erasure: The Innocents
Grace Jones: Nightclubbing / Fame / Slave to the Rhythm
Patti Smith Group: Radio Ethiopia / Easter
The Motels: Little Robbers
St. Vincent: Marry Me / Actor / Strange Mercy / St. Vincent
Phil Collins: No Jacket Required
Elvis Costello: Taking Liberties
Prince and the Revolution: Purple Rain
Devo: Freedom of Choice
Four Tet: Pink
Blessed Feathers: There Will Be No Sad Tomorrow
B-52's: Whammy / Wild Planet / Live 8.24.79
Bikini Kill: Bikini Kill / Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Chvrches: Bones of What You Believe / Every Eye Open
Suzanne Vega: Solitude Standing
Wild Flag: Wild Flag
Portishead: Dummy
Janis Joplin: Pearl
Ex Hex: Rips
Television: Marquee Moon
Miguel: Wildheart
PJ Harvey: To Bring You My Love
Lou Reed: Transformer
Punk 45 Vol 2: Underground Punk 1977-1981
Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed
The Graduate Soundtrack
David Bowie: Let's Dance
Duran Duran: Duran Duran
Fast Times at Ridgemont High Soundtrack
Fugazi: Fugazi
The Human League: Dare
The Moody Blues: The Other Side of Life
Pretty in Pink Soundtrack
Split Enz: True Colors
Bruce Springsteen: Tunnel of Love
Kurt Vile: I Believe I'm Goin' Down
The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses
The Strokes: Is This It
Sonic Youth: Evol
Rilo Kiley: The Execution of All Things / More Adventurous
Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels / Pt. 2
Radiohead: In Rainbows / King of Limbs
Johnny Marr: Playland
Ryan Adams: Demolition
Jeff Buckley: Grace
The Decemberists: The Crane Wife
Depeche Mode: Violator
The Dismemberment Plan: Uncanny Valley
Dresden Dolls: The Virginia Monologues
Garbage: Garbage
High Fidelity Soundtrack
Garden State Soundtrack
Joanna Newsom: Divers
M83: Saturdays Youth
Gems: Kill the One You Love
Nils Frahm: Spaces
Tamaryn: Crane Kiss
Yes: Fragile
Green Day: Dookie
X-Ray Spex: Peel Sessions and Singles
Torres: Sprinter
Black Sabbath: Paranoid
Girlpool: Before the World Was Big
Nada Surf: High/Low
A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders
Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill
Cat Power: Moon Pix
Oasis: What's the Story
Pavement: Slanted and Enchanted
TLC: CrazySexyCool
The Eels: Electro-Shock Blues
Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary
The Spells: Age of Backwards EP
Records as Gifts!
No Doubt: Tragic Kingdom
Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love
Thanks to Amy and Laura for inspiration, I give you, "Girl + Records." This is basically a side-blog attributed to my love of record shopping and finds. While talking in line before going into a Sleater-Kinney concert, we said we want to bring attention to the awesome females who do collect albums and squash the rumors it's simply a guy thing. I have been collecting records on and off but it's become more of a permanent thing in my 20s.
At the young age of 3 I had one of the infamous Fisher Price record players (see above). Some of my record collection contained the likes of Disney, Sesame Street, and The Chipmunks (The Chipmunks Sing the Blues was my favorite album. Find that for me and you will win my heart forever!) Aside from those I remember owning these three in particular....
Duran Duran's "Wild Boys." I was completely into this band. I remember watching the music video for this song and Rio. Plus they aren't so bad to look at. Today I am still a fan and ironically seeing them this summer in concert.
Madonna's "Lucky Star." On the other side was "Like a Virgin." I had to be five years old but something in me sensed this song was kind of inappropriate and I usually flipped over to "Lucky Star." For some weird reason I would always equate this song with Rainbow Brite.
The one album I remember clearly owning and loving was Cyndi Lauper's "She's So Unusual." I liked it so much because it was different from anything else I've listened to. Her voice at times was like a cartoon character but then her pitch would just increase and she'd nail those notes.
Around the age of 9 or 10 my parents sold my albums and cassette tapes became a thing. I had this horrid white Sony boombox that would completely annihilate my cassettes leaving me in tears or cursing as I spun the wheels using a pencil to push everything back inside. However, in my 20s I saw a thing of beauty....
I'm not kidding I saved up a month's worth of paychecks at Old Navy to purchase this $249 system of double tape decks, 3 CD changer, and a turntable on the top. Since albums were not in major comeback mode, my collection was limited to yard sales and flea markets. However, as time went by I ditched this monstrosity and went for something smaller. Now everywhere I look little independent record stores are turning up in many places. Barnes and Noble even sells albums. It's great. In my mid-30s I own almost 200 albums. A lot of them were purchased in 2015 which will be my next post. So cheers to all of you who collect albums! Feel free to share your stories below in the comments.
