Our weekly dispatch of 10 female musicians you should give a spin.
It’s hump day and to get us all through it, I thought I’d start us off with an oldie but goodie and then try to provide something for everyone, because I am sweet like that. Ready, set, judge me.
File Under: Downtempo, Trance, oldie but goodie
From: Los Angeles
For fans of: Suzanne Vega, Sneaker Pimps, Tricky, Liz Phair
Bonus: After selling fake subway tokens in order to pay for food, her musical abilities landed her a full ride to Princeton.
File Under: Smart electro-pop mixed with some new-wave and punk
From: The womb of Trudie Styler
For fans of: dark clubs, going on road trips, Marina & The Diamonds, you can actually hear hints of Sting in there — without losing her own style.
Bonus: She and her sister make fun little videos and put them up on YouTube. I want to hang out with them in the worst way.
File Under: Psychedelic punk rock 60’s girl group with tambo, you guys, tambo
From: Japan
For fans of: The Gore Gore Girls, trying something new (kind of like sushi for the first time, when you’re really not sure if you’ll like it, but then you try the California roll and you’re like, dude I could totally get used to this).
Bonus: There is tambourine involved. Everything is better with tambo.
File Under: Trance, trip-hop, downtempo
From: Brooklyn
For fans of: Getting different colored light bulbs to plug in around your house, Aphex Twin on sedatives, David Lynch.
Bonus: Half of the Creep duo, Lauren Flax, actually wrote “You’ve Changed” which appears on Sia‘s new album.
File Under: Raw hip-hop with intelligent lyrics and a tough-as-nails bite coming out of a purdy mouth.
From: Chicago (represent!!)
For fans of: Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Talib Kweli, bobbing your head and crankin’ your neck.
Bonus: She’s openly bisexual and you can download her latest album, Woman at Work, for FREE! Also, check out the interview Trish Bendix and I did with her on our Chick Habit podcast.
File Under: High energy electro funk
From: Montreal <3
For fans of: Peaches, Le Tigre, Fischerspooner, Chicks on Speed, L7, taking apart lyrics and analyzing them.
Bonus: They are part of the queer family, obvs.
File Under: Sing-songy hip-hop, downtempo MC, neo-soul without the singing
From: Chile
For fans of: Mos Def, Digable Planets, drinking Courvoisier in a booth at a club
Bonus: She worked with songstress Julieta Venegas on a hot little song whose beats remind me of Ace of Base called “Eres Para Mi.”
File Under: Shoe-gaze, electropop
From: Brooklyn
For fans of: Beach House, Camera Obscura, vintage dresses and Polaroid cameras
Bonus: Their name comes from a line from a Pee-Wee Herman movie. It doesn’t get much better than that.
File Under: The best kind of 90’s Brit-Pop, Punk Wave
From: The UK
For fans of: Aggressive bangs, revolutions, Blur, The Pack A.D., The Runaways, being a part of something cooler than you thought you could.
Bonus: It was actually the band’s lead, Justine Frischmann, who kind of sparked M.I.A.‘s musical career. Maya was on tour with the band putting together artwork for their latest album and documenting the tour when she fell in love with the sound of the drum machine and tried it out for the first time.
File Under: Acoustic folk fun and a whole lot of ukulele
From: Mostly the interwebs, where it looks like she lives in a college dorm room and records all of her fantastic videos.
For fans of: Hugs not drugs, arts and crafts, Jack Johnson perhaps?
Bonus: Her YouTube channel is a gigantic bonus in and of itself.
More musical goodies coming at you soon, so check back next week.
