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All you have to do is keep your hand on the truck
Maybe you heard the This American Life episode about it. Maybe you saw the Broadway musical about it. Well, the 1997 documentary Hands On A Hardbody [1h37m, Wikipedia] can be viewed on YouTube! Explore humanity through watching people slowly lose their minds as they stay awake for days on end trying to win a truck.
Rick Rubin interviews Trent Reznor
Music Master Rick Rubin interviewed NIN creator Trent Reznor for his podcast Tetragrammaton. [2h10m, audio only] Nine Inch Nails is Rubin's favorite band. Reznor shares a lot, reflecting on his life and career from where he is now. It's a bit like Marc Maron only more about music and much more gentle.
Margariforest Cafeville
ICYMI, last year, YouTubers Eddy Burback and Ted Nivision took a road trip. They each issued a report: I ate at every Rainforest Cafe in the Country [Eddy, 36m], I Drove to Every Rainforest Cafe in North America [Ted, 30m]. Well, they've done it again! I ate at every Margaritaville in the Country [Eddy, 58m], I Drove to Every Margaritaville in the USA [Ted, 46m]. Madness comes in many forms, but chain restaurants are often involved.
SRO means Single Room Occupancy
The 2017 documentary Caged Men: Tales From Chicago's Last Remaining SRO Hotels [1h23m] profiles the men who live in and work in the last single room occupancy hotels in Chicago. Men on the tenuous line between housed and unhoused, renting a rapidly-disappearing living situation from long ago that still survives to the modern day.
That 24Hz sound? It's loud, it's abrasive, it's super comforting.
I wish I had ever had a job that brought me as much joy as the man in this clip. 11 mile long 'Oppenheimer' film reel arrives in Grand Rapids [3m10s, ABC13] John Foley is an example of where occupation meets vocation. If you're curious about the actual process, here's OPPENHEIMER 70MM IMAX film print assembly at Science Museum, London. [14m] from bored_tech which details the technical steps of receiving and assembling one of thirty prints of this movie in this format in the world. I found this truly fascinating.
Cyndi Lauper Live In Budokan 1986
After releasing her second album and before officially launching the True Colors tour, Cyndi Lauper played eight dates in Japan, five of them at the famed Budokan. Four nights there, three nights in other cities, she then returned for a fifth night, which was filmed for Japanese television. Cyndi Lauper Live In Budokan 1986 [1h9m] is everything you want -- jangly late Eighties synths, classic songs, and Cyndi's undeniable vocal prowess.
Alien, Aliens, AlienCubed, Alien Resurrection
YouTuber Oliver Harper took four of his older individual movie videos and re-edited them together for Alien Quadrilogy (1979-1997) Retrospective/Review [2h18m]. These aren't movie recaps, these get into writing, production, plot, music, actors, directors, artists, technology developments, alternate versions, even tie-in videogames. It's an unusual and informative look back at all of the bits and pieces of one of the most influential science fiction film series of all time.
The big hurrah before it all started to come apart
Journey - Frontiers & Beyond [1h30m] records the band Journey's 1983 tour supporting the Fronteirs album. Peculiarly, it was done by NFL Flims, not an outfit I'd normally turn to for a rock and roll documentary. It's a lot about logistics and the crew who put on the show, as well as the band who were at the absolute height of their powers.
We don't want to get all worked up over a tomato stalk again, do we?
I only knew Phil Jupitus from his appearances on QI and other British panel shows. Then, YouTube decided to serve me up his 2000 standup show Quadrophobia. It's 90 (!) minutes of adventurous time alone on a stage. I'd give a minor content warning for the final 30 minutes which are entirely about catching a spider in your house, because spiders... but I think he embodies all the things involved and everyone will feel seen and so none is needed.
