The SWIKest Summer Tours

Summer in the city means roof deck parties, picnics in the park, and, most importantly, live music!  After the great find last weekend (see Lovewhip), I realized that I needed to update my calendar, buy some tickets, and make some plans for the next few months before I miss all the good shows. I picked up Time Out New York's "Summer Concerts" issue and Billboard's "Summer Preview Issue" to get myself sorted. So, who's on tour and who's worth seeing? Too many for me to mention, but here are a few of the SWIKest summer tours.

Lovewhip

To leave or not to leave NYC for the weekend?  That is the question. Every New Yorker faces it, particularly on the holiday weekends. After some bouts of indecision, I chose to visit a good friend and grab a little beach time in CT.  But I also wanted to hear some live music this weekend. There was plenty in NYC, but what would we find in New Haven?  We found Wild Women of Radio's 15th Anniversary Celebration at Cafe Nine featuring Lovewhip and their energetic and booty-shaking tunes.

Trina's Single Again

I'm a little behind the times with this tune. Trina's album Still the Baddest came out a year ago and this was the first single.   I heard "Single Again" where I discover most hip-hop music these days, in a dance class.  The instructor is a great choreographer and I like her music.  By the end of the class, I'm deluded into believing that I could be a back up dancer for Janet or J.Lo. While that will never happen, it is where I find out that Janet and J. Lo have new albums and discover new hip-hop tunes.   She played "Single Again" a few months ago and I was hooked. It also made me realize that I hadn't heard a female rapper in a while.  Was it just my ignorance or was there something more to it?

Meddle by Little Boots

Often things converge to point you to something that is worth, at the very least, further investigation.  This week two people, who's musical tastes I respect, pointed me to Little Boots and her song "Meddle".  If you don't want to read the whole story - cut to the chase - I like the song (fast and catchy).  I can't stop listening to it.  More on why below.

Why the SWIK?

It has come to my attention that there are very few women authoring music blogs.  I'm here to join the small and growing community.  Each week I'll pick an artist, album, or song and blog about  it.   Visit the About section for more on my musical tastes and to see if you'll care about my choices.  Some weeks I'll also expand  on different topics, like 'where have all the female rappers gone?' or propose debates like 'is Britney Spears relevant?'.   We'll see how it goes.  I'm new to the blogosphere.  Thanks for reading.