Music

In Need of Some Amazing Women-Fronted Music to Listen to?

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In need of some amazing women-fronted music to listen to? Here are nine songs from a variety of genres by female musicians that I absolutely love and that you might like too.

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1.) “Little Girl Blue and the Battle Envy” by Skating Polly. I have been looooooooving this song. Listen for the harmonies and, of course, the grungy self-ascribed “ugly-pop” unique style. Click HERE to listen. (WordPress now requires users to upgrade one’s blog plan to premium to include videos within blogs annnnnnnd..I’m declining to pay more at the moment…So you’ll just need to click the link. But that’s easy!) 

 

 

Image result for courtney barnett2.) “Hopefulessness” by Courtney Barnett. This song is mellow, beautiful indie-folk at it’s best. My buddy Andy goes to all her shows when she is in town and he swoons, for good reason. Her guitar is so clear and crisp and her lyrics and vocal style resonate with the heart. Listen for how she tunes her guitar a half note or two down and makes it part of the song. Also, listen for the feeling and vibe she creates with the sound of the tea kettle at the end. Love it! Check it out HERE to listen!

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3.) “Block List” by Rico Nasty. Yaaas, this song is so good. Rico Nasty, rapper, songwriter and record producer, has an upbeat, anthemic-style rap for the ladies out there who are blocking those bros that you just don’t need. “He want to smoke but I think I want to rob him.” Haha. Have a listen HERE. 

Image result for ana tijoux 19774.) “1977” by Ana Tijoux. I’ve been listening to Ana Tijoux, particularly this song, for over a decade and it never gets old. This song, in Spanish, is talking about her life growing up in Chile during the 70s. At one point it alludes to the emerging dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet when it says, “La parada militar de paso monótono/The monotonous passing military stop.” This song has so many poetic layers! My students in Rwanda back in 2013 who wanted to learn Spanish loved this song. Check it out HERE! (If that’s not enough to make you want to check it out, it was also featured on an episode of Breaking Bad.) 

5.) “Before There was Fear by Future Scars” This song is by a friend of mine and a band from my home town Santa Fe. (What’s up y’all!) Eliza Lutz’s powerful vocals and incredible guitar wrenches at my heart and I love it. Other friends, who I have showed this song to, have described the style as “heavy rock.” Click HERE to have a listen. At 3:33 minutes into the song is where my favorite part begins. Check it out, I daaaaare you. It’s beautiful. Or click HERE to see the live version which showcases Lutz’s guitar skills. She alternates between finger tapping on strings (badass) and chords (powerful.) You can also read more about Future Scars from the Santa Fe Reporter here. Eliza Lutz is an inspiration to me: Not only is she in other bands too, like GryGrdns, but she also runs her own badass record company called Matron Records.

Image result for angel olsen heart shaped face6.) “Heart Shaped Face” by Angel Olsen. Ohhhhhh this song is so beautiful, I listen to it way too much. Slow, mellow, gorgeous. Just check it out. Listen HERE.

 

 

Screen Shot 2020-03-20 at 6.05.34 PM.png7.) “Soft Stud” by Black Belt Eagle Scout. Y’all: This song is so good. Katherine Paul’s clear, melodic vocals juxtaposed with the gritty guitar are phenomenal. Her passion for music is clear. “I grew up on the Swinomish Indian Reservation in NW Washington state, learning to play piano, guitar and drums in my adolescent years. The very first form of music that I can remember experiencing was the sound of my dad singing native chants to coo me to sleep as a baby. I grew up around powwows and the songs my grandfather and grandmother sang with my family in their drum group. This is what shapes how I create music: with passion and from the heart.” (Quote from her website.) Check out her song “Soft Stud” HERE.

Image result for class actress8.) “Let Me Take You Out” by Class Actress. If you want to dance around in your house, you’ve got to listen to this jam. It’s pretty damn near impossible not to dance to this one. Click HERE

 

 

 

 

Image result for age of consent cayetana9.) Age of Consent by Cayetana. Another dancing one, this cover song is, I would argue, better than the original. (If/when my band gets back together, this is a cover of a cover we would want to cover!) I have a fond memory jamming to this song rollerblading around a DIY roller derby track in a barn in the outskirts of Colorado while a roller derby star skated around me, gliding past with words of coaching and encouragement during my brief (very brief) stint at giving roller derby a go. Ha! (My body was like, noooope. Ouch. Also, shout out to the amazing Boulder County Bombers!) Check out this song HERE. 

