Tag: bridget st. john

Posted on

the chickfactor best of 2025 lists: round two

Bridget St. John playing at chickfactor’s Mon Gala Papillons at London’s Bush Hall, 2004. Photo: Gail O’Hara

Bridget St. John: many things I adore 2025

• my three cats – ever loving ever grateful

• the 30+ sparrows who gather beneath my window every morning for black sunflower seeds – ever thankful

• recording and then performing with Wilie Aron, Emily Wittbrodt & David Nagler at The Bitter End

• the FolkEast Festival – such a generous vibe…meeting Sandy Denny’s daughter, Georgia…playing with Jon Wilks… hanging with Diana Matheou… and in the company of my daughter and niece

• attending a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game

• playing The Chapel, SF, and McCabes, Santa Monica, during the April tour with Evie Sands and her stellar band

Jim + cat

Jim Ruiz

The 7 foster kittens and their mother who tore up both our house, and our hearts, last summer. 

Bunty – mother (née Lee Wiley)

Louis Armstrong (pictured)

Frank Sinatra

Gladys (née Blossom Dearie)

Chet Baker

Billie Holiday

Hoagy Carmichael

Bing Crosby

John Jervis – WIAIWYA

Sarah Cronin – Sarah’s death cast a large shadow over an already shadowy year, terrible and unfair and a huge loss… I suspect this won’t be the only time she is mentioned in this year’s lists, as is only right and proper.

Poker Face – Columbo meets the Littlest Hobo starring a live action version of the girl from Brave, and who could ask for anything more. It’s great!

Italian exploitation soundtracks- Still banging on about these, especially those that live in the creepy house between disco and krautrock, with Edda Dell’Orso preempting Liz Fraser in the flat upstairs – there’s a massive (it’s about 8 hours at the moment) playlist here for anyone interested (sorry for big green music machine link)

New music from old bands – Pulp! Stereolab! Allo Darlin! All still wonderful and so much easier than hunting down new bands that sound a bit like them… and new Heavenly next year too!

True Grit Texture Supply – essential and ubiquitous brushes, tools and effects for your graphics package – have spent a LOT of fun hours playing in that sandpit this year

Plumbers- this year I found a good, reliable, affordable plumber and heating engineer- cannot be overstated.

Sade – I love Sade.

Biscuits – yes, biscuits – they are brilliant, especially the cheap own brand ones – what are your favourites? Drop a couple of packs into your basket next time you go for a big shop, and treat yourself when you get home – you deserve it (unless you are a fascist, a billionaire, or a POS PUSA – then you don’t)

Mike Slumberland: Here’s my top ten listens of 2025

Dead Famous People – Wild Young Ways (Tiny Global Productions)

Galore – Dirt (Speakeasy Studios)

Makaya McCraven – Off The Record (International Anthem)

Mitch Murder X Pizza Hotline – Anti Gravity Tournament (WRWTFWW)

Natural Information Society – Perseverance Flow (Eremite)

Paper Jam – This And That (self-released)

Saint Etienne – International (Heavenly)

Sault – 10 (Forever Living Originals)

Satoshi Tomiie & Tuccillo – Delta Dubs (20:20 Vision)

Viola Klein – New Chapter (Meakusma)

Brian Nelson (Black Tambourine, Velocity Girl) 

Graphic Novels, Comics, & Books of 2025 (with no particular order or emphasis)

Gilmore Tamny (Weather Weapon, The Mystery, The Yips) 
These are things that interested and engaged me this year, which I’d recommendo. Some of them came out in 2025, some of them I just discovered this year. No particular order.

TV

  • Who Hired the Hitman
  • The Lowdown
  • Hacks
  • The Diplomat
  • Unknown Number: The High School Catfish
  • Heated Rivalry
  • An Update on Our Family
  • Pokerface
  • Mo
  • The Task
  • The Righteous Gemstones
  • Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke
  • The Pitt

MOVIES/SPECIALS

  • The Perfect Neighbor
  • Deaf President Now!
  • Taurasi
  • Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery
  • Fairyland
  • The Wedding Banquet
  • Come See Me in the Good Light
  • The Baltimorons
  • PostMortem, Sarah Silverman
  • Why Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Is America, Josh Johnson
  • Happy Gilmore II
  • Sorry Baby
  • The Secret Agent

MUSIC/LIVE PERFORMANCE
oof I need to listen to more music, BUT songs I found and liked very much this year and a few live shows:

  • Manchild, Sabrina Carpenter
  • Hold On, Ngozi Family
  • Denial is a River, Doechii
  • Chappell Roan generally
  • Scrawl
  • Ben Hersey, Non-Event show
  • Major Stars release show for More Colors of Sound
  • Ravon Chacon performance, ICA