Robert Reich's undergraduate course on Wealth And Inequality
Welcome to my [Robert Reich's] final UC Berkeley course on Wealth and Poverty. [YT playlist, 14 lectures, ~1h30m each] Drawing on my 40+ years in politics, including my time as secretary of labor, I offer a deeper look at why inequalities of income and wealth have widened significantly since the late 1970s in the United States, and why this poses dangerous risks to our society. Class 1: “What’s Happened to Income & Wealth” [1h30m] Each class page has a link to a syllabus of notes and readings in the "more inside" of the description.
She's got spunk!
Eight Characters In Search Of A Sitcom [58m] is a 2003 character-by-character, actor-by-actor profile of the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Cast members, writers, directors all sharing their joy and love for the show.
Shampoo For Real Friends, Real Poo For Sham Friends
A Jew walks into a bar White Nationalist meeting. He emerges with a Broadway hit. Alex Edelman's [Wikipedia] one man show Just For Us [show website] has opened [NYT review, archive] and he's been doing press. Alex in conversation with Josh Grobin at 92Y from late last month [1h14] for a surprisingly vulnerable exchange. He also talked to Tim Miller for The Next Level [56m] in a conversation wide-ranging and insightful. Finally, he appeared on Late Night With Stephen Colbert in 2022 when Just For Us was off-Broadway. [7m31s]
They draw comics; they aren't stand-up comics
In late 2010, The 92nd Street Y hosted Al Jaffe, Roz Chast, and Robert Mankoff [1h24m] for joint presentations about their work and a question panel. The humor is dry, but the talent is gigantic and the lengthy Q/A is great.
I saw a boom shadow on Fart Face
Seth Meyers and Bill Hader sit down in front of cameras to talk about their careers [30m], and each other's careers, and to reminisce about working together at SNL. It's a charming conversation between friends, and I thought I might share it here.
Elevator Obscura: Hacks and Curios in the Lift Industry
Okay, this is seriously geeky, but it's geeky in such a great way. Elevators: how do they work? Well, this talk from 2011 tells you everything about how elevators work and ALSO is sort of a grey hat hacker video about how elevators REALLY work. Elevator Obscura: Hacks and Curios in the Lift Industry [1h30m, conference talk video, minor CW for a couple of accident photos, no gore]
It's like playing catch with Joe Dimaggio
Tom Hanks talks to Guy Raz for two hours about his career and being Tom Hanks. That's it. That's what it is. But wow, it's really a lot!
Straight men do not deserve nice hair.
It's been a long difficult week. Do you need to laugh? Matteo Lane: Hair Plugs & Heartache [47m] is a stand-up set released last month. It's queer comedy with adult ideas and language. It's also, I think, very very funny.
I Could Do This All Day!
If you watched the TV series Hawkeye, you might remember Rogers: The Musical [4m30s]. If this whet your appetite for show tunes and superheroes, then Marvel has done right by you. [That Captain America musical from Hawkeye is becoming a real stage show, AV Club] Here is Rogers: The Musical in full [32m, , quality audience recording, ancillary material before timestamp and after performance]. The power of Disney knows no limits.
My biggest thrill was to be at the label that had Prince.
Former VP/Creative Services for Warner Bros, Laura LiPuma, recounts her career in graphic design [3h11m, CW: Prince stories], from her uprooting to leave for Los Angeles, her freelancing years, and finally getting hired at WB. Starting with the 1999 era and going through Lovesexy, she's responsible for the look and feel of much of how Prince presented through his music release imagery.
somebody’s using false information in a Supreme Court filing document
The recent SCOTUS decision 303 CREATIVE LLC ET AL. v. ELENIS ET AL. [PDF link, decision] was decided on the basis that Laurie Smith might be asked to make a gay wedding website. In the original court filings was included a possible inquiry about such a website that included a name and phone number and other identifying information. The New Republic called that phone number, and reports that is false information. Maybe SCOTUS will reexamine it, Salon summarizes thinking about that. NYT's The Daily discusses the case and context for a half hour.