Enjoyed this list?! Feel free to share and pass along and tag with #juliaviewsongs

Enjoy listening and feel free to reach out to tell me which song was your fave! 

 

 

 

Lizzo!! Launching Music and Feminism to Greater Heights

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(Don’t miss her Tiny Desk Concert where she performs Cuz I Love You, Truth Hurts and her last song where she also plays the flute in her song Juice! ) 

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Lizzo at 2019 BET Awards. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

Lizzo, phenomenal singer, rapper and flute player is transforming music and launching feminism to greater heights with her body positivity, black lives matter energy and her message of self love. SHE. IS. PHENOMENAL. Her presence is captivating and her engagement with the audience draws you in, in this absolutely fun way. And she conveys understanding of her self and of society in a profound and to the point manner. Plus, she is a powerful singer and incredible musician. Duh.

In a music interview with NPR’s Terry Gross she talks about her early pursuits in music performance and music theory:

 “I am classically trained in music theory and music performance, so I have an innate ear and actually a highly skilled ear when it comes to frequency and harmony and dissonance and melody. So for me, it’s this thing that I can feel in my body. I’m almost like a tuning fork where if I hear the beat and I vibrate at the level that I’m supposed to, I know that that’s what I want to get on. And from being trained, I think it’s easier for me to speak a language to producers, and I can speak engineer to the engineers.”

She also unapologetically chats about feminism and body positivity: “”About 10 years ago, I made the decision that I just wanted to be happy with my body and I just wanted to be happy with who I am. That was the beginning of my journey with learning how to love my body. … You have to find that love for yourself deep down inside, underneath all of that questioning and ickiness.” Hell yeah, the importance of self love.

She is just incredible on so many levels.

Check out the full NPR music interview with her here, I highly recommend it.

 

Albuquerque Hiphop Artist,Wake Self, Has Something to Say:

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“Dear world. It’s so upsetting to me

that the economy has turned misogyny

into a revenue stream.” -Wake Self

Wake Self is a hiphop artist from Albuquerque New Mexico making waves. Check out their song, below, titled “Malala. ” This song, featuring singer Blu Samu, is packed with sharp social commentary about the treatment of women in the rap industry and in the media. Fellow New Mexico friends, you may see familiar New Mexico scenery.

 

Beyoncé’s “World-Stopping Music Video”

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The internet is exploding with praise for Beyoncé’s new music video calling it “world-stopping” because people are stopping what they’re doing to watch it over and over. I know I’ve watched it over and over. I’m mesmerized by the incredible imagery, amazing dance moves and shattering baseline with kickass lyrics. But even more than that, this video is beyond awesome in how she celebrates being a black woman. As Ashley Weatherford, a New York editor, put it, “There’s often talk of what it means to be ‘unapologetically black,’ and this video is the blueprint. Lyric by lyric, she celebrates blackness.”  And specifically, it’s clearly an anthem for women. New York editor, Rembert Browne, said it too: “…the song’s so clearly for women.” (Which doesn’t mean guys can’t appreciate it too, because, let’s face it: Everybody’s going to love it.) The video also provides thought provoking imagery of the New Orleans hurricane disaster and the issue of police brutality. I could go on and on about how powerful and amazing this video is.

Leon Neyfakh from Slate.com said, “Beyoncé’s Surprise New Single Is Both a #BlackLivesMatter–Inspired Protest Anthem and an Absolute Jam”. 

This music video is in a complete category of it’s own: It defies all expectations of mainstream music. I love Beyoncé and this music video is absolutely incredible. 

Check it out for yourself:

Female Musician Suggestions

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I don’t know about you, but I love listening to ladies rockin’ out. Here are some of my personal faves, roughly categorized. Most of them are still pretty unknown. You can be a hipster about it, if you want, so when they really blow up you can say, “I knew them before they were famous!” Click on the green links to sample songs of theirs. And check them out on Spotify or youtube and see what you think.

 

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TacocaT (Photo credit: Kyle Johnson, Portland Mercury)

Rock 

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Grimes (Photo credit: Tommy Chase Lucas)

Electronica  

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Crooked Still (Photo credit: Album Cover. fanart.tv )

Folk

  • Crooked Still. I could listen to their whole album while I garden.
  • Brandi Carlile. (Of course, the one and only.)
  • Shook Twins. I saw them live! Even better. They use this old fashioned type of microphone to get a unique, echoey sound.

