Pop-Culture | Posted by Emily A on 10/30/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Tati Kalveks
Tati Kalveks is an 18-year -old girl from London who, as she describes it, is producing some beautifully poignant and funny songs. Her topics spread over a whole array of things, from female grooming habits to her love of gingers.
In one of her greatest songs, “Because I’ve Got Breasts“ (or ‘B.I.G. Breasts’ for short) she sarcastically celebrates the fact that everyone in her life is more than happy with her to enter into an unstable career as a musician because one day she is going to marry a rich wealthy man. Why? Because she’s got breasts, of course.
Says Tati about the song: “This one churned itself out of a song about not getting enough done, after enough people (family) pointed out to me that work is …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Brian C on 10/23/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Austra
If you’ve ever heard an Austra song, you would know it. Few bands in my repertoire have such a unique and distinctive style. Even their covers of rock out songs like The Strokes’s Alone Together are spun into truly original arrangements that capture the dark synth essence that is Austra. Austra was one of the biggest buzz bands at SXSW this year and have even started touring with the likes of the wonderfully talented James Blake. I had the pleasure of seeing Austra back in Cleveland with Cold Cave which was quite the spectacular spectacle. Austra manages to be dancey while maintaining a creepy allure that leaves the listener in a dazed state of desire for more.
The band consists of Katie Stelmanis (lead vocals) who sounds like a weird …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Brian C on 10/9/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Blair
Alright time for super indie. The near impossible to find, but incredibly talented Blair!
You know how when you go to a concert you kind of roll your eyes when the warm up band comes out that you’ve never heard before? If you find a gem, your concert experience is multiplied by about 10000 but if they’re a dud, it really puts a damper on your evening. This year I saw Say Hi when they came to Cleveland. Blair opened up for him and wow were they talented. She has just that right kind of voice that’s soothing to listen to. Blair’s style is kind of pop but while teetering on the edge of becoming folk. I can’t recommend Blair’s first album Die Young highly enough, it’s a go to …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 10/2/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Clare Maguire
Clare Maguire (born 1987 in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom) is an English singer, songwriter signed to Polydor Records.
Maguire comes from a large musical Irish family and started singing and writing music from the age of 7. She was announced on the 3 January 2011 as 5th place in the BBC Sound of 2011 list of the top 15 most promising new artists. Clare was also singled out as one of MTV’s Brand New: For 2011 Acts. Her voice has been compared to Annie Lennox and Stevie Nicks.
Maguire signed a recording contract with Polydor Records in 2008 and since then has been working on her debut album ‘Light After Dark’ with producer Fraser T. Smith, who has previously worked with Kylie Minogue and Adele. ‘Light After Dark‘ comes out …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 09/25/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Jane Lui
Listening to singer-songwriter Jane Lui’s music is like watching a Michel Gondry film. There’s a whimsical, homemade feel that’s inventive, magical, & intimate. Handmade music boxes, found objects, percussion pipes, and cardboard boxes, all a part of a handcrafted sound that makes her music enduring and lovable. It began this way though – “You’re poor in college — don’t have stuff, so you make it up.”
“I’m painfully shy and learned that I feel most earnest in music. More than anything, I want honesty between my listeners and I; as it should respect intelligence.” With a sensitivity towards the interplay of sound, space, & subtlety, Lui’s artistry is fierce with utmost musicianship & self-respect.
“..Spent a lot of time in my room when I was little listening to the radio. …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 09/18/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: The Go-Go’s
The Go-Go’s were the most popular all-female band to emerge from the punk/new wave explosion of the late ’70s and early ’80s, becoming one of the first commercially successful female groups that wasn’t controlled by male producers or managers. While their hit singles — “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” “Head Over Heels” — were bright, energetic new wave pop, the group was an integral part of the Californian punk scene. And they did play punk rock, even if many of their rougher edges were ironed out by the time they recorded their first album, 1981′s Beauty and the Beat.
Even as they became America’s darlings, the Go-Go’s lived the wild life of rockers. More importantly, their earliest music — now collected on Return to the Valley …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 09/4/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Jean Grae
Jean Grae (real name “Tsidi Ibrahim”), born November 26, 1976 is a hip hop artist from New York. She rose to prominence in the underground hip-hop scene in New York City, and has since built an international fanbase.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa on November 26, 1976, the daughter of South African jazz musicians (her father and mother are the celebrated musicians Sathima Bea Benjamin and Abdullah Ibrahim), she studied Vocal Performance at the LaGuardia School of Music & Art before majoring in Music Business at New York University.
After working with groups including Ground Zero, she joined a hip hop music group called Natural Resource in the mid-1990s, along with rapper Ocean. In 1996 they released a pair of 12-inch singles called Negro League Baseball. She also appeared …
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Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Emma E on 08/24/2011
Reversing Gender Roles With A Little Help From Ke$ha
When most people think of Ke$ha, feminism is not the first word that comes to mind. But I think her music does have some vaguely feminist merits.
I remember some time before I even discovered the FBomb (my life must have been so meaningless…) I was thinking about sexism in music. I remember thinking, “I wonder why most music by women is all about how much they love their guys, and men’s music is all about hooking up with random, personality-less girls at parties? Women almost never treat men like meaningless objects in music, but men do all the time.”
I tried to think of a song where women treat men like men treat them. The only one I could come up with was a little-known song from Ke$ha’s debut album, …
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