JuliaView

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! 

 

 

 

A Monumental Day Ahead

juliaview Endeavors, In Africa , , , , , , , ,
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The class of 2013 getting ready for a photo before the rain comes.

It’s 5am and the girls in my dorm are getting ready to see their peers accept diplomas: The first ever graduation of the Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology here in Rwanda istoday. To understand why I feel like a balloon floating on euphoria you have to hear a little bit about how far these Gashora Academy girls have come.

Anocciat

Anocciat is highly appreciated by her teachers now, but it wasn’t always that way. After fleeing the genocide in Rwanda, Annociat’s mother gave birth to her in Uganda where they lived in a refugee camp. Just like food and water, education was a rarity. Very few were able to go to school but Anocciat was one of the few who attended. It took her 3 hours to walk to school and 3 hours back but she made the journey everyday. She soaked in what education she could but her teachers were keen on making things hard for her just because she was Rwandan. They beat her in front of her classmates, crossed out her right answers on exams and put in wrong ones, all the while saying things like “go back to Rwanda”. Through all of these difficulties, Annociat says “I still held on, worked hard because of true love and passion I had for education and learning. “

Enatha

In Enatha’s village, no girls ever go to school. Why? Because people assume girls just get pregnant at school. When Enatha was 7, she asked her father if she could go to school. He told her “Go ahead and try.” So she did. Everyday, she would walk the far distance to school in bare feet since her family could not afford shoes. She would get to school with bloody feet and the children would tease her and break her down but she continued to go because, in her words, “I went there having in mind that I have to do what others have failed.” In an attempt to stop her studies the villagers burnt down her family’s coffee plants, “which were our source of everything.” Her father was traumatized and her mother thought about committing suicide, not knowing how they were going to survive. “After this situation, everyone was telling me to go and practice prostitute in order to get the materials to go to school and I said no that is not my dream.  I struggled, but still working hard was my goal in order to get what I want to be.” Enatha says the experience has pushed her to attain good grades so that her parents will not give up. Although her village is still not happy with her going to school, Enatha says she still attends school because “I have to make a difference and support my community so that they can move from the darkness. Living in the dark, always push me to strive reaching in the light, and I will reach there. This I believe.”

Enatha is striving towards a career as a doctor.

To be a part, however small, of helping these inspirational young women achieve greatness is something I am grateful for. I can’t believe my luck in being able to volunteer for this school that has allowed girls like Enatha and Anocciat to flourish and pursue their goals. This is the school that has sent girls to the prestigious African Leadership Academy: the school that has had girls flourish from being non-English speakers, to receiving high marks on the English SAT section. This is the school that teaches 270 girls how to become physicists, biologists and doctors in a country where only a small percentage of women occupy these positions currently. The Gashora Girls Academy is an epicenter for positive change in Africa. Being a small part of the accomplishments here at this Academy is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Seeing these incredible girls accept their diplomas today will be like watching a new and refreshing history unfold and the beginning of something beautiful.

Daily Life Tidbits

juliaview Endeavors, Home, In Africa

Term three is in full swing: I’m teaching sports and yoga to 50 girls in one class, twice a week, and 70 girls at once another two times a week and also running with 90 students through the village at 5:30 in the morning. One of the funniest parts so far is doing attendance because A; it takes quite a while. And B; I’m terrible at pronouncing their last names so they get a good giggle out of that. This week we’ll be doing kickball and yoga with music. Soon to come: self-defense and dancing.

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Playing Taboo with these lovely ladies

Last night for my Spanish Club we finished up watching Spider Man 3 in Spanish with English subtitles but some girls came in late and I’m sure they were like “Whaaa? Why is this guy in a weird suite and why is that guy made of sand… and what the hell is going on?”

Today my friend and I walked into Gashora. On the way, this kid who goes by the name of Big Dog around the village waved to us and said “Hello!” He’s a nice kid who speaks some English and often translates for my friend Jennie when she’s at the market. We waved to him and said hello back. And when I saw what he had with him in his hand, I stopped dead in my tracks. He was holding a pool cue! And just behind him, sure enough, was a small pool table. If you know me, you know I love playing pool. So naturally, I immediately thought how awesome it’d be to play some pool. I didn’t realize how much I’d been missing it until I caught a glimpse of that pool table in that little room. But we don’t speak Kinyrwanda and we weren’t sure what the cultural implications would be so we continued on our way.

We popped by the market to pick up some greens and avocados (the avocados are INCREDIBLE here!) and had a soda at this little restaurant. But on the way back we ran into our friend who speaks Kinyrwanda and she said, “Sure, let’s go over there.” So she talked with the guys at the pool table and they set up a game for me to play against one of them. The pool tables here are much smaller and there are no numbers on the balls, only red and yellow ones, and the cue ball is the size of a big walnut. So it is slightly different than playing pool in the States but the rules are just about the same. So we started to play and I took an immediate lead (which I was glad to see they seemed impressed about rather than pissed off) and a small crowd of kids and people gathered around to watch. But then he started catching up and soon we were tied: it was neck and neck and only the eight ball remained, everyone watching with curious smiles. I nearly made the winning shot by banking it off two different walls, but alas, no win… Yet. His turn. He hit it too hard and missed. My turn. I set up my shot, taking my time absorbing the suspense and then glided the ball into the corner pocket. My friends cheered and the small group of people clapped. Luckily he was not a sore loser; he was very nice about it.  It was a pretty cool game of pool.