Hip Hop 

  • Psalm One. Gaaahhhh, she’s so good. Her alto-bass voice is
  • soothing and kick-ass at the same time.

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    Psalm One (Photo credit: What a Movie Audiotree Live. Youtube)
  • Ana Tijoux– Chilean rapper, who I knew, before her song was on Breaking Bad. (Yes, I’m being a hipster about it.)
  • Invincible. Shout out to Bresnin for introducing me to her!
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Robyn (Photo credit http://hificartel.com/images/robyn2.png) Check out this article about the power of Power Posing like Robyn: http://nextshark.com/why-women-in-business-should-power-pose-like-robyn/ )

Pop

  • Salute, by Little Mix. One of the rare times I switched on the modern, pop radio channel turned out to be a success when I discovered their song, Salute.
  • Robyn. the swedish pop singer with top U.S hits. Gotta love how she dances like she don’t give a sh*t.
  • La Roux. I remember jamming to Bullet Proof on the dance floor at a “club”. I use club in quotes because, let’s face it; it’s Montana.

Punk

  • The Distillers. Their album Coral Fang is hands down, one of the best punk albums out there, male or female.

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    Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill (Photo credit: Ebit Robberts, NYtimes.)
  • Bikini Kill. Have you seen the documentary on Netflix called The Punk Singer yet? It’s about Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, the punk rocker who brought second wave feminism to the forefront.

Other Epic Genres

  • Amanda Diva. Poetic, rhythmic rapping. She’s on Spotify.
  • Sea Oleena. Mellow bath jams.
  • Sylvan Esso. Play It Right, amma right? 
  • Santogold. Have you seen that Youtube video where a solo, hippie guy is dancing at a festival and ends up starting a massive dance party? Yep, he was dancing to Santogold.
  • Nina Simone. And of course, my list would not be complete without the amazing Nina Simone,
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    Nina Simone (Photo credit: Album cover. fanpop.com)

    who’s career really took off after she performed piano at Carnegie Hall and progressed to become the infamous Jazz singer we know her as today.  (1. See below for source.)

 

1.) “What Happened, Miss Simone?” Documentary on Netflix. Director Liz Garbus. June 2015. Web. July 2015.

The Talented Rapper, Ana Tijoux

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Speaking of hip-hop that raises women up, I give you, Ana Tijoux.

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Her music holds a place in my heart for several reasons. Her lyrics, her subjects, her beats and her unique voice. But also, I’m enamored with how I first came to know about her music. In 2010, I was living and studying in Chile and I was talking to a friend of mine about how it’s a bummer there is a shortage of women rappers out there. And he said,

“Oh you haven’t heard of Ana Tijoux yet have you?”

He also introduced me to her earlier stuff when she was a part of the great hip-hop crew, Makiza. But my favorite song of hers remains this one:

(You might even recognize this song from an episode of Breaking Bad where the track gained a lot of fame.)

Another reason I especially love her music is because of this engaging experience. When I taught in Rwanda, I introduced the students to Ana Tijoux’s song “1977” and they loved it. The French speakers especially caught onto the Spanish and it ignited a further interest in the language and an interest in women as rappers. When exams came around, I posted this picture of Ana Tijoux that says: ‘Ana Tijoux says, ‘Buena Suerte con el resto de sus exámenes!‘” Which means, “Good luck with the rest of your exams!”

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And the students posted this paper next to it as though it were Facebook. Haha, so sweet.

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One of Tijoux’s latest songs, titled “Antipatriarca” has especially empowering lyrics:

“…Tu no me vas denigrar, tu no me vas obligar” (You’re not going to denigrate me, you’re not going to force me)

Tu no me vas a silenciar tu no me vas a callar (You’re not going to silence me, you’re not going to shut me up)

No sumisa ni obediente ( I’m neither submissive or obedient)
Mujer fuerte insurgente (insurgent, strong woman)
Independiente y valiente (independent and valiant)
Romper las cadenas de lo indiferente (break the chains of indifference)
No pasiva ni oprimida (Neither passive nor oppressed)
Mujer linda que das vida (beautiful woman who gives life)
Emancipada en autonomía (emancipated and independent)

And this song is just plain badass: