"b-side" the bunch #4: "tricks, treats and tracks" mix

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

"only pumpkin pies are burning"

dar williams- christians and the pagans (live)

"what are you doing to our minds?"

the nields- alfred hitchcock

"so their minds are soft and lazy, well, hey, give 'em what they want"

10,000 maniacs- candy everybody wants (live)

"b-side" the bunch #3: "b-side your graveside" vigils

Some rare and somber tracks in keeping with the graveyard theme...they won't last long and you may not either...beware the grim reaper...

"my appletree, my brightness 'tis time we were together"

sinead o'connor-i am stretched on your grave (night until morning dub/earthapella

"a cold wind blows on a windless day"

sarah mclachlan-ben's song (live)


enya - 's fagaim mo bhaile

"undertaker, please drive slow"

kristen hersh-can the circle be unbroken

"something happened long ago, something that will not let go"

october project-bury my lovely (acoustic)

"you`d miss the beauty of the light upon this earth and the sweetness of the leaving"

jane siberry- calling all angels

"yes the day, yes the day will turn to night"

innocence mission - fare thee well

"oh give these clay feet wings to fly to touch the face of the stars"

loreena mckennitt - dante's prayer (not a b-side)

Rykarda Parasol -featured on podcast #7

LINK to podcast #7: "Betty's Graveyard Shift Serenades!"

Wow...what an AMAZING VOICE...I had to introduce you all to this band!! Dark, moody - the type of music that expands the imagination...my favorite kind.

Their website attempts to explain their sound:
"Often describing themselves as underhanded and white-collar criminal, comparisons to the Bad Seeds, Johnny Cash, and the Velvet Underground come to mind. These cinematic songs lay out stories of bad deeds and betrayed loves with stark simplicity."

The obvious comparison to my ears is Concrete Blonde...Rykarda's vocals echo the best moments in Johnette Napolitano's body of work. That shady, dusky whiskey-breath vocal delivery. The dark nature of the lyrics bring to mind PJ Harvey or the above mentioned Bad Seeds...all the best of the wicked stuff!

Rykarda, as of the present, has released a six-song ep called "Here She Comes..." - three of the songs are available in mp3 format for FREE on her website!!Another non-ep track "Hannah Leah" is accessible for download through her myspace site.

Enjoy!!...I am ordering the ep today from scratchrecords.com.

JUST DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN...

"Lullaby for Blacktail"

from

Here She Comes...

"She's Like Heroine to Me"

from

Here She Comes...

LINK TO MYSPACE for extra track "Hannah Leah"

These tracks are available, along with band information, at

Rykarda Parasol's webpage!

Add yourself to the mailing list...I'm eagerly anticipating a full-length release!

If you like the music, SUPPORT THE ARTIST and BUY, BUY, BUY!

"b-side" the bunch #2: "rubberband girl remixes"

The Kate Bush Countdown continues...

So bounce to the sounds of these remixed and rebound classics...hop to it, they won't be here long...

"i'm gonna land with my feet firm on the ground...and let my body catch up"

rubberband girl (extended mix) by kate bush

"transfixed by the inner sound of your promise to be found"

kiss them for me (kathak mix) by siouxsie & the banshees

"so i turn myself inside out in hope someone will see"

jackie's strength (wedding cake mix) by tori amos

"here comes the winter’s rain to cleanse my skin...i wake again"

summer son (giorgio moroder radio mix) by texas

"it takes courage to enjoy it..the hardcore and the gentle"

big time sensuality (the fluke minimix) by björk

"you perfectly heard...love in all it’s entirety...is no less than we deserve"

familiar feeling (plankton's country slice remix) by moloko

Emily Bezar -featured on podcast #6

LINK to podcast #5: "Betty's Intergalactic Chicks Mix!"

I first came across Emily Bezar six or seven years ago...simply by accident. I was in my piano goddess phase...had purchased everything i could get by tori and kate...knew it all by heart and was really craving some new stuff with the same "music blood-type".