Trevor Noah in conversation with Reid Hoffman about AI
One of the more thoughtful people on the planet, Trevor Noah has been thinking pretty deeply about AI and social media and other parts of our lives today. He spoke with Reid Hoffman, creator of LinkedIn, and his podcast co-host Aria Finger to share his thoughts [52m], and they're as surprisingly deep and insightful as you might expect from Noah. It wouldn't fit in the title, but I wanted to call this "Social media shouldn't be held accountable for what is posted on it, but what is pushed by it". That's a tiny bit of what Trevor thinks.
The history she can talk about as a witness
Happy Pride Month! At the end of this long month of Queer Women In Music, I'm bringing us back around to where we began. Ginny Berson, co-founder of Olivia Records, put out a book in late 2020 [Olivia On The Record, publisher link]. Being in the midst of the pandemic, the book release event was an online event [1h30m, Berson begins speaking in earnest at 24m30s]. It's a quiet and poignant look back across at a time and movement that fostered so much beyond its imagining.
I'm a Bami girl!
Happy Pride Month! Grace Jones [Wikipedia] is still going strong. A queer icon since her first appearance in at Studio 54 in the Seventies [Pitchfork], she recently played NYC Hammerstein Ballroom [1h30m, decent audience recording] just after her 75th birthday. Grace Jones Electrifies New York With Eye-Popping — and Hilarious — Show [Variety] She sat with Jimmy Fallon in 2021 [7m20s] for a brief conversation.
If I change for anyone, then I feel that I'm losing what 1969 brought me
Happy Pride Month! The 2019 film Stonewall Outloud [32m] is a documentary taken from the recordings of StoryCorps. Firsthand accounts are lip-synched and performed by current actors, interspersed with interviews and source material, bringing to life voices who witnessed the Stonewall Revolution and bridging the generations. I found it moving and affecting and I'm really happy to share it on this anniversary of the Revolution starting, 54 years ago.
Before Stonewall
Happy Pride Month! The 1984 documentary Before Stonewall [1h26m] came out 15 years after the Stonewall Rebellion, and documents the social/cultural life of queer life in the US before the landmark event in 1969. The struggle for equality is shown across the decades of the 20th Century as history evolves. The documentary received a modern restoration in 2019 and the same year was named to the Library Of Congress National Film Registry. Wikipedia
I like my music to be a kind of utility, productive and helpful.
Happy Pride Month! It was the song Same Love that launched Mary Lambert [Wikipedia] into the stratosphere. The spoken word poet pivoted her career toward music, landing Secrets on top of the US Dance charts. Her most recent album, 2021's Grief Creature [Bandcamp] took five years, as she explains to Front Row Live in an interview about the album [19m]. The Advocate talked to her shortly before the album's release.
Car car car car car
Happy Pride Month! Adult Mom [Wikipedia] is an indie band that started in Stevie Knipe's bedroom. They created a lo-fi documentary about recording their 2021 album Driver [YT playlist], East For Winter: The Making Of Driver [1h10m] that is full of anecdotes and recording performances. Their most recent release is the non-album track "91". Thank you fabius for this suggestion.
I just call it Afro-Fusion
Happy Pride Month! The Ghanaian-American musician Amaarae [Wikipedia] just released her sophomore album Fountain Baby [YT playlist, NPR review] earlier this month. Working loosely within "pop music" in the west, she often finds herself on the outside in her native Accra. Here she talks with KEXP in 2021 with some pandemic acoustic performances. [41m] For a fuller context, here's a talk/discussion about Nigerian and Ghanaian music [Vimeo, 1h10m, rather scholarly but good] and how the alté/alternate music scene fits into the complex world of African music culture featuring Amaarae as a primary example.
Write a song that would musically induce God into giving us all a break.
Happy Pride Month! Troubled, incarcerated, discovered, acclaimed, forgotten, beloved, rediscovered. The life of early 70s musician Judee Sill [Wikipedia] is a complicated rollercoaster, expertly summarized by the BBC in The Lost Genius of Judee Sill [28m, audio, 2014, recommended]. The Guardian's 2022 profile coincided with the premiere of a new documentary [trailer], and the filmmakers did a great interview afterward [19m, w/ Shawn Colvin]. It's rare to have footage like this, but here is Judee at USC in 1973 [12m]
I can't talk about my work without talking about someone else's work.
