VOICE PIECE
“ Sc re a m a g a i n st t he w i n d .”
ISSUE ONE
Feminist · Music · Magazine
2017 RECAP: REVIEW: Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds from Another Planet • Page 9 Music by Women/Trans/Femme Artists • Page 14
$12.00 U.S.A. $15.00 CANADA
meet the staff
Sara Loebig
Emily Csuy
Founder
Contributer
Editor • Writer
Designer • Writer
Lily Makowski
Mollie Wiener
Contributer
Contributer
Writer
Writer
Jackie Lee Young Amanda Hatfield Maria Kanevskaya Marilis Cardinal
Andrea Betanzos
Photography
Contributer Writer
Dianna Settles Janis Joplin Artwork
[2]
table of contents A Letter from the Editor A Brief Introduction to VOICE PIECE Sara Loebig
5
What We’re Listening To Valentine’s Day Edition Voice Piece Staff
6
Album Review Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds from Another Planet Lily Makowski
9
Release Calendar New Music Releases: March 2018 Voice Piece Staff
11
2017 Recap Music by Women/Trans/Femme Artists Voice Piece Staff
14
OP-ED Spotify, Streaming, and the Erasure of Access Lily Makowski
22
By the Numbers The Grammy Awards Mollie Wiener
24
Show Review Profound Simplicity: Jen Cloher - Live @ Rough Trade, NYC Andrea Betanzos
27
Artist Spotlight Thao Nguyen of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down Emily Csuy
28
A Look Back “What Is Instead?”: Blue Hawaii’s Untogether, Five Years On Lily Makowski
30
[3]
“A Lot Like Me” (1965) · Artwork by Janis Joplin
[4]
a letter from the editor
In our first issue, we unveil our annual Music by
Welcome to VOICE PIECE.
Women list—a massive catalog of as much music Since we’re new, I’ll let you know what we are all
we could dig up in 2017 released by artists in the
about before we get started.
W/T/F spectrum. This project is what inspired the Voice Piece website! It’s our biggest effort yet—we’ve
This is going to be a feminist music magazine to
managed to compile over 500 different albums
accompany our blog (www.voice-piece.com). We want
this year! We’ll provide some articles and guides to
to cover music with the feminist eye we use on a day-
help you dig through the list. We’ll also spend time
to-day basis. This means you’re not only going to find
reviewing the albums, songs and shows that have
the typical articles you’d see in a music magazine—
made an impact on us.
such as reviews and playlists, but commentary on I’m really excited to grow this project into reaching
today’s music culture, as well.
as wide of an audience as possible. This magazine is We are also only electing to cover artists that fit in the
named after a Yoko Ono performance piece where you
W/T/F (Women/Trans/Femme) gender spectrum, as
are instructed to “scream against the wind.” So many
bands, solo artists, or front people, with the mission
artists that will be featured here do just that, and I
of helping our readers diversify their music libraries.
can’t wait to share them with you.
We think this music will fit in nicely with some of the Peace & Love,
music you’ve already got in your rotation.
Sara Loebig • Founder of VOICE PIECE
[5]
Artwork and Design by Emily Csuy
what we’re listening to . . . Writing by the Voice Piece staff · 14 February 2018
Like many of you, music is constantly on our minds, especially
Beach House - “Levitation”
during holidays and other commemorative events. In this series,
To me, Beach House and Valentine’s
we give some thoughts about the songs that soundtrack our lives.
Day go hand in hand. Their beautiful, evocative music has
Valentine’s Day can be a real mixed bag of emotions for some—for
served as the soundtrack to mine
many it reminds us of the love from partners past and present,
and my girlfriend’s relationship
love gone unrequited, or even the fact that love gets a price tag
over the years. Beach House’s song
every February 14th. Here we talk about the songs that bring up
“Levitation,” which opens their
those emotions for us—and much more.
