Stream for 11.02.2010

Girl Germs goes to Club Jäger on Thursday, August 12!

Girl Germs is hitting the road! Well, more like the club. The radical people over at Club Jäger have invited us to come and DJ one of their "Pussy Control" nights, which happen on Thursdays at the north loop bar. These nights are lady-themed, so we'll be bringing our best Girl Germs jams, natch. Music starts at 9 pm, and drink specials include $3.50 rail cocktails, $2.50 Grain Belt Premiums and $2 shots. It'd be great to see all of you great Girl Germs fans in life!

                                                                     Club Jäger

                                                                       Also...
                                                                     

                                 "Pussy Control." Get it? Hi-larious. RSVP via Facebook here!

Thanks Laura!

Thanks again to Laura of Red Pens for hanging out and DJing with us on tonight's show! She picked some awesome music (playlist is here) and gave some great life advice (drink plenty of water and don't ever offer to give her drum lessons).

Make sure to check out the many shows the band is playing this spring and summer, including during Art-a-Whirl this Saturday at the 331 Club and Sunday at the Triple Rock. Also check out the in-studio session they did at Radio K back in June here.

Red Pens myspace

Laura's art blog

Girl Germs presents: The ViGNETTES May 13 at the Hexagon Bar

Girl Germs is proud to present The ViGNETTES' EP release and tour kickoff at the Hexagon Bar this Thursday, May 13. The local duo of Francis and Freddi Vignette is a staple of the Twin Cities DIY scene. The fact that they hand-make their album artwork and merch only adds to their fun and exuberant songs. The band will be celebrating the release of their excellent self-released I am U/U am I EP and it's one of the last times they will be playing in Minnesota before they move to Memphis!

The show starts at 8pm, there's no cover, and it's 21+. Also performing are: Little Dog on Top of a Big Dog, The Bombay Sweets, Seytanlar, and Trinity (a local all-female metal band!). See you there!

Tuesday, April 20: Erica of Sharp Teeth!

We're very excited to welcome Erica of local band Sharp Teeth as our guest on Girl Germs this Tuesday. Erica is not only a talented guitarist and vocalist, but she teaches little kids how to play guitar - awwww!
Make sure to listen Tuesday from 9-11pm (100.7/104.5/106.5 FM and radiok.org) as Erica spins some of her favorite lady artists and talks about her musical endeavors. And check out this awesome in-studio session Sharp Teeth did at Radio K last year.

Also this spring:
May 4 - in-studio performance from Cadette (featuring Stephanie of the Deaf and Laura of Baby Guts/Kitten Forever)
May 11 - Laura of Red Pens
...and many more exciting guests in the works. Check back for more details.

Spring fund drive, Girl Germs style

What do you get when you combine Radio K's spring fund drive with Girl Germs? For one, you get the satisfaction of supporting the Twin Cities' greatest radio station. But you also get...

FABULOUS PRIZES.

(Take a deep breath)

This is the scene at Girl Germs World Headquarters. We're furiously putting together mixtapes, CD packs and buttons! (Disclaimer: '90s boombox is not a fund drive gift! We're keepin' it!)

To thank you for becoming a Radio K member during the fund drive episode of Girl Germs (this Tuesday, April 13 from 9-11pm), Dana and Anna have put together some pretty awesome swag (if we do say so ourselves...). Your Girl Germs fund drive gift is IN ADDITION to the already-awesome Radio K fund drive gifts (see those here).

$60 or $5/MONTH: 4-pack of limited-edition Girl Germs 1-inch buttons + your choice of a CD pack (see titles here).

$120 or $10/MONTH: 4-pack of limited-edition Girl Germs 1-inch buttons + a mixtape handmade by Anna and Dana, including cover art. What's on this mixtape, you ask? It's a surprise! Telling you would take all the fun out of that amazing first mixtape listen. But rest assured, it will rock your world.
$240 or $20/MONTH: 4-pack of limited-edition Girl Germs 1-inch buttons + Dana and Anna will DJ at your  next party/event. Just give us an idea of some genres or artists you like, and we'll put together and play a two-hour DJ gig that will amaze and delight the guests at your birthday celebration, dinner soiree, dance party, barbecue, bat/bar mitzvah or casual get-together! (Subject to scheduling availability, of course). We will provide all equipment and music.
$480 or $40/MONTH: ALL OF THE ABOVE! buttons, CD pack, mixtape AND DJ gig. It's all yours