Happy Pride Month! I was surprised to learn that Kara Jackson is not only a raw, inventive young musician [Kara Jackson Uses Rage, Channels Brandy, Ponders The Human Predicament On Astonishing New LP, Country Queer], but she was a 2019 National Youth Poet Laureate. The Poetry Vlog interviewed her in 2019 about where she was then. [31m] She talked to Kyle Meredith recently about where she is now. [23m] Her recently released album, Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love? [YT playlist] is an emotional dreamscape full of searching.
The love I have to give is a woman's love, if only because it is mine.
Happy Pride Month! Haela Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix [Wikipedia] and her band Liturgy make music typically classified as Black Metal, but there is so much more going on in their newest album 93696 [YT playlist]. Hellgate NYC reviews and interviews and writes from earlier this year. She sat with Veil Of Sound last month to talk about the album, her life and philosophy, and her music. [46m]
Keep Hope Alive
Happy Pride Month! Joy Oladokun [Wikipedia] makes "positively powerful" country pop [Gay Times UK]. Her new album Proof Of Life [YT playlist] is also being recognized in folk music circles [Joy Oladokun Emerges With a Defiant Hopefulness, Folk Alley]. CBS Mornings has an interview with and primer about Joy and her music. [8m40s, Facebook] Joy sat with Adia Victoria to discuss influential black woman musicians and to perform a song. [7m45s, Newport Festivals]
Oh, I am a walking rainbow.
Happy Pride Month! Being an old, I'd never heard of JoJo Siwa [Wikipedia] before RobinofFrocksley mentioned her. At the age of 20, she's a pop star, an online influencer, and even is a video game [Nintendo]. Here, JoJo sits with Demi Lovato in 2021 for a 40 minute conversation about her life as a young queer icon. She's been talking this month about how she felt safe coming out on social media. [EOnline] She springboarded into pop stardom at the age of 13, outside of her earlier childhood reality show career, with her anti-bullying anthem BOOMERANG [3m30s], which currently has well over 976 million views.
I don't really like to talk about myself
Happy Pride Month! Ferron [Wikipedia] is one of the godmothers of queer woman's music. She talks to Rainbow Table along with filmmaker Gerry Rogers about her career and songwriting. [~50m] Trailer for documentary Girl On A Road. [4m25s] But because this is Ferron, there is a second documentary! Thunder sneak peak 1 [9m30s], sneak peak 2 [7m12s], trailer [4m50s] And from 2022, Ferrron's full set at Vancouver Island Musicfest [58m]
The best songs are the ones that tell you a lot in two or three words
Happy Pride Month! A Mexican friend of mine suggested Mon Laferte [Wikipedia], and I'm so glad he did! While she's been long known for her justice and feminist activism [BBC], she defiantly claimed queer identity in mid-concert in 2018 [Spanish article, Google Translate is careless with Spanish pronouns]. Her 2021 album SEIS [YT playlist, has several lyric videos in English translation, that opening track is wow, lyric video for opening track (no subtitles)] won a Latin Grammy and was nominated for a Grammy. Papermag 2021 profile, Sounds And Colors review.
I'm kind of fanning out, but I'm real relaxed.
Happy Pride Month! We're halfway through the month, and here is an amazing video I found. Three decades of queer women in music, Hayley Kiyoko [32, previously], Brandi Carlile [42, previously], and Meshell Ndegeocello [54, previously] sit down for a Pandemic Pride Month chat in June of 2020 [58m]. They talk about being queer and out in music, about Pride and what it means, and the importance of role models, and music in queer life, and about so much more. It's a joyful and introspective conversation that I'm really happy to share.
I always thought "I've arrived" every step of the way.
