Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Books Aren't My Only Passion

Buoyed up by my first litblogging imitation, I’ve decided to confess I have an obsession with something other than books. It seems to be one shared by most book fiends I know: music. I probably don't need to note then that books aren’t the only objects to accumulate at the rate of breeding mice in our house. CDs do as well. Say what you will about Amazon and the demise of brick-and-mortar stores (okay, if you won’t, I will, “Damn the demise of good brick-and-mortar stores where you can chat with knowledgeable clerks and flip through and hold the merchandise!”), but what a fabulous one-stop-shopping place it is. If someone had told me when I was thirteen that one day I’d be able to go to this place to order books and music together and have them delivered right to my door, I would have wished the years away at Mach speed rather than my more leisurely “please-just-a-little-faster-so-I-can-be-a-grownup-and-do-what-I-want” speed. Well, we all know that grownups don’t always get to do what they want, but it’s nice to have my own money with which to frequent Amazon.

I love all kinds of music, but what I want to discuss today is maybe the equivalent of the best of the “chick flick” or “chick lit.” Too bad I can’t think of any musical term that rhymes with “chick.” I’m stuck with “chick music.” (Feel free to help me out here if you’re aware of some clever phrase for this genre.) I’m not talking here about sappy, supposedly romantic singers who rarely write their own lyrics and who are played ad nauseam on Lite FM. I’m talking about those tough, passionate, sexy women who pull you up on stage with them and ask you to participate, making you forget you can’t carry a tune to save your life and that you weren’t even able to master the recorder when everyone was taught to play it in music appreciation class, let alone the guitar.

I thought I’d highlight five of my favorite examples. These are women who just don’t get nearly the attention they deserve as far as I’m concerned. And, in case you haven’t heard of one or two, in my eagerness to force my taste on others, I’m providing CD recommendations, so you can go sample some snippets over at Amazon.

(In alphabetical order, lest you think I have a favorite.)

Iris Dement – I actually got to meet her once: so shy and sweet. Her music is much more country than folk with, at times, a hint of the influence of rock. Thus, she’s got a bit more of a twang to her than others I like. She hits you with beautifully sad melodies, as well as an extremely critical eye focused on our culture, especially in songs with these sorts of lyrics:

“Living in the wasteland of the free
Where the poor have now become the enemy
Let’s blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy…”

If these words are striking a chord with you, wait till you hear the actual chords. Try The Way I Should.

Deirdra Flint – funny, funny, funny, funny folk (and great fun to see perform). But she also surprises with some very poignant songs. I used to walk around talking about how I wished I could be the Tin Man and have no heart. Little did I know she’d written a song about this very thing. If you’ve ever been a bridesmaid or had to escort one, you should love “The Bridesmaid Dress Song,” in which a bridesmaid’s huge, pouffie dress saves her from drowning. You can find both songs on the superb The Shuffleboard Queens.

Michelle Shocked – I had the pleasure of seeing her perform in her home state of Texas. I’d just arrived in Austin from Dallas where I’d seen Michael Stipe of R.E.M. stand up on stage and mock the audience (just a little aside here: I’m a huge R.E.M fan, but had been down on Stipe for years for his smugness until I saw him in New York two nights after Bush won the 2004 election. He was terrific! Or maybe it was just the fact that – smug or not – he looked so good when he stripped down to his underwear). Michelle was so refreshing after that evening in Dallas. You’ve never seen a performer so happy to be there and so into what she was doing. Her story-telling ability was surpassed by anyone I’d seen on stage up until that point, and we got the added bonus of her father joining her for the last few songs. She’s a wonderful combination of country, folk, and rock and has a beautiful, haunting voice. If you’ve never heard her, try Arkansas Traveler, which highlights her folk-y side (and has the added bonus that she worked with a lot of other great musicians to produce it).

