In which Degenerate Dictionary participates in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge #atozchallenge

Howdy Doodie :-)

Just a heads up. Though I'm not participating in the April A-Z Challenge this year through my personal blog, Adam Byatt and I are participating through Degenerate Dictionary. So, if you are participating, we'd love to see you over there! Click the image to be directed to DegDic:

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The #AprilA2Z 2013 Challenge, Aussie musician Stephen Carmichael, and National Poetry Month.

It's this time of year again. I will never forget what a blessing it was in 2010 when I did this for the first time. I met so many wonderful bloggers and made heaps of great friends. But, this year, I just cannot manage it. It would have been my fourth year participating, but I just had to be kind to myself this time.

If you are not signed up to the A-Z challenge this year, and you'd like to, click this link to join the other 1500 participants!

Stephen Carmichael

I won't be blogging this month. Well, not as me. I will still be posting my scheduled The Artist Unleashed posts every Wednesday. And maybe link you to other events around the web during the month. I do hope you drop by to offer my guests your support!

This Wednesday I have musician Stephen Carmichael, from Brisbane, Australia. Stephen draws his influences from growing up listening to Michael Jackson, Daft Punk and David Bowie … and more recently artists such as Lady Gaga, Empire of the Sun, and MGMT. In March, 2011, Stephen was featured on Britney Spears’ website for his cover of her song ‘Till The World Ends’! Pretty awesome, hey?

Also, as many of you surely know, April is National Poetry Month. And the fabulous Caroline Starr Rose has a really amazing line-up of poets guesting on her blog every day during April, including myself (15th), Laurel Garver (18th), and Theresa Milstein (26th). 

Have fun! And I'll be back at the end of the month :-) In the meantime, you can always find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Goodreads!

Have a great April!

#AtoZChallenge: Frank Zappa

My father in 1992                          Frank Zappa

Okay, short and sweet today, being the last day of the challenge and all ...

I've never listened to Frank, but everyone used to say my father looked like him. And that inspired a line in my debut novel!

What do you reckon? No resemblance at all, right? ;o)

Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for Z.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

PS: I will email the last music winner personally tomorrow.


PPS: I'm thinking I might take a blog break until next Monday ... I suppose you'll know my decision if I don't post again this week :o)

#AtoZChallenge: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

WINNER #12: Congratulations Bryan Russell! Send me an email to let me know which album of mine you want and I'll send you a download link.
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I'm a pretty new listener of this band, so they haven't really been in my life long enough to inspire me. But I "like" them. And they start with Y. So all I got to say about that is, Yeah Yeah Yeah, A-Z is almost OVER! :o)

On Monday I will announce the last winner to receive a free download of one of my albums. Thanks to all who stopped by and commented during the challenge, and I hope those of you who left with music, are enjoying it! :o)

Have a great weekend!




Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for Y.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

#AtoZChallenge: X

These guys, as well as Sonic Youth, make me wish I was born at least a decade earlier so I could have been a teen in their prime. I was definitely born into this world too late. Definitely was meant to be a punk. Yep. Definitely. Someone in charge of the universe made a really terrible mistake. I think they put the wrong brain in the wrong head and attached it to the wrong body.

X was an Australian punk band formed in the late 70s, which I was a little obsessed with in my late teens, during the time I was obsessed with Sonic Youth. Yeah, I know. Late to the party again.

I was introduced to these guys one night when my parents took me to one of their (last?) gigs. My parents knew them personally. Not sure how well. But as far as I can remember, they seemed to get on pretty well. I think I saw them in a pub in St Kilda, can't remember which one. I can't even remember how old I was. It's strange that when I think back to going to that gig I feel like I was really small, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't. Or ... maybe I'm not.

Have you got any memories where you can't gauge how old you were?




Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for X.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: Tom Waits

WINNER #11: Congratulations Sarah Ahiers! Send me an email to let me know which album of mine you want and I'll send you a download link.
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I have been a long time fan of Tom Waits but never knew it. I have listened to his songs over and over, and never knew it. I have basked in his genius all my life, and never knew it.

A blogger buddy of mine would always talk about him with enthusiasm, and I would think, "Blech, really? What's so great about him?" Humble apologies to you  Stephen T. McCarthy for distrusting your taste!

The other night, not so long ago, perhaps even as short as two or three months, I was lying on my couch listening to a record my partner put on, and the song embedded below began to play ... and I thought, "God I have always loved this song. Um ... who is it?" I looked at the cover resting by the turntable and lo and behold!, guess who it was? Tom Waits! The guy Stephen raved about on his blog all the time as though he were some kind of deity. Now I understand ... he is a deity ...

You had any surprising revelations lately?



Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for W.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: Veruca Salt

Oh my gosh! The song below is one of THE best songs ever. But you know what? I was VERY late on the bandwagon with these gals.

I'd heard them on the radio, etc, in the 90s. They were played at all the parties I attended. But I was too busy being cool with the boys, such as Smashing Pumpkins, Regurgitator, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against The Machine, to really notice them. It wasn't until my mid 20s that I dug out this record and pumped up the volume, and thought, jeez, where was my head? (I guess you can imagine, being a teen and all ...)

These gals ROCK!

Any bands/musicians that bloomed a little late on your taste buds?




Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for V.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: U2

WINNER #10: Congratulations NATE WILSON! Send me an email to let me know which album of mine you want and I'll send you a download link.
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Okay, so I'm not a fan of U2. But this song (and this song only) always makes me teary ...

You know, I tried to like this band. I really really did. I even started forcing myself to listen to their music, to (is there such a thing as "ween into"?) anyway, to get myself to like them. Nada ... CAN. NOT. DO. IT.

But yeah, I still love this song ...

Any bands you dislike with a song that you do?



Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for U.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: Talking Heads

Yep, I'm finally showcasing something from the 80s! Whoop! If you don't know this song by Talking Heads, I think you must have gotten burned down in their house. I was never a huge fan of Talking Heads. I never actually bought any of their albums, but I certainly listened to them on the radio a lot and enjoyed it when I did. You gotta love a bitta 80s drum machine, right?!?!





What do you like listening to, but have never actually purchased?




Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for T.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZchallenge: Elliot Smith & Sonic Youth

WINNER #09: Congratulations MAURICE MITCHELL! Send me an email to let me know which album of mine you want and I'll send you a download link.
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I listened to this song over and over after I broke up with my very first love. (who, funnily enough looked a lot like Matthew MacNish in that profile pic of his with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth). Oh, did I cry and cry and cry and cry. And I was the one who did it!!! So, this song makes me feel nostalgic for the kind of love that is innocent, but oh so dramatic. Isn't everything always dramatic as a teen?

Okay, I was a BIT late to the party on these guys. I didn't get into them until my early twenties. But when I did, I was OBSESSED. So obsessed that the album, Goo, didn't leave my car stereo for over a year. It's what I listened to on the way to work every single day (the year before I moved to Greece, actually). I remember very clearly, how it would always end up on the same song at a specific set of lights. The song I've embedded below. And there was always this really cute window cleaner there at this time of day. I would let him wash my windscreen every single time. And we'd kinda flash flirting looks at each other. We never exchanged a single word the entire time.

Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for S.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: Radiohead

When I listen to the song below, from Radiohead, I want the world to stop spinning. I want to close my eyes and float under water. To breathe under water. To hear nothing and everything. To feel my limbs weightless, and my head an empty cell with no concerns, worries, responsibilities, or even happiness. I want numbness, to forget that everything I do will cause a chain reaction in my life. I want to be in a moment in time that is in a perpetual freeze. When I listen to this song I want to keep playing it over and over and over again so I never have to leave the lull.

When I listen to this song, I am a memory.