Happy Pride Month! It's been a while since Brandi Carlile released her album In These Silent Days [YT playlist], but that doesn't mean she hasn't been busy. Just recently, Brandi help usher Joni Mitchell back before a paying audience for the first time in over 20 years [Seattle Times]. Spin has an article with video links. She also brought Tanya Tucker out of retirement, and made a documentary about it [1m30s trailer]. Here's Tanya and Brandi on Today talking about the film. [12m43s]
I wanted the liberating experience to happen while I'm making.
Happy Pride Day! After trailing out singles such as Contact and On The Run for months, Kelela [Wikipedia] finally released her second album Raven [YT playlist] earlier this year after a long hiatus. During this break, she went on a bit of a journey [Grounded: the revival of Kelela, Dazed, Sept 2022] that is a bit breathtaking in its scope and courage. NPR's It's Been A Minute profiled/interviewed Kelela [22m] earlier this year, for a different take on the same story, with background and music samples and a really involved interviewer. The Dazed article has more details on the curriculum she sent to her people. Thanks to eyeball for suggesting this artist.
A man doesn't make me straight, and a woman doesn't make me a lesbian.
Happy Pride Month! It probably feels like a lifetime ago when you last heard from Sophie B. Hawkins [Wikipedia]. Well, surprise! Sophie has a new album out, Free Myself [YT playlist], her first in over a decade. Here she speaks with Eric Dahl earlier this year about her new album and her career. [21m] Sophie B. Hawkins emerges from a 'personal tsunami' with new album 'Free Myself' [STL Today] Daily Beast interview with Sophie about the past 30 years.
Sing the dirtiest of sea shanties in one life and change sex in another.
Happy Pride Month! Louisa Jo Killen [Wikipedia] was a folk singer in the UK tradition. She spent most of her career performing under her birth gender and name Lou Killen [5m, 2008 performance]. Here is a 2010 performance in her preferred gender. [6m, very low audio] Her transition shortly before her death led a very conservative community into enlightenment. On this day: The Clancy Brothers' Louisa Jo Killen dies in 2013 [Irish Times belated obituary] Before Caitlyn Jenner, Louisa Jo Killen, Folk Song and Shanty Singer [Old Salt Blog] Thank you nebulawindphone for mentioning her.
I had to find myself to to make my way back.
Happy Pride Month! It takes over a minute before the funk begins to take hold in Meshell Ndegeocello's [Wikipedia] new single Clear Water [5m], but its claws sink in quickly and the Funk will not be denied. Her new album The Omnichord Real Book comes out next week [Albumism article with links to more songs]. Meshell is joined by Staceyann Chin for an evening of music and spoken word at MCA Chicago in 2020. [1h13m] Meshell talks to Adrian Younge in 2021 about her career and philosophy. [51m]
a+e=ig 2023
Happy Pride Month! Indigo Girls. [Wikipedia] Emily and Amy sit with Winona LaDuke and Filmmaker Alexandria Bombach to discuss their new documentary It's Only Life After All with Wajahat Ali. [20m, documentary still at festivals without distribution] We Can Do Hard Things With Glennon Doyle: Indigo Girls: Sexuality, Sobriety, Faith & Freedom [1h7m, audio only, summary article from Yahoo!].
It's not about politics; it's about life.
Happy Pride Month! The lesbian daughter of Lithuanian and Syrian immigrants, Silvana Imam [Wikipedia] is one of Sweden's biggest rappers [2019 NYT profile, archive]. Her short music film Naturkraft [16m] is about the Swedish immigrant experience. Imam talks rap and politics with Sway in 2015. [15m] Bergen rapper Aron Eskeland helps Silvana shop for clothes. [15m] Thanks mersen for mentioning her!
My mother also loved Whitney Houston
Happy Pride Month! Liniker [Wikipedia] is changing the way trans people are seen in Brazil [Paper, 2018]. Agnes Nunes visited with her for conversation and a duet. [Portuguese with optional English captions] For the 2022 Rock In Rio festival, Liniker was joined by Luedji Luna for an hour-long set. Thank you to umbú for suggesting her!