Syd Straw – you don’t get much better than this when it comes to fabulous bluesy-rock with a strong and very beautiful female voice. Her songs will make you think (I love the line “My sphinx is a jinx.”) I was lucky enough to see her onstage in a small venue back when she was with the Golden Palominos, but I like her much better on her own. She’s only produced two solo efforts, and of those, I’ve only got the wonderful War and Peace, one of those rare CDs on which there isn’t a single song I don’t like. Maybe I should go buy the other one...

The Nields – their energy on stage is truly amazing. I love the way they sort of jump around to their folk-rock sound like excited children, and their strong, edgy, and sexy feminist leanings are very powerful. How can you not like a group with lyrics such as:

“I used to be young,
Now I am old,
I used to be hot,
Now I am almost cold.
I used to be hard as candy,
But I’ve been sucked on too long…”?

And their version of “Lovely Rita” is better than the one by what's their name? The Beatles? A good first listen is Gotta Get Over Greta.

In writing this, I’ve realized I’m quite partial to folk. I’ve also realized that by limiting myself to five, I’ve made this exercise quite difficult. I have many, many other favorites in the world of female performers, but these will have to be it for now. Would love some recommendations from anyone reading this who has any, especially if you know of some who are similar to these five.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Iris Dement's "Our Town" always hits me hard. It sort of tears your heart out and hands it back to you, but in a good way.

Emily Barton said...

Hobs, I couldn't have put it better.

Anonymous said...

I'm a fan of Gillian Welch
and
Cat Power

Anonymous said...

Oh gosh, I'm so out of it. I like Janis Joplin, Joanie Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt, also Ella Fitzgerald.

mandarine said...

I know none of them. I will have to learn the names by heart so that they trigger a bell next time I read them on a CD case.
You just gave me an idea: I will showcase five of my favorite French singers, making sure nobody outside France knows any of them.

Emily Barton said...

Missv, thanks for the suggestions. Haven't heard of either one, and they both seem great.

hmh, oh I went through a Bonnie Rate phase at one point when I was listening to basically nothing else for weeks on end. And is it possible not to bow down to Ella Fitgerald?

Mandarine, can't wait for the post. I'd love to make my CD collection a little more international, but it's hard to know where to state. Here in Us-us-us-and-only-us-obsessed America -- well, and maybe our big brother England, whom, although we'd never admit it, we still idolize -- we don't hear a lot of French music.

Barry said...

I'd never heard of Iris Dement before today, but I know the rest of the artists mentioned, so there's a good chance I'd like her.

I've recently become enchanted by Joanna Newsom and re-acquainted with the joys of Lucinda Williams (she has a wonderful new CD out called West).

Anonymous said...

Missv is defintely right about Gillian Welch. She has that Dement-ed drawl even though she's from Santa Cruz.

Anonymous said...

I just got Brandi Carlisle's new cd...I think you might like her.
I am going to go check out the artists you recommend...*something* tells me we might have similar taste.

Anonymous said...

How interesting - the way you describe your favourite kind of music is certainly similar to the way I would describe mine, so I shall definitely be checking out some of these artists. I like Nerina Pallot a lot at the moment. I'm not sure to what extent singers cross the Atlantic, but I imagine in the next few days, I'm about to find out!

Anonymous said...

Have you heard of the Be Good Tanyas? I learned about them from Susan at Pages Turned. They're great!

Emily Barton said...

Boy, this is like the best post I've ever done as far as getting great recommendations goes.

Barry, Lucinda Williams is another one of my favorites.

Hobs, seems you might have some CDs I could borrow at some point...

Court, I'll have to check out Brandi Carlisle, then.

Litlove, Michelle Shocked lived in London for a while, and I think she produced some stuff over there that's only available as highly-expensive imports in this country. I don't know about the others, though. And Nerina Pallot will have to go on my "check-it-out" list.

Stef, haven't heard of the Good Tanyas, so they're going on the list as well.

Rebecca H. said...

I was going to recommend the Be Good Tanyas, but Stefanie beat me to it -- they are wonderful, and I listen to them obsessively. I've also been listening to Jolie Holland a lot too; her CD Catalpa is wonderful. She's folk and bluegrass and a little bit jazz. Thanks for your list!