Girl Germs at SXSW: Anna

TUESDAY, MARCH 16
Greetings from Austin, Texas! I caught my first set of bands Tuesday evening (while y’all were certainly listening to Girl Germs). The Panache SXSW pre-party at the Scoot Inn was too good to pass up- The Coathangers, Thee Oh Sees, the Strangeboys and  Golden Triangle were all Radio K-tastic bands on the lineup, and the Coathangers & Golden Triangle have proven to be exciting Girl Germs bands as our show has gotten started. Needless to say, they didn’t disappoint. Despite being exhausted from our 22-hour van trip down to Texas, it was worth it to stand on some very tired legs of mine for the great performances the bands gave. Former Mika Miko member Jenna Thornhill joined the Strangeboys onstage on the saxophone (and bore a striking resemblance to Roseanne’s Sara Gilbert- observe!) 

Golden Triangle followed with a set that is likely to end up a festival highlight- they brought the energy, style, and decibel count of the backyard show to a whole new level. Two of the frontwomen snarled and shook their tambourines while another calmly played the bass in glittery 6-inch heels. They were backed by three gentlemen, which surprised me- I assumed that Golden Triangle would be a trio live. At any rate, the extra band members only served to strengthen their iron wall of sound. Their energy and stamina (plus those truly awesome haircuts) held out for a long time. By the end of the show, my ears were ringing but my heart was happy!

                                           Golden Triangle

Stick around for more news from South By Southwest and Girl Germs- I’ll be joined by Dana here in Austin in just a few days, and she’ll be providing even more Girl Germs-worthy SXSW news. Check out Radio K’s coverage of the festival at radiok.org/sxsw.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17
On Wednesday, I interviewed Basia Bulat after she performed at the Paste Magazine day party- she was really sweet, and talked about performing at South By Southwest and her excellent hat collection. You can check out our interview here. I also got to talk with Peter from the Antlers later in the afternoon (and while that isn’t totally Girl Germs-related, it was pretty awesome!) At night I went to the Stone’s Throw showcase, where Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib, and Dâm Funk spun some of their favorite records (many of which featured some soulful ladies).   

                                                   BASIA!

THURSDAY, MARCH 18

On Thursday, I saw a performance from and interviewed Olga from The Besnard Lakes, who had great things to say about their new album and the process of scoring a new film by Mark Ruffalo- I'll link to that one when it's up on Radio K's SXSW blog.

After talking to The Besnard Lakes I wandered over to the French Legation Museum, which was a really cool venue.  People were enjoying lime popsicles on the grass while the bands played on outside stages, so it was perfect for a sunny Thursday afternoon. 

                                           Outside la musée

There I caught a set from the little-seen but much blogged about Subpop-signees Dum Dum Girls, and then from The xx. I had heard mixed reviews about The xx live, but in my opinion, their performance totally blew me away. They’re playing a sold-out show with JJ at the Varsity Theater on April 9^th.

                           The xx- so very tiny from my vantage point.

FRIDAY, MARCH 19 & SATURDAY, MARCH 20
Friday I saw New Zealand artist Bachelorette, who performed solo and managed to reproduce her album’s complexity with a laptop and a looping pedal. I've been loving her second album “My Electric Family” lately, so I’m really excited to see her open up for Beach House on April 4^th at the Cedar.  

                                           Bachelorette

I didn’t see any lady-ful bands on Saturday night, but I did run into Dana at the Woodsist showcase, accompanied by Allison from Hot Lava. In all it was really fun, and you can check out lots more SXSW coverage and some excellent instudios + videos at Radio K's SXSW blog.

Girl Germs at SXSW: Dana

THURSDAY, MARCH 18
Today was day two of SXSW, and the festival was in full swing! Anna spent the afternoon at the French Legation Museum and when I got into town, we headed to the GINORMOUS Whole Foods store on Lamar Street to eat dinner (including something called "Miles of Chocolate") on the roof. We then headed over to the Galaxy Room for the Sub Pop/Hardly Art showcase, where I met Ruth from Happy Birthday, who just signed to Sub Pop. It turns out Ruth's sister is Merrill Garbus, aka Tuneyards! She told me Merrill isn't really into the whole SXSW scene so she was sitting it out this year. I got to see Golden Triangle, the Duchess and the Duke, and Dum Dum Girls.

