Shows on Mixcloud

I have been posting old Odd Girl Out shows to my Mixcloud account for awhile now.

Currently residing there are three shows I did over the summer, as well as the first eight shows I did on Optical in 2009. Something for your holiday listening!

Odd Girl Out podcast 9

This edition of the podcast features an interview with filmmaker Kate Hardie, as well as music from Jude Cowan Montague.

Odd Girl Out podcast 8

As I have less time to do podcasts now, I am doing mini versions, and this one is dedicated to the Music and Liberation exhibit currently touring the UK, featuring music from the companion CD and a chat with curator Dr. Deborah Withers

Odd Girl Out podcast 7

My three live shows over the summer meant no podcasts, but I am back with a bang with this edition, featuring: my visit to the Whitstable Biennale to meet director Sue Jones; the E17 Art Trail to chat with Auntie Maureen and Catherine; plus a Skype call with Club des Femmes' Selina Robertson.

Odd Girl Out: RR1

Odd Girl Out RR1 by Val_Phoenix on Mixcloud

This was last week's My Summer special on Radeq Radio's Summer of '12 series. I was meant to broadcast up to sunset at 19:49, but it actually stopped at 19:40. Nonetheless, I managed to cram in some field recordings, Pussy Riot trial testimony and loads of summer- and sun-themed music. I will upload the recording once it's edited.

RR show 1; 30/8/12
Vanessa Daou—Waiting for the Sun to Rise
Lois—Staring at the Sun
Lucinda Williams—Big Red Sun Blues
Shonen Knife—Tower of the Sun
Juned—Sisters of the Red Sun
Pussy Riot trial testimony excerpt 1
Janis Joplin—Summertime
Lonely Drifter Karen—Some Summer Days
Cocteau Twins—Summerhead
Buffalo Daughter—Cold Summer
Juliana Luecking—H-Heat
Kristin Hersh—Sundrops (string version)
Autoclave—Summer
Weekend—Summerdays
Pussy Riot trial testimony excerpt 2
Kendra Smith—Valley of the Morning Sun
Still Corners—Endless Summer
Archive—Love in Summer
Pussy Riot trial testimony excerpt 3
Low—Sunshine
Chalk and Numbers—Summer Nights (and Summer Days)

This Thursday live on Summer of '12

This Thursday evening I shall be doing an experimental Odd Girl Out show live from Sound Fjord as part of radeq's Summer of '12 series. I shall be broadcasting from 18:30 BST to sunset, before the station hands over to New Zealand!

Very much looking forward to it, and I have been busy compiling, editing, and digitising field recordings from my travels this summer for the occasion. Will also be playing summer- and sun-themed music (with a sprinkling of rain--this is Britain!).

Odd Girl Out: SCR2

Odd Girl Out SCR2 by Val_Phoenix on Mixcloud

Odd Girl Out: Summer Club Radio show 2
My second and last show for the short-term station hosted by V22 featured a plethora of newish tunes, plus a recent interview with Bildwechsel organisers Chris, Kate and Eva and an archive chat with LLGFF programmer Naz Jamal.

28/7/12; SCR2
She Keeps Bees—See Me
Stefanie Sourial—Hide and Seek
Julia Holter—In the Same Room
Haroula Rose—Lavender Moon
The Dark Shadows—Eisbär
The Glass Child—Hypnic Jerk
Sellofan—I Want It Now
Chris, Kate, Eva of Bildwechsel—interview
Gudrun Gut—Garten Orginal (Trimmed)
Azealia Banks—Aquababe
Ladyhawke—Sunday Drive (Gigamesh mix)
Sex Jams—Gone Chillin’
Cat Power—Ruin
Jolly Goods—If I Were a Woman
Corin Tucker Band—Groundhog Day
Video Love—Jalouse, Moi
Rose Elinor Dougall—The Night
Jude Cowan—Malearang
Naz Jamal—interview
The Raincoats—Babydog
Santigold—Big Mouth
Decibelles—The End of a Reign
Plaided—So What
Sharon van Etten—Serpents
Pollyanna—Boy [yes, I know Book of Love were from Philly. My bad!]
She Makes War—Shields and Daggers
La Sera—Break My Heart
Dolly Parton—Jolene
Poliça—Lay Your Cards Out
Caro Snatch—Mary Rose (Sci-Fi Sol Ultra Dub)
2:54—The March
Pussy Riot—Putin Has Pissed Himself
Sleigh Bells—Demons (Diplo mix)
Laetitia Sadier—Find Me the Pulse of the Universe

Odd Girl Out SCR2

Summer Club Radio had server problems today, but the show did go out, and I will post a playlist and recording soon.

