Crazy Bitch Alert

I recently joined an online mixtape club, and this entry is based on the theme of my first contribution. These are women musicians that follow their own lead. I focused mainly on solo artists with an emphasis on the experimental, obscure, and avant-garde, and the crossover into visual and performance arts. They represent the unapologetic female with an aggressive voice and originality in self expression that confronts societal constructs that tell women to behave a certain way. Their talent, style, and confidence challenge what society has deemed inappropriate, unfeminine or outside the "norm." These bitches and witches have a whole lot to say and the technical skill to fuel the engine. They sing with demonic passion and perform with a don't fuck with me attitude. They are the most innovative women in music. Download my mix, liner notes, and album art HERE.

KAREN FINLEY










DIAMANDA GALAS








YOKO ONO









Download my mix HERE.

Mad Love

Here is a clip of 7 Year Bitch performing in one of my favorite movies of the 90's Mad Love, directed by Antonia Bird.

Nina Hagen in Amerika

BADDASSSSS
over the top german singer, Nina Hagen, was considered an Opera Prodigy by nine years old. She grew up protesting the East German Government, has incredible style, stage presence, and a daughter named Cosma Shiva. Her voice is expressive and possessive, on an Austrian Talk show on the topic of youth culture, she became infamous by demonstrating female masturbation techniques, too bad I can't find a video of that!
















Here she is towards the end talking about women in Africa being castrated and unable to attain orgasm while being forced into becoming birthing machines.


Nina on the Merv Griffin Show with Don Rickles the "insult comic." They're not asking her any real questions but she makes the answers and entire experience fun and interesting.















Her outfit is a little Madge vs Courtney Love ca. 1985 here, but way better, and with Romy hair. She's singing in German but communicates so much with her eyes and face it's mesmerizing.

















This is a cute introductory video of Nina from 1985. I hate how David Letterman always has to belittle what the interesting guests on his show say. He seems to enjoy light chit chat with passive attractive females and the minute they say something interesting he has to cut them off. He does it worst with the most interesting people, more subtle with Nina than with Crispin Glover on acid. She's adorable.





































Nina Hagen in Amerika- this is really worth watching all the way through even though it's 99% in German.

Animation Nation

Allison Schulnik. Known for her charmingly shamanic ghoulish paintings and sculptures, Allison renders this animation with the same concentrated aesthetic in clay.



Erin Dunn. Artist, Animator, fellow graduate of RISD and friend, is represented by Galleries in LA and Amsterdam. This is a music video she did for one of my favorite new bands Nite Jewel.




Emily Collins. An awesome animator, fellow RISD graduate, and big time buddy.

Reel of work from RISD from Emily Collins on Vimeo.

Caroline Leaf. A Canadian Filmmaker who used only sand on glass to complete this stop motion animation, The Owl Who Married a Goose. 1974.



Yuri Norstein. "Hedgehog in the Fog"- One of the best animations of all time, Russian, completed in 1975.



Lotte Reiniger. The woman that started it all with the feature length animation The Adventures of Prince Achmed completed in 1926 using a technique she invented-The entire film is animated using the silhouette technique, which employs movable cardboard and metal cutouts posed in front of illuminated sheets of glass. The story channels "1001 Arabian Nights" and follows a young prince who tames a magical horse and rides it through many adventures inspired by other fairy tales. While travelling, he falls in love with the beautiful Princess Peri Banu, and must defeat an army of demons to win her heart.