I Wrote a Thing for Noisey on L7

L7, l to r: Suzi Gardner, Donita Sparks, Dee Plakas, Jennifer Finch

It's been a while since I delved into professional music journalism, but when one of my all-time favorite bands, L7, became the subject of the documentary, L7: Pretend We're Dead, I knew this was the interview and topic I had to explore.

Thanks so much to the patient and gracious Kim Kelly at Vice for letting me to have a ridiculously revealing and candid interview with L7 singer/guitarist Donita Sparks - and for letting me hold a personal record for longest pitch-to-published piece I hope either of us will ever deal with.

So without further ado, CLICK ON MY NOISEY L7 FEATURE and read the damn thing!  I worked long enough on it.

I recently described writing as "worthless torture and I don't understand why anyone does it." Which might just be the most Russian writer thing to say, ever. So... yeah, maybe I'll still pitch a thing or two.

The Lame List

No, this isn't my attempt at a Best of 2012 music list (though I'm sure I'll take crap for some of my selections when the time comes). It is, however, my lament at not being able to get in to see Soundgarden's show at Irving Plaza last night.

While I do like their sound a lot, I was never a superfan of theirs. I am, though, a big fan of their guitarist, Kim Thayil. He's always struck me as one of those cool, low-key guitar demi-gods who was just into doing this own thing while Chris Cornell was busy trying to become an "artist" and break away from being labeled a metal frontman.

How chill is Kim? Below is a perfect example, via a vintage clip of him participating in Almost Live's "The Lame List" skit.


Better clips I couldn't embed are HERE, HERE and HERE. And if you need a plus one for either of Soundgarden's January shows, I'm your lady.


Bonus, here's Gruntruck's turn at The Lame List.