Eight Female Artists You MUST Hear
Posted by Thomas on February 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Lord have mercy! I feel my temperature rising. And it’s not because of this erratic Southern California weather. I’m gettin’ the love buzz from some heavenly voices located within my ipod, some sweet sonic frequencies that make me want to raise my boombox overhead and announce my love for music. Unfortunately, there are far too many souls whose ears have not yet been serenaded by the sounds of these songstresses. I almost feel like I’m letting go of some well-kept secrets of independent music, but music is made to be shared, so without further ado, let’s take a look and a listen to our eight female artists you must check out.
1) Universal Hall Pass
We begin with the beautiful Melissa Kaplan, also known under her musical moniker, Universal Hall Pass. The former frontwoman and vocalist of 90’s Trip Hop/Rock/Electronica group, Splashdown, Melissa has continued her musical adventures as a solo artist since her former musical collective disbanded.
Universal Hall Pass is a pretty apt title for Melissa, as she essentially takes full license to travel into any musical territory she damn pleases. Her music cannot be confined to a trio of genres listed in a Myspace sub-header. Her shape-shifting debut album, Mercury explores Jangle Pop, Noir Jazz, smoothTrip Hop, Space Rock, frenetic Electronica, Classical Orchestration, and dozens of other hybridized and uncategorizable styles.
Her musical itinerary crosses the Transylvanian frontiers of “Katrina Josephina,” the ancient mountainsides of Northern China in “Six Step Dragon,” the after-hours lounge of a futuristic Blade Runner-esque metropolis in “Dragonfly,” and the vast reaches of outer space in “Solar/Lunar.”
Melissa is one of the greatest song writers and lyricists I have ever heard. Even in the ultra-saccharine Mouseketeer power-pop riffage of her song, “Special Agent,” there’s still something so badass, earnest, and creative about her imagery: both lyrically and musically evoked.
Do yourself a favor and check out this fly little nimble cook immediately. Pop Mercury or her e.p. Subtle Things into your car’s stereo, drive around when the sun goes down and the city illuminates, and just try to tell me that the music doesn’t get to you too.
Songs To Check Out Now:
1. Six Step Dragon
2. No One
3. Solar/Lunar
2) Alela Diane
Alela Diane hails from the small and strange town of Nevada City, California: a geographical location that seems to generate a disproportionately large number of musicians and artisans. Whether it’s the relative isolation from big-city lifestyle, the beautiful scenery, or a slow leak of mercury into the town’s drinking water, something is definitely stoking the spiritual and creative fires of Nevada City’s residents, and Alela is certainly no exception.
Alela’s music transport the listener to her home in gold country: to sun-soaked fluffy yellow fields, bristling evergreens, meandering creeks, and parched earth. “Dry Grass and Shadows” is an incantation that evokes all images and feelings of this beautiful sonic and visual landscape, and is a must-hear for those who have not yet heard Alela’s songs (plus it’s the free single of the week on itunes right now! Hit that shit up quick, son!).
Alela’s music is a land to be explored. She’s an anachronism, a beautiful anomaly of Americana. Check this lady out pronto.
Songs To Check Out Now:
1. Dry Grass And Shadows
2. The Rifle
3. Oh! My Mama
Bruce almighty, isn’t it amazing to find quality Hip Hop these days? Fisheye just might be the weirdest example of independent Hip Hop today, and I mean that in the most reverent and thankful way possible. MC Asia and beat crafter/DJ Miss Dissya make tracks that blend an old school Rap aesthetic with minimalist, electronic sparkles and curious noises that litter the stereoscape.
There’s something about Asia’s voice that is reminiscent of 90s Hip Hop. Her contralto flow contains traces of Lauryn Hill’s voice but goes down much smoother, and has a slight lisp that only adds color to her rhymes.
Dissya’s beats are unlike any Hip Hop DJ or producer you’ve heard. Avoiding trite samples and blaringly ostentatious synth lines (a la Timbaland), Dissya instead opts for strange ethereal tones, hums, and voices, making the droning sound behind Asia’s voice sound more like the aural hallucinations of a morphine dream than standard Hip Hop breaks. Think Boards of Canada remixing the Fugees…sort of. Seriously, check Fisheye out. I promise you won’t regret it.
Songs To Check Out Now:
1. Memory Lane
2. Nerd
3. People In Ya Neighborhood
Singer-Songwriter Susie Blue makes pop rock songs. Her lyrics aren’t particularly earth-shattering in their depth, and many of her songs are based on the standard three chord rock progression method. That said, she f*#%ing kicks ass at doing what she does. What she may occasionally lack in innovativeness, she more than makes up for her beautifully catchy songs, her blunt emotional honesty, and her impassioned, weathered voice.
