Stereogum (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009
The dozen songs on the Sounds From The Anthology Archives digital compilation are each excellent in their own, often hazed-out way. The collection's a mix of rare material that spans the '60s to the '80s and includes Karen Dalton, Betty Davis, Swedish garage rockers the Stomachmouths, Peruvian crew Telegraph Avenue (who turn in the wide-eyed, zoned-out awesome "Happy"), Indianapolis psych...
Seattle Times (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
"School" live at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon "Bleach" is Nirvana's toughest set of songs, but as it offends with noise and griminess, it surprises with pop flashes and repetitive relaxation. The choruses seem ripped apart from the verses, jarring but complimentary, and Kurt Cobain (excuse me, Kurdt) had an undeniable way with a simple distorted guitar riff. The 20th...
Take me to the Water Black Grooves (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
Welcome to the October/November issue of Black Grooves. In celebration of our upcoming conference, Reclaiming the Right to Rock: Black Experiences in Rock Music, which will be hosted on the IU-Bloomington campus on November 13-14, 2009, we’re devoting the entire issue to black rock. Featured are two recent films, Electric Purgatory: The Fate [...]
Take me to the Water Black Grooves (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
Title: The Astronette Sessions Artist: Ava Cherry Label: Black Barbarella Records Catalog No.: Bbarbcd001 Release Date: 2009 Like Betty Davis and Grace Jones, Ava Cherry was a stunning model-turned-singer who rose to fame in the ‘70s, hung with an A-list crowd of artists and musicians, and blazed a trail as a fashionista whose style melded glam rock with futuristic [...]
Take me to the Water Black Grooves (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
Title: Is It Love or Desire Artist: Betty Davis Label: Light in the Attic Catalog No.: LITA 047 Release Date: 2009 (previously unreleased) The central question of Betty Davis’ career can be summarized, without too much over-generalization, as “What’s a nasty gal to do?” From her eponymous 1973 debut, through her two follow-ups They Say I’m Different and Nasty [...]
Philadelphia Inquirer (Free subscription) | 10/24/2009
The relentless quest Betty Davis launched three years ago to find the hit-and-run driver who killed her son ended yesterday in a Gloucester County courtroom.
Philadelphia Inquirer (Free subscription) | 10/24/2009
GRIEF NEVER released its grip on Betty Davis' heart after her son was killed by a hit-and-run driver, so she carried it with her to the South Jersey bars, parking lots and ice-covered roads she scoured in her quest for answers.
Style Spy (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
Something tells me… this episode was a little on the boring side (aside from Chuck and Blair of course). Oh well, let’s start the GOSSIP GIRL countdown anyways. 1. I’ve always loved how cinematic Blair’s dreams are. Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Charade (another great with Audrey), now we can add All About Eve with Betty Davis to the list. (There was also a reference to Age...
Bumpershine.com (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
DOWNLOAD: Betty Davis – “Is It Love or Desire?” Two weeks ago, the master restorers and ultimate crate diggers over at Light In The Attic Records put out two fantastic new reissues from the “Queen of Sexified Funk”, otherwise known as Betty Davis. Like all of their releases, these two new albums are both meticulous [...]
Undercover Black Man (Free subscription) | 10/19/2009
The fine folks at Light in the Attic Records have dug up, polished and packaged an album’s worth of unreleased material from the legendary ’70s funk queen Betty Davis . “Never bootlegged... never heard until now,” says the press release. And if that’s not enough to curl your toes, guess what? They’re giving away one of those tracks as a FREE MP3. Click here to hear...
Mainstream Isn't So Bad...Is It? (Free subscription) | 10/19/2009
When it comes to smokin', sizzlin', gritty, sexified funk, there's only one stop you should plan on making: Betty Davis . Although commercially a failure in the early 70's, her music artistically outclassed its contemporaries in ways that just weren't appreciated at the time. Thankfully that's changed with time, and there's been a resurgence in interest in her material. With that resurgence comes some...
In Entertainment (Free subscription) | 10/13/2009
There are a lot of people that love what Blu-ray has done for high-dollar block buster films. However let’s not forget about the just as dedicated group of people who would rather see black and white films brought to the high definition format. Senior vice president of the theatrical catalogue, George Feltenstein at Warner Home Video [...]
The KEXP Blog (Free subscription) | 10/12/2009
by Chris Estey For most of those we know, life has become about negotiating the grid. I am between a landline with a broken ringer and an iPhone. I handled PR for Betty Davis, who like Faust initiated pure desire as progress, in a long-ago new age of feminist-fueled riff-rock, on album-as-manifesto long players crafted around [...]
No Good for Me (Free subscription) | 10/08/2009
HEALTH, "Die Slow" This song makes me want to dance like a banshee and smash my body into a wall of concrete at the same time. I think these are oddly healthy sentiments, actually. (Kat)...
aprons and hammers (Free subscription) | 10/08/2009
Betty Davis floats my boat. No, not the black and white film star with the famous eyes. The other Betty Davis, once married to Miles, who can be credited for introducing him to Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, and for widening his musical tastes and inspiring the Bitches Brew album. Betty Davis who was out there, flying her freak flag high, who couldn't be tamed, who had amazing live shows, who was boycotted...
Videos