SOCIALS

TIKTOK

·      abbey.joselyn

·      doggystylinguk

·      kobimcnutt

·      nicoleolived

·      noodyxbums

·      ship_spotting_

·      journeyofjackson

·      yoleendadong

·      dpeezy2099

·      oceanscary4K

·      notoriouscree

INSTA

  • koreydior_
  • olya_with_squirrel
  • african_brutalism

PATREON

  • Christine Mcconells
  • The Cottage Fairy

YOUTUBIO

  • Broadway Barbara
  • That Practical Mom
  • Red Squirrel Studios (for cat enrichment–top notch)

BOOKS (all audiobooks FWIW)

  • The Unfinished Harauld Hughes, Richard Ayoade
  • Spent a Comic Novel, Alison Bechdel
  • The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures, Sarah Clegg
  • Birnam Wood, A Novel, Eleanor Catton
  • History Lessons, Zoe B. Wallbrook
  • We Solve Murders, Richard Osman
  • Heartwood, Amity Gage
  • Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man), Jesse Q. Sutanto
  • Generation Darkness, Elizabeth Hand
  • King of Ashes, S.A. Cosby
  • Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Rufi Thorpe
  • Sociopath, Patric Gagne
  • Rental House, Weike Wang
  • Havoc, Christpoher Bollen
  • Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner
  • Perfume and Pain, Anna Dorn
  • Glory Daze, Danielle Arceneaux

PODCAST

  • The Rest is Entertainment (I listened to nearly every single episode)
  • The White Pube
  • Crissle’s Couch
  • The Art Angle
  • Waldy and Bendy
  • Grits and Eggs Podcast (have not kept up but love what I heard)
  • Darknet Diary (selective listening but some NUTS stories)
  • Wisecrack
  • Scamanda
  • The Read
  • I need to listen to AudioFlux
Posted on

chickfactor 25: a series of fortunate events, new york edition

 

Kicking Giant

* * *

chickfactor 25: a series of fortunate events (new york edition)

celebrating 25 years of music, friendship and community
starring…


Thursday, November 2
Doors 7:30, Show 8 at Union Pool

KICKING GIANT
THE PACIFIC OCEAN
BRIDGET ST JOHN
HONEYBUNCH
+ MC SUKHDEV SANDHU

$15 advance; $20 day of show. Tickets on sale.
* * *
Saturday, November 4
Doors 1:30, Show 2pm // AFTERNOON SHOW at Union Pool

LAURA CANTRELL
JOE PERNICE
COTTON CANDY
+ VERY SPECIAL GUESTS
+ MC GAYLORD FIELDS

$15 advance; $20 day of show. Tickets on sale.

 


The Pacific Ocean


Bridget St John

HoneyBunch

Laura Cantrell

Joe Pernice


Cotton Candy

Plus, Very Special Guests 

—

Tae Won Yu & Rachel Carns formed this powerful union in New York via Olympia, WA, in 1989. This is their first-ever show in the UK. A double LP reissue of their early work, This Being the Ballad of Kicking Giant, Halo: NYC/Olympia 1989–1993, will come out on Drawing Room Records later this year. They rarely play live and haven’t played NYC in forever. 
The Pacific Ocean was a NYC indie featuring Edward Baluyut (Versus), Connie Lovatt (Alkaline, Containe) and drummer Steve Pilgrim. They made two records for chickfactor’s flagship label (Enchanté Records) and haven’t played a show in ages. 
Bridget St John is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for the three albums she recorded between 1969 and 1972 for John Peel’s Dandelion record label. Peel produced her debut album Ask Me No Questions. She has played at many chickfactor parties including CF20 in 2012 in both London and New York. 
Honeybunch is an indiepop band from Providence, Rhode Island, formed in 1987 by Velvet Crush member Jeffrey Underhill. They have played at many chickfactor parties including CF20 in 2012. 

Laura Cantrell
is a Nashville-born, New York-based country music artist. A longtime DJ for WFMU, Ms. Cantrell has been making beautiful records since her debut, Not the Tremblin’ Kind, way back in Y2K. She was a friend and favorite of the late John Peel. Her most recent release, Laura Cantrell At The BBC, compiles the best of her UK radio performances from 2000-2005, tracing the arc of her rise as an Americana artist on the airwaves of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Joe Pernice has made a lot records with the Pernice Brothers, Scud Mountain Boys, The New Mendicants (with Norman Blake) and Roger Lion (with hip-hop producer Budo.) He is also a novelist and a TV writer.  He and Joyce Linehan have owned Ashmont Records, Inc. in Dorchester, MA. since 1999.

Cotton Candy
Cotton Candy is Mark Robinson (from the bands Unrest, Air Miami, Grenadine, Flin Flon) and Evelyn Hurley (Blast Off Country Style). Their band, which is mostly a cappella, focuses on reinventing advertising jingles and other radio and TV commercials and PSAs. Mark and Evelyn also run the Teen-Beat label. We saw them recently in Portland and they were delightful and fun!