Are there any songs that make the world stop spinning for you?



Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for R.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: Suzi Quattro

WINNER #08: Congratulations CLAIRE HENNESSY! Drop me an email to let me know which album of mine you want and I'll send you a download link.
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Haha. Okay. Susi is my Joan Jett. Lot's of people think I'm influenced by Joan Jett. In fact, many have commented that I look like her in some of my photos. That's not such a bad thing, I'm flattered! But nope. It wasn't Joan Jett. It was Suzi. Suzi all the way. I always wanted to be a tough rock chick. Never quite happened. But I can dream :)

Who did you want to be, but never quite became?



Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for Q.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: Portishead

The song embedded below has to be one of my most favourite songs of all time. Portishead, along with Nightmares On Wax, are the two bands which make me want to experiment with electronic sound. Portishead, especially, because their songs also thrive with emotion. Beth's voice is just SO mesmerizing. Don't you think? When I listen to Portishead, I need space and peace and quiet. I want to lie on the couch, or on the balcony in the sun and let myself melt into their tunes. The type of music Portishead produces is what I want to write in my next life.

What bands/songs make you want to melt into your couch?



Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for P.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

PS: I've got a new book coming out mid May. Care to add it to Goodreads?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Fabric

by Jessica Bell

Giveaway ends May 14, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

#AtoZchallenge: Offspring

WINNER #07: Congratulations BRINDA BERRY! Drop me an email to let me know which album of mine you want and I'll send you a download link.
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I wasn't that keen on this band, BUT, I still love the song embedded below. It's a real party starter. And also has a good hook. You can never bash a song with a good hook, right? Mind you, this song also reminds me of obnoxious Aussie boys who've drunk too many beers and who are being violent in a public park, but hey ... whatever.

I just have to say, that Nirvana was enough to fill the niche that Offspring try to fill. Offspring fans, please don't hit me *ducks* ...

Are there any songs you like from artists you're not particularly a fan of?



Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for O.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: The New Pornographers ... and AN ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Before I get to my A-Z post I have an announcement to make. On May 14 my new poetry collection, FABRIC, will launch, and I'm organizing a low key blog tour of sorts for it which will run from May 14 - June 15. If you like to read poetry and/or are interested in participating to help spread the word, PLEASE SIGN UP HERE.

Here's a blurb from the cover:

"Jessica Bell's FABRIC is a rich collection of poems that take the reader on a deep tour of the psyche. Charting and moving across politics of language, Bell explores love, pain, failure and redemption from a variety of angles. Most of the poems sit at the fragile threshold of instinct and meaning, using symbol and sensation to get to the shock of denouement. This is a significant collection that bears multiple readings, each time yielding something fresh." ~Magdalena Ball, author of Black Cow, Sleep Before Evening, Repulsion Thrust, and others.

To read Magdalena's full review CLICK HERE.
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Now to my A-Z:

How can I resist a band that has a song named after me? The New Pornographers do not play erotic music. Don't be misguided by their name. In fact, if you think of it logically, the word "new" should give you the hint that it's something completely different to what you would expect.

And they are different.

Their tunes embody the essence of the musical. The modern day musical. But with a really alternative rock/pop bent. There are so many amazing sounds and riffs and harmonies and timings in their tunes that I pretty much hear something new every time I listen. Now that's inspiring. It's pretty hard to create something which offers a different experience on subsequent listenings, don't you think?

Do you know any musicians/bands that are full of surprises?



Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for N.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: Magic Dirt & Joni Mitchell

WINNER #06: Congratulations THERESA MILSTEIN! Drop me an email to let me know which album of mine you want and I'll send you a download link.

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Okay, below I've embedded a track that is more current and will be friendly to your ears, but I first started getting into these folks way before they signed with Warner and became "pop/rock". When I started getting into these folks, they sounded a lot more like THIS.

Magic Dirt was pretty much my intro into headbangarama. And they've been around since 1992, very much the headbanging-letsgetwastedandoffourtits-era. I wasn't really wastedandoffmytits that often, but when I listened to these guys it was easy to pretend I was wastedandoffmytits. Get my drift?

As far as inspiration goes, well, I tried to write music like Magic Dirt, but very much failed. My voice is just too "pretty" most of the time. And this is where Joni Mitchell comes in. The song below is the first song I EVER wanted to perform live. In fact, I begged my mother to teach me how to sing it for a talent contest. But at 12 I was BAAAAAAADDDDDDD. So glad she didn't let me vomit the sound of a squealing teapot to a live audience ...

Have you ever been in a talent contest?



Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for M.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: Live & Luna Chicks & Lola Demo (too many Ls!)

Mid High-school, lots of boys and girls and break-ups. Lots of day dreaming of kissing (whomever) in a corner of a dingy party, drunk on vodka (and whatever else I managed to pour into the same water bottle from my parent's alcohol cabinet) ... yeah ... lightening crashes ... and so did I, on lots of people's couches ...

Haha! Okay, these chickees are quite in yer face, aren't they? Early university years I got into these girls, saw them live a few times. One time I especially remember at the Punter's Club, which is now no longer the Punter's Club :( If I still lived in Melbourne I would really miss that pub ... *sigh* Anyway, I started to dress like them for a while. My "PUNK" phase. Which a few of my "friends" rolled their eyes at. I was good at changing looks. Often. I think I got that from my mother.



Speaking of my mother ... her current solo artist name is "Lola Demo" She is MY BIGGEST musical inspiration. EVER. I would never have picked up the guitar if it wasn't for her. I would never have wanted to sing if it wasn't for her. I don't think I would even be a creative person if it wasn't for her. I owe it all to you, Mum ... so thank you! You can listen to all her Lola Demo stuff HERE.

Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for L.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: The Kinks

WINNER #05: Congratulations KYRA LENNON! Drop me an email to let me know which album of mine you want and I'll send you a download link.
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So the Kinks really got me going. They got me so I can't sleep at night! Yeah ... they really got me now, they got me so I don't know what I'm doing ... am I writing a blog post? Whoops ... I don't have much more to say today except that I'm pretty revved up with all that getting going, I mean ... how can anyone not love the Kinks?

What bands/songs get you going?



Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for K.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZChallenge: Jamiroquai

This band makes me want to dance. They make me want to slip into my sexy silky pants and get jiggy wiv it on a podium in a disco. Um ... I mean get jiggy with the music ... yes? I used to love dancing. In fact, I still do, but I don't do it as often as I used to. When I was a kid I used to move all the furniture against the walls of our living room and create entire routines. Of course, I'd perform them for my parents, and any other person who was interested. I was such a performer as a kid ... I really do wonder what happened to me to suffer so much stage fright as an adult ... hmm ... food for thought ...

What band makes you want to get jiggy wiv it?








Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for J.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.

#AtoZchallenge: Iggy Pop

WINNER #04: Congratulations TIMOTHY BRANNAN! Drop me an email to let me know which album of mine you want and I'll send you a download link.
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Iggy Iggy Iggy, can I be totally honest with you? I'm not a big fan. In fact, I just did not know any other artist that started with I. But you know what? I was a lucky duck, because I absolutely LOVE the song The Passenger. I mean ... LURVE the song. And um *cough* I did not know it was by you *cough*. So looks like I'm a fan after all, huh?



Are there any songs that you love but haven't registered yet who they are by? Or have I just totally embarrassed myself?

Don't forget to drop by Dawn Ius' blog, my partner in crime, to see her music pick for I.


To see a list of A-Z Challenge hosts and participants, click here. 

To listen to my music click here!

REMEMBER! During the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a free download of one of my albums. Your choice! That's thirteen winners. How does that sound? Tell your friends! Just comment for a chance to win.