I first purchased

Moon in Grenadine

and was so excited with my find that i played the cd for two weeks straight! I quickly found the earlier release

Grandmother's Tea Leaves

...and enjoyed that as well.

While looking for some good quality legal tunes for my podcasts, i decided to find emily's website and was pleasantly surprised to find so many free mp3s to download!! I was also thrilled to see a download-only ep called

Rococo B-sides

How generous to her fans...and the tracks are amazing...i included one in podcast #6 called "falling up"...wasn't it great?? Well, here are some more for you to enjoy...

JUST DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN...

"Rain in Calgary"

from

Moon in Grenadine

"Avalanche"

from

Grandmother's Tea Leaves

"In My Sky"

from

Angels' Abacus

These tracks are available, along with others, at

Emily Bezar's webpage!

If you like the music, SUPPORT THE ARTIST and BUY, BUY, BUY!

These should get you in the mood to buy the new kate that's on it's way...although these tracks definitely stand all on their own! What a talent...
Perfect for the fall weather - - just need a warm cup of herbal tea (mint is my favorite) and these warm tunes to keep cozy...cuddle up.

"b-side" the bunch #1: "under the ivy selections"

Enjoy this gentle mix of rareties...available to keep for a limited time...

"go right to the white rose..."

under the ivy by kate bush

"even the milky way was dressed in black..."

flying dutchman by tori amos

"you can't heal what you can't feel..."

ice-pulse by cocteau twins

"look up at the weakness in the sky..."

bells ring (acoustic) by mazzy star

"you shine like the moon over water..."

return to me (live) by october project

"the world is more full of weeping than you can understand..."

stolen child (live) by loreena mckennitt

Michelle Cross -featured on podcast #5

LINK to podcast #5: "New Betty's on the Block"

I came upon Michelle Cross by accident on the net earlier this year, had downloaded the tracks available on her website, and have been listening to them over and over again ever since...I have an extensive mp3 library in itunes and very few artists have so many highly-rated songs in my database.

Like so many others out there, Tori Amos is an icon of individuality, passion and female strength. Michelle Cross should be very likable to any Tori fans out there... not merely because she is a wild pianist and vibrant woman, but because she possesses her own unique-ness. Her lyrics possess many creative and colorful turns of phrase; her playing and singing are unbridled and innocent at the same turn.

Her songs are catchy, with twirling hooks and quiet nooks...she sounds familiar, as if she's been hidden in my subconscious for a decade...maybe that is because she reminds me of Tori --- but in a really, really original way, okay??

Check out a few of these free and legal tracks from her webpage...AND IF YOU LIKE IT, BUY IT!!!

JUST DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN...

"Fast in Love"

from

Smoke Like Perfume

"Big Fish"

from

Smoke Like Perfume

"Cold Cold Light"

from

My Name is Not Cinderella

These tracks are available, along with others, at

www.michellecross.com.

i:scintilla -featured on Podcast #4

LINK to podcast #4: "Hardcore Girls Only Club"

I heard a track from i:scintilla a week or so ago on the

Accident Hash Podcast

which features a wide variety of independant music. The track impressed me with it's tonal density and stark mood. I got on the website and found some other great tracks available. I thought i would choose the band as my featured "betty" this program because of it's originality and i thought a new band can use all the help it can get!

A female-fronted industrial band from illinois, i:scintilla seems to be impressing their way into certain circles of indie music. Their cd (released in 2004) is called "The Approach" and is distributed by positron records.

I don't really know alot about the band, but their website seems to offer much information as well as lyrics, pics and the show schedule. They seem to be playing mostly around illinois, but because i live in st. louis, i will probably see them when they are within a decent distance. I'll let you know, if i do.

JUST DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN...

"Havestar"

from

The Approach

"Fidelidad -live at weft 90.1 fm"

original version from

The Approach

These tracks are available, along with others, at

www.iscintilla.com.