“Sink” showcases her raw emotional ability and fearlessness to make herself vulnerable in the face of a former lover. She bitterly sings out, “you’re the winner; there you go!” as her strained, breaking voice goes awash in a sea of a echoing distortion. Arguably the most beautiful part of the song is during the refrain when she sings, “if you sink, I won’t care at all,” when it’s so obvious that she really will, regardless of what she says. Call it Chick Rock if you want, but this girl knows how to get a beautiful song wedged into your ear canals.
Songs To Check Out Now:
1. Red Car
2. Sink
3. The World Could End Tonight
From Sonoma County, California comes Jesca Hoop. If Jesca were a visual artist, she would pick up her favorite crayons and then proceed to draw outside all of the borders in a coloring book of her creation. Jesca’s music is youthful and innocent in some areas yet experienced and mischievous in others.
Songs like “Money,” which is featured as the theme song on ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money, explore the darker aspects of human nature with much sultry cynicism, while songs such as the playful “Intelligentactile 101” sing of reincarnation and “swinging from the stars on an umbilical cord.”
Perhaps one of the best testaments to Jesca’s skill as a songwriter is the somber, yet hopeful, “Love Is All We Have:” a beautifully crafted tribute to the people of New Orleans, written during the tragic destruction of Hurricane Katrina on the Big Easy. This type of sorrowful song is so easy and tempting for artists and bands to do, but often misses the mark entirely and ends up riddled with clichés and inauthentic, unconvincing lyrics. Jesca’s “Love Is All…” however, manages to not carry a smidgeon of schmaltziness or cheese. Check out a clip of a teary-eyed Jesca playing it live in New Orleans to thunderous applause. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMUycIWPpfM&feature=related
Anyone who has read a biography or press packet on Jesca Hoop will have almost undoubtedly read the following quote by her former employer, Tom Waits: “Jesca’s music is like swimming in a lake at night.” And in a strange way, this might just be the greatest analogy of Jesca’s music possible.
To listen to her songs is to regress into a state of innocent exuberance, but also to dive deeply and fearlessly into dark, mysterious, and uncharted territory. Her music is like a summer camp where one of the counselors secretly spikes the P.O.G. juice with Bourbon Whiskey and Vodka. If Ms. Frizzle listened to one artist on this list, it would be Jesca Hoop. ‘Nuff said. Go listen now!
Songs To Check Out Now:
1. Seed Of Wonder
2. Dreams In the Hollow
3. Out The Back Door
6) Dana Falconberry
Hailing from Austin, Texas, 28 year old guitarist, singer, and songwriter Dana Falconberry is still virtually unknown by mainstream listeners. Her debut full-length album, Oh Skies of Grey, which encompasses folk, rock, and blues however, suggests that she seeks to reach a more open-minded demographic.
With a high yet heavy, thick, and seemingly aged voice that defies her sprite-like appearance. There is something ineffable about Dana’s voice, the same way there is something weird and indefinable about Morrissey’s, Shakira’s, or Dido’s voice. You have to hear it for yourself in order to understand it.
Her music vacillates from slow, muddy, and distorted rockers to light-hearted and airy incantations. “Blue Umbrella” manages to incorporate sounds of American Folk, Hawaiian music, and Reggae, replete with sparse afro-cuban percussion, and homemade Foley room rain sounds.
Do yourself a favor and check out this amazingly talented young lady. Pick up Oh Skies of Grey, or even better, go see her play live when she comes to town.
Songs To Check Out Now:
1. Silver
2. Fluorescent
3. Leave In The Middle Of The Night
Sara Johnston comes from the Montreal music collective, Bran Van 3000, one of the most diverse and magnificent musical acts in the history of humanity. But that’s another story. Thankfully, during the Bran clan’s recently adjourned seven year sabbatical from the recording studio, Sara kept on writing. The product was Sara’s debut solo album, the dreamy and melancholy rocker, Sleeper.
Sara’s music isn’t immaculately produced, nor is it absolutely perfect in its clarity or instrumentation. It has all the pop potential for a hit single, but where most radio-friendly songs would play it safe and stay in the constraints of the Clear Channel formula, Sara goes where she pleases.
The result is beautiful songs like “Cod Fish Boy,” “Midnight Girls,” or “Renata.” Sara’s music is heartfelt, hypnotizing, and best listened to in the wee nocturnal hours of romantic yearnings. She also has a freaking badass cover of Don Henley’s “Boys Of Summer” as a secret track of the album.
Songs To Check Out Now:
1. Wholeheart
2. Midnight Girls
3. Wake Me