Coming up on Odd Girl Out...

On Saturday afternoon I have my second and final show on Summer Club Radio, from 13:00-15:00 BST.

I am still compiling a playlist, but will feature lots of tracks from the last six months or so, plus an interview with the Bildwechsel crew and an archive chat with Naz Jamal of the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

Odd Girl Out: SCR1

It took a bit longer than expected, but here is the playlist, with an embed (hurrah!), for my special show on Summer Club Radio two weeks ago. As requested by the station, it was archive-heavy, hence the unusual number of interviews. And I decided to make it queer-themed to tie in with Pride.

28/6/12; SCR1—Queer Special
Luscious Jackson—Daughters of the Kaos
Miss the Occupier—The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
Le Tigre—Dyke March 2001 (Reid's Aphro-Dykey mix)
JD Samson—interview
Meshell—Mass Transit
The Moves—Heavenly Creatures
Plaided—My Heart Is On Desire
Golden Diskó Ship—Out of the door, into the fields, to be seen no more
Beth Ditto—interview
Gossip—Move in the Right Direction (CSS mix)
Joan Jett and The Blackhearts—Crimson and Clover
Factory Acts—Stock Exchange
Susan O'Shea—interview
Bettina Köster—Confession
Sleater-Kinney—I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone
Räuberhöhle—I'm Not Part of the Shit
Electrelane—Between the Wolf and Dog
Fifth Column—interview
Fifth Column—Don't
Sick of Sarah—Not Listening
Echobelly—Give Her a Gun
Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra—Do It With a Rock Star
Karin Michalski and Renate Lorenz—interview
Peaches—I U She
The Haggard—Feminist Bullshit
Phranc—'64 Ford
Meshell—Devil's Halo
Shunda K—interview
Shunda K ft. Lady Lash—Chasin' Dat Sound
Tribe 8—Butch in the Streets
The Shondes—Nothing Glows
The Au Pairs—It's Obvious 
Lesley Woods—interview
Bratmobile—There's No Other Way / No You Don't (Peel session)
ani difranco—Shy
Abstract Random ft. KJ—Vacant Living (DJ Murr (LAL) mix)
Susan O'Shea—interview
Scream Club ft. Rhani--Spit and Glitter

Odd Girl Out SCR1 by Val_Phoenix on Mixcloud

Odd Girl Out on Summer Club Radio

Sorry for the gap in posting. Have been busy.

I am pleased to report that Odd Girl Out will return for a one-off live broadcast next Thursday, 28 June at 19:00 BST on Summer Club Radio. This is a short-term installation in Bermondsey, with loads of artistic components.

Presently, I am assembling the show, which will have the theme Queer and feature loads of archive interviews, plus music.

The player is a bit fiddly, so am giving you loads of notice to get it up and running. The shows go out live Thursday-Sunday, and then it loops, as I understand it.

3 July
Sorry I have been slow to put up the playlist. Will do very soon! 

Odd Girl Out podcast 6

In which I visit CRiSAP's Sound::Gender::Feminism::Activism conference to meet the organization's boss Cathy Lane and speakers Annie Goh, Helena Lopes Braga and Laura Seddon. Plus, I find myself overcome with the urge to rap upon meeting Toronto's Abstract Random.

Band of the Week: 2:54

Very reminiscent of early '90s shoegazing, 2:54, formed by two sisters, apparently likes hanging out in misty forests and gazing moodily into the middle distance. Works for me. New album out soon.

Band of the Week: abstract random

Saw this group last Tuesday in London and was really impressed. Part of a larger scene in Toronto (some of whom they'd brought with them), the trio combine hard beats, fierce lyrics and a bit of ramshackle stagecraft in an intriguing way. They also make their own videos.

Odd Girl Out podcast 5

Odd Girl Out podcast 5 has a punk protest feel and features interviews with Patty Schemel, Riot Grrrl Berlin speaking about Pussy Riot, and Susan of Factory Acts, plus a visit to the Wood Street Pop-up Picture Palace.

Band of the Week: ZZZ's

Something different. This noisy band from Japan is currently on tour in New York, having wowed SXSW.

Odd Girl Out podcast 4

Hot out of the editing suite comes podcast 4, featuring on-location interviews with Gabriella and Karen at Storytails, Plaided at the Lexington, Debs Henry-Pollard at the WOW Tweetmeet and Pratibha Parmar at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

Band of the Week: She Makes War

A one-woman operation, She Makes War makes lush, moody pop music and is a mistress of multi-tasking, juggling guitar, loop pedal and uke. Her second album, Little Battles, is released on 9 April.