2015 album Depression Cherry, gives me butterflies whenever I hear those first steady taps on the
Liz Phair - “Shatter”
cymbal. Victoria Legrand sings romantically of a “you and me”
I realize that I don’t really come across as this type of person,
going anywhere we want to as the music lifts off to the utopian
but I actually really enjoy Valentine’s
dream state some call “love.” - Emily
Day. It consists of everything I dislike or don’t comprehend all mashed up
Warpaint - “Biggy”
into one big corporate holiday, and I
February in my city is a disorienting time, being one of the
think all those combinations together
coldest yet one of the sunniest
somehow make it something I have
months of the year. The confusion
a paradoxical fondness for. I often
and wonder provoked by the merging
find myself browsing the seasonal
of blue sky and black ice is perfectly
aisles of drug stores during this time of year, looking at all
encapsulated in the detached haze
the stuffed animals and other gift sets and imagining who
of Warpaint’s self-titled album. For
will be gifting them. These emotions immediately bring me
me, their layers of warm, enveloping
to Liz Phair, who wrote a whole album exploring these kind of
melodies and jagged rhythms always
feelings, specifically “Shatter,” which describes that same kind
conjure this part of the year, where spring shows itself in brief
of feeling I have about Valentine’s Day but instead about a
glimpses only to recede into the frost again. The song “Biggy”
person, which is something I’m no stranger to either. - Sara
especially captures the feeling of watching the winter sun
[6]
. . . Valentine’s Day Edition
glimmer through cascades of dust, swirling above a shelter
The Ronettes – “Be My Baby”
of blankets or the heat of a lover. It is a testament to the
Valentine’s Day always brings me back to 1997. I was 8 and
group’s ability to evoke moments of quiet intimacy, those brief
bought my father the kind of present you get for the man
glimpses into a shared otherworld far away from the cold. - Lily
who has everything: a jumbo-size Hershey’s Kiss. In the 15 minutes it took for my parents to get
Charly Bliss – “Percolator”
dinner ready, I somehow managed
I don’t feel strongly either way about Valentine’s Day, so it
to eat his whole gift in record time.
might seem odd that during this
Surprisingly, I did not go into a
season I’m drawn to an album
diabetic coma. This is by far the most
that focuses heavily on how shitty
successful Valentine’s Day I’ve ever
dating can be. However, Guppy by
had. Thinking of that moment, I
Charly Bliss is so infectious that my
chose something as reliable as a 7oz.
boyfriend and I often find ourselves
Hershey’s Kiss: “Be My Baby,” by The Ronettes off of their
launching into impromptu duets
Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica LP. It’s an
of many of the tracks, with album
old standard, but there’s a reason Brian Wilson was obsessed
opener “Percolator” being the most common. Filled with
with this song.
punchy lyrics and powerful guitar riffs, it’s a perfect song to soundtrack the Valentine’s Day of anyone who has been told
Yes, it was produced by one of the worst human beings and
they invest too much emotion in failed relationships. Vocalist
yes, it has one of the greatest drum phrases of all time, but
Eva Hendricks triumphantly rejects this notion, instead
the song simply wouldn’t work without Ronnie. There’s a
declaring that “it’s cool” to be “in touch with [your] feelings.”
sweetness and longing in her voice that no one’s ever been
Whether you’re single or not, I highly recommend unwrapping
able to recreate with all those unnecessary covers. The whole
some heart-shaped candies to that sentiment. - Mollie
album is filled with darling gems of a young woman falling in love, but everything is magical about this sweetheart of a song: the random castanets, the muted violins, the fade out. Joyful, a little sad and gender neutral—the perfect love song. - Andrea
[7]
Photography by Jackie Lee Young
ALBUM REVIEW:
Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds from Another Planet Writing by Lily Makowski · 14 January 2018
O
ver the course of her two albums as
early cassette works. Soft Sounds instead
scene with sparing-but-precise detail.
Japanese Breakfast, Michelle Zauner
announces itself as a vast, wandering
On standout “Road Head,” she sings of
has turned the project primarily into an
landscape, one in which Zauner feels
“lightless miles of big rigs,” evoking a
act of world-building. From the family
appropriately lost. “When I get back
near-cosmic sense of smallness in the face
photo that graces the cover of her 2016
there, baby/I’m gonna make you a home,”
of her circumstances, her vocals blurring
debut Psychopomp, to the lengthy note
she declares without alluding to what
into the song’s grand instrumental sweep.
and freehand illustrations accompanying
“there” is or what that home might mean
each song in the lyric booklet for its
to her. Her trajectory is set, but without
This focus on songwriting and structure
follow-up Soft Sounds from Another Planet,
an endpoint, and this uncertainty defines
allows for a foundation in which Zauner
she evokes a highly personalized sense of
many of the stories on the album.
is able to explore a consistently novel
the world around her. Japanese Breakfast
palate of sounds. The album veers from
is a space in which Zauner mediates her
the space-pop of “Machinist” to the alt-
experience of this world and, through the
country leanings of the title track and
visual mythology that informs the project,
“Boyish” without missing a step, all thanks
invites the listener to do the same with
to the formidable melodic backbone
theirs.
underpinning the performances. This experimental edge, fostered in part by co-
On Psychopomp, this experience was
producer Craig Hendrix, gives the album
marked by a kind of claustrophobic
an equally engaging element of soundcraft
weight. The album portrayed a world of
that felt at-times absent in Psychopomp’s
heavy hands, hospital beds, and tattered
perpetual haze.
