"Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, 'She doesn't have what it takes.' They will say, 'Women don't have what it takes."
~Clare Boothe Luce
"Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels."
~Faith Whittlesey
~Jay-Z
Dudes, here is your chance to beat your chest and say to the world, I am man and I really enjoy women. List out your top 5 females making music in some form or fashion. This can range from your favorite lady vocalist to the 1st violin in the Royal Philharmonic.
1. Juliette Lewis - Juliette & The Licks, holy shit does this chick know how to rock out with her cock out.
ReplyDelete2. Ana Matronic - Scissor Sisters, she hangs out with lots of gay people and makes gay music. And it all F'in rocks.
3. Brandi Carlile, folky-rock goodness abounds.
4. Jenny Lewis - Rilo Kiley, would you like your indie-rock sprinkled with twang?
5. Caitlin Cary, TWANG TWANG TWANG.
1. Brandi Carlile - Simply amazing, no two ways to say it.
ReplyDelete2. Lily Allen - What a sarcastic bitch. It's about time pop had some balls.
3. Karin Dreijer Andersson (The Knife) - Addicting music, any girl who can make something unique and awesome like this deserves a round.
4. Alanis Morissette - Why the hell not? She's been awesome for a long time, and Jagged Little Pill is one of the more important albums of my childhood.
5. Lyn-Z (M.S.I.) Can't help it, I'm in love.
1. Jenny Lewis. First and foremost. Continues to knock me out, everything she does.
ReplyDelete2. Neko Case. Attitude is important. She radiates strength.
3. Lucinda Williams. Was I just talking about attitude? This is of a different sort. All you want her to do is stop putting out cigarettes on your back and then splashing you with whiskey......... but she won't.
4. Joanna Newsom. I've never been able to communicate to people why I love this little elf girl. I think part of it is because she is on a very short list, (also occupied by Antony & Bjork to name a couple) who will never, ever be mistaken for someone else. They have the most original and unique voices. That has true power.
5. Regina Spektor. Is it the piano? Effortlessly moving from quirky and spastic to beautiful and sweeping. Is it the often goofy lyrics combined with the occasional strange guttural noises? Is it the faint hint of the russian accent? No Idea, probably all of the above. For whatever reason, she's selling and I'm buying.
1. Shara Worden. Wonderful voice and lyricist. Big nose. Terrible at dressing herself. See any pre-MBD bands for reference.
ReplyDelete2. Chan Marshall (You Are Free era). Sad, good songs about alienation and child abuse, pre-sobriety, singing in the forest, non-stop covers and fake tanning.
3. Nico (Chelsea Girl era). The original hipster nerd. Single-handedly ruined the legacy of the Velvet Underground with her mannish warble and inability to close her legs. A seemingly retarded Nico clone is slapped shitless in Fellini's "La Dolce Vita", and I can't help but agree that beyond 2 or 3 songs, she had overstayed her welcome.
4. Neko Case (Furnace Room Lullaby - Present, i.e. echo voice only. All New Pornographers material is excluded, because none of their songs are about anything). She reads my favorite author. She shows her nipples in publicity photos. She sounds great!
5. Steph from Tinsel Teeth (google them). She takes her tits out, bleeds from the mouth, steps on glass, sweats like a bastard, sings like post-"Canada Songs" Daughters, is the very definition of "not giving a shit" and exudes feminine strength more so than any female performers I've seen in recent memory.
1. Nikka Costa - While Amy Winehouse and Duffy seem to understand the production of 60's and 70's R&B, Nikka gets the attitude. She's a funky funky broad.
ReplyDelete2. Neko Case - Pretty much what Ian and Eyestone said.
3. Regina Spektor - While her first album does NOTHING for me, Begin to Hope is one of the best written and confidently performed albums I've heard in the past few years. I don't know what happened that gave her such ridiculous songwriting ability, but I hope it doesn't go away.
4. KT Tunstall - In one album she will swing wildly from high energy folk rock to absolutely beautiful simple ballads, and they all WORK. That isn't something I can say about most artists.
5. Amy Correia - Not the best songwriter, but her voice is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. Mature and adorable.
(Apparently, my favorite female singers are all little white girls.)