This video comes from her first album, Disarm, and was shot in sunny East London. Not enough vids on bicycles, IMHO.

Band of the Week: Pussy Riot

Some weeks after their performance in a Moscow church led to arrests and detention, Pussy Riot have made it into such unlikely media outlets as the BBC and FT, making them the most visible opposition forces to Vladimir Putin and all he represents.

The group's actions have also led to a revived discussion about the power of punk in modern society, which is to be applauded, though some of us have been having this conversation for more than 20 years. Oh, and Riot Grrrl never actually went away, chaps.

Here is the punk prayer that got alleged members arrested.

Band of the Week: Plaided

So, while we're waiting, here's some groovy music. Plaided are a duo who hail from Vienna. I saw this band on Friday and keenly await their debut in summer. This was the first single.

Repeats suspended

There won't be any more repeats on Optical, as the playout was too erratic. Will look at getting the shows streamed, but for now, do check out the monthly podcasts. And, of course, I hope to be back on air at some point.

This week: show 11

Show 11 features interviews with members of two bands who've broken up: Ilsebill and sts of The Haggard.

Today's show is early

Don't know why, but today's repeat of show 10 seems to have started two hours early, so is already 35 minutes in. Sigh. Listen now!

Podcast 3

It's the last Friday of the shortest month of the year, which means it's time for another Odd Girl Out podcast, hurriedly edited in curtailed fashion, owing to technical difficulties. Hence, a couple of clunky edits. (Sorry, Ladies of the Press*.)

But, here it is, featuring an array of clever and innovative DIY artists and musicians, all plying their wares on the night I met them in the People's Republic of Hackney. How about that?

There is also a digital/analogue theme running through it.

The interviewees are: She Makes War, Ruth Solomons, Ana of Ladies of the Press*, and Pigeon.

This week's repeat: show ten

Show ten, from 2010, features interviews with guitarist Debbie Smith and goth-industrial singer Mona Mur.

Here's a Japanese promo clip from one of Debbie's bands, Echobelly. Check out the bra shot!

This week's repeat: show nine

Where was I? Assuming everything's OK technically, this week's repeat should be show nine, featuring interviews with Chicks on Speed and Joyce Raskin of Scarce. If the show doesn't show up in the Optical player, click on one of the play options below it.

Show eight rescheduled

9 Feb edit: The Listen Live function is not working directly. You have to choose one of the player options below in order to listen.

Technical problems knocked Optical off air both days show eight should have aired, and so it will go out this upcoming week instead. It features interviews with Anja Huwe and Viv Albertine.

Here is a film I shot when I visited Anja Huwe's studio in 2009.

Anja Huwe: in her studio from Val Phoenix on Vimeo.

Show eight disruption

A power outage has knocked Optical off air, so show eight is not on. Not sure when it'll be fixed. Fingers crossed for Sunday's replay, then.

This week's repeat: show eight

This week's repeat show, show eight, features interviews with two veterans of independent music, Anja Huwe, singer for Xmal Deutschland, and Viv Albertine, guitarist for The Slits. The interviews were conducted in 2009, after both women had left the music scene for other creative and life pursuits. Huwe is now an artist, and I visited her in her studio in Hamburg, while Albertine has returned to music as a solo performer.

Here is Xmal Deutschland back in the day.

Odd Girl Out podcast 2

Freshly uploaded, here is podcast 2, featuring Dee Rees (director of Pariah), electronic music whiz Caro Snatch, polymath Miranda July and Shooting People's Helen Jack.

This week's repeat: show seven

This week's repeat, show seven, features a two-part interview with Jule Juergensohn of Ruby Tuesday, the Berlin collective that staged the first German Girls Rock Camp in 2009.

Here is a film I made about the preparations for that camp.

Ruby Tuesday Rock Camp for Girls from Val Phoenix on Vimeo.

This week's repeat: show six

This week's programme is a repeat of show six, featuring interviews with photographer Jaine Laine and artist Cornelia Schleime.

Here is the trailer for ostPUNK!, which features Cornelia (the blonde woman) talking about her punk days in East Berlin. If anyone has this film, do drop me a line. I would love to see it in full.

This week: show five repeat

So, this week's repeat will be show five, featuring a Slits feature and an interview with Bettina Köster.

Here is a clip of The Slits in all their chaotic glory, including their appearance in Jubilee.

Back on air: show four

Optical's server has reanimated, and so we are back to repeats, this week's being show four, featuring interviews with artist Verena Kyselka and musician Elizabeth Fraser.