Song of the Day: 'Dizzy' by Throwing Muses

I've mentioned my Throwing Muses blind spot before, yet I was still taken aback when I was trying to recruit people to go see Belly with me next week at Bowery Ballroom and three of my musical besties demurred, saying "I was always much more of a Breeders/Throwing Muses fan." (Really????) I too am a big Breeders fan, so with my tickets to Wednesday's Belly show firmly in hand, I'm setting out to finally educate me of the ways of Kristin Hersh. The three chart singles I dug up sure were good, although I kept getting a sense that she sounds like a combination of other people I couldn't quite put my finger on. (Kirsty MacColl at times?)

Song of the Day: 'Not Too Soon' by Throwing Muses

As the de facto president of the Tanya Donelly Fan Club, it's going to shock -- and perhaps disgust -- some of you to know that I had never heard a Throwing Muses song until I played this (fittingly named) song over the weekend. Chalk it up to another one of those odd late '80s/early '90s blind spots -- like Sonic Youth -- but I just never got around to pursuing them, even though I knew the band was fronted by not one, but two women. It was only when I discovered Belly that I went back and got the first Breeders album, but Tanya was so underused I guess I figured she was probably used even less if she'd left the Muses because her songs weren't being used enough. (Wrong.) Now that I know her influence on Throwing Muses was far bigger than I thought -- she even opened for them and provided backup on TM's tour in 2014 -- I suppose it's high time I get with it. I hear Kristin Hersh's memoir is quite good, too.