I was performing at a bar for 15 people and my video hits 500,000 views
Happy Pride Month! I can't say I was familiar with Hayley Kiyoko before the primroses were over mentioned her name, but apparently everyone else knows about her. If, like me, you need a primer, Hayley summarizes her career [15m] for them, with an accompanying article. If you want to get a bit deeper and less formal, Quitters Podcast spent over an hour talking to her about her career and her life and outlook. But the real news is, she just published her first book [Publishers Weekly]!
I like that I am heard before I am seen.
Happy Pride Month! So, another artist suggested by wowenthusiast is anonymous Brooklyn rapper Leikeli47 [Wikipedia]. She recently completed her Beauty trilogy with the album Shape Up [YT playlist, Pitchfork review]. Leikeli spoke with NPR's Sidney Madden [44m] about the new album, her outlook and philosophy, and her struggles for authenticity. She did a set for NPR Music's 15h Anniversary [23m] that was so fire that Uproxx had to write about it.
F*ck 7th Grade
Happy Pride Month! wowenthusiast reminded me that Jill Sobule [Wikipedia] kissed a girl way back in 1995 and everybody noticed. It's been too many years since then for this post, but what is she up to today? She's written an off-Broadway play! [Playbill] It was really well-reviewed, enough for multiple extensions in 2022 and even a brief revival earlier this year [Off-off review]. Here she talks to GLAAD about the show and her career [15m, annoying musical bed].
The Archandroid Is Back With New Programming
Happy Pride Month! Longtime MeFi favorite Janelle Monáe has been in process for years. Their newest singles Lipstick Lover [3m26s, possibly age restricted, clean version] and Float continue the unpeeling, unveiling of her current incarnation, a goddess of Pleasure. Janelle sits with Angie Martinez to talk [55m] about where they are now, how they got here, and what they're thinking about with the new album [Jun 9!] and tour. Similarly, here is a print interview with OUT Magazine about this new phase in their presentation.
The images that fucked ya were a patriarchal structure
Happy Pride Month! Long-time MeFite obliquicity suggested I introduce Grace Petrie [Wikipedia], with this article [DIVA], which contained this video, Black Tie [5m, RECOMMENDED - if you only watch one thing here, watch this]. What a treat! By way to introduce her as a person, here is Richard Herring interviewing her for an hour [from late 2019, interview actually starts at 5m12s], and she's really a really funny, charming political spitfire. If you want the politics turned up even more, Music And Politics With Grace Petrie [26m] is from Jan 2023, recorded in Australia, and was just two days before the concert in Sydney where these highlights were audience-recorded [33m]. Additionally, here's a pandemic pro-shot set in an empty Leicester Cathedral [48m] with a mostly different setlist. I think she's wonderful.
I Enjoy Being A Girl
Happy Pride Month! The first queer woman music artist I ever heard of was Phranc [Wikipedia]. Your All-American Jewish Lesbian Folksinger Tupperware Salesperson. I'm sure many have favorite songs, but here I will share Phranc: Full Life Interview [1h12m], which is a 2021 biographic interview that covers just about everything. The Tupperware documentary mentioned in that interview is Lifetime Guarantee: Phranc’s Adventures in Plastic [1h, Vimeo link]. Bonus: Celebrating LGBTQIA Pride Month: A Visit With Phranc [51m], a glorious Pandemic-vision interview aimed at a younger crowd where Phranc shares her life and her art and teaches paper bow tie making.
Radical Harmonies -- The Women's Music Movement Documentary
Happy Pride Month! The 2002 documentary Radical Harmonies [1h27m, Wikipedia, interlacing artifacts] is a thrilling historical document about women making music primarily for women and creating radically equalizing spaces in order to achieve their vision. Featuring a lot of familiar and not-so-familiar faces and voices from across a couple of generations of movers and shakers and musicians.