Dum Dum Girls’ harmonies translated surprisingly well to their live performance, although I was personally a tiny bit turned off by their seemingly aloof attitudes (coulda been SXSW overload, who knows). The band was one of the superstars of this year’s SXSW, playing several shows every day of the fest. 

     Dum Dum Girls

The many members of Brooklyn’s Golden Triangle crowded onto the Galaxy Room’s indoor stage. After some technical difficulties (kudos to the sound guy!), the band’s energetic show was all a big blur of body parts, dancing and tambourines.

        
The blur of Brooklyn's Golden Triangle

Tomorrow and Thursday will be epic SXSW days, so we called it a night (relatively) early. Looking forward to the bounty of shows!

FRIDAY, MARCH 19

Anna spent the day doing interviews for Radio K’s SXSW broadcast while I covered the fest for Venus Zine. I had lunch with Allison Apperson, the singer/guitarist of Richmond's Hot Lava, at the famous Star Seeds diner (an Austin must). Hot Lava (who played Radio K’s 2009 SXSW broadcast) isn’t playing this year, but we talked about Allison’s SXSW experience as an observer rather than a performer, her new band (?) and Hot Lava’s most recent release – a split 7” with the Sad Cobras, who are apparently her favorite band ever (listen here!)

My friend (and ace photographer) Joanna and I headed over to the French Legation Museum, one of my favorite places to visit in Austin even during non-SXSW times. Dengue Fever played not only an amazing show at the Museum but Radio K’s 2010 SXSW broadcast as well. See Joanna's way better photos here.

    Dengue Fever

Anni Rossi debuted some newer songs, which sounded amazing! They are a lot more rocking than the ones on her previous records and that she played during Radio K's 2009 SXSW broadcast.  She played with a full band for most of the set and then did some older songs solo.

 Anni Rossi

After seeing some great dude bands (Austin’s own…And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead and the ever-sassy Mayer Hawthorne), I caught up with Lucy and Ashley from Minneapolis’s own Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles. As is often the case at SXSW, we had to conduct the interview next to a dumpster in a dark, seedy alley off of Red River Street…and I think there might have been some guy peeing back there. The band made the roadtrip down to Austin and played one show before heading back to Minneapolis (listen here!)

           Lucy and Ashley of Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles (photo by Joanna Ramos)

Pierced Arrows at Encore

 Pierced Arrows capped off the evening with a show at the WFMU party, where I also caught Moon Duo and Sonny and the Sunsets (both from San Francisco and both awesome). Fred, Toody and Kelly pulled off their usual high-energy performance (I swear you would never know Fred and Toody are in their 60s) and even though I interviewed the band for their Radio K in-studio session a few weeks ago, I was too nervous to talk to Toody when she was next to me at the bar. Put that one in the SXSW regrets column.

SATURDAY, MARCH 20

The temperature barely got above 50 degrees and it was windy all day (so bad that it cut out the sound at Malachai’s early afternoon show). Even we Minnesotans were freezing. I took the opportunity to spend as much time indoors as possible, eating some Ethiopian food and catching up with some friends from New York and St. Louis.

Then it was on to Buffalo Billiards for Midnight Masses, who played Radio K’s 2009 SXSW broadcast after their tour with Trail of Dead (guitarist/singer Jason Reece is also a founding member of ToD) last year. In the year since they played our broadcast, the band has changed its lineup a bit and released an EP on Team Love. Check out Radio K DJ Sam's interview with the entire band, and my interview with guitarist/singer/multi-instrumentalist/all-around talented lady Destiny Montague. We discussed how Midnight Masses is playing bigger shows this year, what she likes about SXSW and what it's like writing and recording with all the band members not living in the same city (listen here!)

 Destiny Montague from Midnight Masses

After Midnight Masses, I met up with Anna and the rest of the Radio K crew at Red 7 for the Woodsist showcase, where Woods and Real Estate did a cover of Blind Melon’s “No Rain” (viva Bee Girl!) and I spotted Lori Barbero of Babes in Toyland fame. I <3 Austin.