Johanna Fateman is a modern day Renaissance woman. She’s a writer, member of electro-feminist punk band Le Tigre, has an MFA in painting and runs a hair salon in New York’s West Village. And now she can add another line to her cultural curriculum vitae: MEN, a DJ, production and remix duo with Le Tigre band mate J.D. Samson.
 MEN without hats: Le Tigre’s J.D. Samson and Johanna Fateman lead a differet sort of safety dance to kick of Take Back The Night on March 28 at Satellite Ballroom. |
““We had the opportunity to DJ together at the opening of a feminist art show at the L.A. [Museum of Contemporary Art] last March,” says Fateman. “We had a really fun time putting a DJ set together and learning to use DJ software, so we decided to keep doing that.”
| Listen to "Shake Off" by MEN:
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After some one-off dates around the US, the duo embarked on a European jaunt last fall. “That was really a lot of fun,” says Fateman. “I feel like, each city we played in, the promoter and the club managed to bring together the right mix of people to make it a really wild dance party.”
| Listen to "Make It Reverse" by MEN:
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Feedback hopes that MEN can say the same of their current U.S. tour, which takes them on a wide loop around the country, including the requisite stop at Austin, Texas’ South By Southwest (indie rock’s equivalent of the Muslim Hajj). After those dates the duo should be primed to kick off this year’s Take Back The Night festivities at Satellite Ballroom on March 28. Fateman tells us that laptops and hard drives full of music make it easy to adjust to many different types of audiences, “whether it’s a dance party or more mellow, a feminist or queer event, a hipster party or whatever.” In addition to remixes and hot dance tracks, MEN will also pull out some new original tunes that they’ve composed. Put on those dancing shoes, stretch those legs and get ready for a night of fun and empowerment.
Messing with Texas
| C-VILLE Playlist What we’re listening to “I Was Made For You,” by She and Him (from Volume One)—Portland songwriter M. Ward and swoon-inducing actress Zooey Deschanel put on their Phil Spector glasses for this retro love song. “Bartender (featuring Akon),” by T-Pain (from Epiphany)—Can he sing without a vocoder? Does it matter? Just sit back and nod along. “She made us drinks, to drink / We drunk ‘em, got drunk.” “Acknowledgement,” by John Coltrane (from A Love Supreme) “The Sounds of Science,” by the Beastie Boys (from Paul’s Boutique) “One Morning,” by Gillian Welch (from Hell Among the Yearlings) |
Speaking of South By Southwest, Feedback, like thousands of other journalists, bloggers, musicians and industry folks, headed down to Austin the other week for the four-day, nonstop music freak out. Here are some highlights: The Breeders rocking Waterloo Park; Charlottesville’s own Sparky’s Flaw impressing at their Mercury Records showcase; and U.K.’s These New Puritans channeling Wire, Gang of Four and The Fall on a sunny afternoon. And extra props to D.C. and Brooklyn-based Donny Hue and the Colors, who let us catch a ride in their van and wowed us more than once with their beautiful strains of psychedelic pop. Don’t miss them the next time they roll through town.
Here comes the sun
A gust of wind blew over a few posters and press releases as we waited at last Wednesday’s Charlottesville Pavilion press conference to find out some of the acts that will be gracing the venue’s stage this year. After the posters were propped back up and the papers chased down, Pavilion manager Kirby Hutto announced the acts that have been confirmed so far: Feist, Switchfoot, Gary Allen, Emmylou Harris, Gladys Knight, Willie Nelson, Crosby, Stills and Nash, B.B. King, Phil Lesh and The Black Crowes. On July 26, the Pavilion will also host a concert to celebrate the DVD release of local music documentary, Live From The Hook (finally!), with performances by some of the groups featured in the film, such as the Skip Castro Band and The Casuals. We look forward to the warm weather and all of these great sounds.
And the award goes to…
…The Honey Dewdrops! The Scottsville duo of Kagey Parrish and Laura Wortman took first place in Prairie Home Companion’s “People In Their Twenties” talent show on March 15. They performed three songs on the show and beat out five other acts from around the nation. Congrats, Dewdrops! Listen to the entire show at prairiehome.org.
 The Honey Dewdrops took first place in Prairie Home Companion’s “People In Their Twenties” talent show. |
We’ll be the judge
Want to find out about tomorrow’s local musical talent today? Well, so do we. That’s why Feedback was delighted to be invited to help judge Monticello High School’s Battle of the Bands, which will take place at the Music Resource Center this Thursday, March 27, and benefit the school’s newspaper. We hear that local bluesman Eli Cook and one of the fine folks from Heinz Musitronics will also be marking up the scorecards. See you there! [UPDATE: The Battle of the Bands has been postponed. Stay tuned for confirmation of a rescheduled date!]
Spreading the love
Also on the topic of the Music Resource Center, Outreach Coordinator Damani Harrison (also of local rap group Beetnix) told Feedback last week that the Center has launched an initiative to open more franchises in other cities around the country. Harrison traveled to Cincinatti a few weeks ago to help spread the word about a future MRC facility there, which is scheduled to open this summer. “I was there for three days and we got a membership of around 450 kids,” Harrison says. “This thing just blew up. I couldn’t even describe how much excitement there was about this program.”
Harrison says around seven future MRCs are in the works, including ones in Staunton, Duluth, Minnesota, and along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, and that more cities are interested in getting on board. The Music Resource Center’s board helps fundraisers in each city raise the necessary money, and then Harrison and Program Manager Cory Teitelbaum follow up to guide them through equipment and training for the new facilities.
Just so you know, Feedback is smiling a big smile right now. This is great news for Charlottesville, music and kids everywhere. Congratulations to Harrison and all of the other hardworking people who have made the Music Resource Center such an incredible part of Charlottesville’s community (and soon of many more communities across the nation).
Got news or comments? Send them to feedback@c-ville.com.