Kidney Thieves -featured on Podcast #3

LINK to podcast #3: "Betty's Buggy Beat Mix"

This band ROCKS...That's really all i need to say! I first heard The Kidney Thieves maybe four or five years ago and i remember listening to them constantly while i was in my anger-phase during my divorce!! After anger came grief and i think i was on to patti griffin and others of the depressive-folk derivative. But for a few weeks...The Kidney Thieves were the soundtrack to my life...there was danger on the roads!

Later when my high school students recognized a track i was playing in my office, they informed me that the band was also on the "Queen of the Damned" soundtrack...They thought i was pretty cool that day...(sigh).

There really are very few great female-fronted heavier rock bands that i've discovered...curve, cranes, scheer...those are a few i've enjoyed...but heavy has never been what i've been drawn to, except at certain moments! There is something very cathartic about banging your steering wheel and screaming at the top of your lungs while racing down the highway. Although, it can be very alarming for any passengers you may be carrying...

JUST DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN...DRIVE CAREFULLY...

"Black Bullet"

from

Zerospace

"Spank"

from

Zerospace

These tracks are available, along with others, at

www.kidneythieves.com.

Stephanie Dosen -featured on Podcast #2

LINK to podcast #2: "Betty's Sunday Blue Soundtrack"

I was first startled by Stephanie's voice on the

Sabrina Ward Harrison website

(amazing author of artistic journals) a couple of years ago (?)...I had to know who was singing that haunting, quietly powerful song called "Brave". I scoured the website and immediately ordered the CD from her homepage.

I listen to alot of CDs...I mean ALOT of CDs. This is one i put in over and over again. Stephanie has the same girlish voice and lyrical wisdom as

The Innocence Mission,

which is one of my all-time favorite bands. I was hooked!

Listen to the tracks below when you are feeling particularly vulnerable or sad...or just contemplative and open. Share these intimate musical portraits with a friend and just listen and be quiet together while the hushed and gentle singing rings clear.

JUST DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN...

"Sea Mist and Mirrors"

from

ghosts, mice & vagabonds

>

(track courtesy of GarageBand)

LISTEN TO STREAMS FROM HER UPCOMING CD HERE!

Visit Stephanie's HomePage at

stephaniedosen.com

Over the Rhine -featured on podcast #1

LINK to podcast #1: "Betty Says Hello!"

I have chosen Over the Rhine as my first featured band for good reason...I have been following their work since before their first cd was even released in 1991. I was working in a small music and book store in missouri and our music-buyer received this homely looking cassette demo from a band he'd never heard of. It was titled "Til we Have Faces". He gave it a listen, thought it sounded a bit too artsy/folky for him and decided to pass it along to me. The year was 1990...I was a freshman in college and just beginning to look beyond what was handed me by this midwestern prime-time culture of which i was surrounded.

That cd did more to turn me on to the "sub-culture" of that which exists below the mainstream, beneath the numbness and blind acceptance of the norm in music...than any music listened to prior. I was hooked! When their full release came out, I purchased it...I pressured our music buyer to buy it for the stores and recommended it to every "music seeker" (you know them because you are one) that came my way. I have been a champion for this band, and others like them, ever since. I saw them in concert this past summer and introduced some friends to the music...they were blown away!

Karin Berquist and Linford Detweiler are the coupled heart behind Over the Rhine...Karin's voice is indescribable...sensual in the way warm honey tastes, or like the sun warming you through a window pane on a cold wooden floor, while you lay with the dog, eyes closed, listening to joni, carol or laura nyro and you remember really being a kid again.

A bit verbose perhaps, but this music is really substantive and difficult to describe beyond the sensual. Lyrically, the band is stellar...they have few peers in contemporary music. Linford and Karin write the songs and Linford has a particular depth of writing that I appreciate. If you subscribe to their email list, expect long, lovely, intimate correspondence filled with bright imagery and cozy thoughts. These artists do nothing half-way...their music is a spiritual offering and their listeners are transcended by the song.

JUST DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN...

"All I Need is Everything"

from

Good Dog, Bad Dog

"Born"

from

Drunkard's Prayer

These tracks are available, along with others, at

www.overtherhine.com.