sleeves that reflected the slow violence of grief accompanying death by terminal
While Zauner may have imbued Soft
Soft Sounds presents Zauner’s growth not
illness. Naturally then, Soft Sounds acts
Sounds with a far more ambitious sense
just as a songwriter, but as a performer.
as an expansion of this world, taking the
of scale, it does not make her songwriting
Where previously, her vocals often reached
blunted narratives of Psychopomp and
any less focused. Here, the keen structural
for the rafters over entire tracks, she lends
casting them across a much wider canvas.
instincts she presented on Psychopomp
the album a newfound expressiveness
are honed to a razor-sharp degree, not
and dynamic range that enhances the
This newfound expansiveness is
wasting a second as tracks build and
lyrical subtext even further. The tired
established immediately on opener
unfold. This concision, however, never
way in which she states “that’s not the
“Diving Woman,” a sprawling six-minute,
comes at the expense of narrative, with
way to hurt me,” on the title track, or her
shoegaze-tinged odyssey. Gone are the
each verse given just the amount of
pleading “don’t turn away, I’m still awake”
compact song lengths that defined her
time it needs to build a richly informed
on “Till Death” make for hauntingly
[9]
“Diving Woman” · Artwork by Dianna Settles
effective moments. Zauner fully inhabits
Soft Sounds such a significant work. There
describes a house “full of women sharing
the stories she portrays, conveying the
is a reason for the expansive sonics of the
trauma, doing dishes” I know the place
pain, vulnerability, and determination of
instrumentation: it is an album about the
she is talking about. I have been in those
her speakers in intimate detail.
distances that form when a person has
spaces. Those spaces have saved me. To
been wounded by the world. Distances
hear them memorialized in song makes
This narrative precision ultimately forms
from oneself, one’s heritage, sexuality,
me feel known. It makes me feel seen. To
the core of Soft Sounds. Each track is a
interpersonal connections, body, and
hear those soothing bells enter the frame
vignette, a catalyzing moment in Zauner’s
more. Soft Sounds explores these spaces
makes me feel like I am capable of healing
life given shape by the song around it.
with a deft and sensitive hand, envisioning
too.
Throughout, she portrays a stunning
a far-off planet in which a reassembled
amount of nuance given her relatively
self might exist. On the album, that place
In years to come, Soft Sounds will be a
sparse lyrics. That she can portray a
at last draws near with the approaching
companion for so many of the wounded,
lifetime of empty sexuality with “Road
clarion of closer “Here Come the Tubular
the marginalized, the invisible who are
Head”s “pump and run” chorus, or leaving
Bells.” It is the sound of another world
contained in its verses. People will not
a partner for someone else in a way that
returning at last after two albums of
feel alone because of this album. People
somehow sympathizes with all parties
upheaval and pain: Home.
will see themselves in this album. People
in only two minutes on “12 Steps” is a testament to her lyrical and musical skill.
will heal because of the strength this Having detailed the album more than
album gives them. I have felt these things
enough, I’m going to break my own
because of this album. I know others
Said skill is not wasted on petty matters
writerly principles and speak candidly for
have too. That is why this album is so, so
either. Soft Sounds is laden with visceral
a second: As a woman, a queer woman,
necessary. Soft Sounds is a compendium
depictions of trauma and illness in a way
a trans woman, a woman who has been
for the unheard. It broadcasts their voices
few rock albums have managed to do. This
relegated to the edges of society, you have
into the sky, showing them a roadmap
is largely due to Zauner’s uncompromising
no idea what it means for a record like this
back to themselves.
vulnerability and clarity of vision as an
to exist.
artist. On her most daring moment, she
To heal is the most important thing a work
closes “Till Death” simply by listing these
Soft Sounds is an album about the
of art can do. That’s why this is my album
demons outright: “PTSD, anxiety, genetic
sensations of otherness experienced by
of the year.
disease, thanatophobia.” It is a powerful
women, and it portrays these in a way
act of reclamation, one that gestures
that feels ripped from my own head.
towards healing in a vital and necessary
When she sings “last ditch desperate,
way.
like a makeshift siphon,” I know exactly what she means, and it is not a feeling
This relationship to healing is what makes
I have heard in art before. When she
[ 10 ]
RELEASE CALENDAR: Music Releases by Women/Trans/Femme Artists: March 2018 Compiled by the Voice Piece staff · 25 February 2018 Artwork and Design by Emily Csuy
MARCH 16
Green Text = Voice Piece Staff Recommends (These are releases by artists we’ve enjoyed in the past!)
oo oo oo oo oo oo
MARCH 2 oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo
All We Are - Sunny Hills Acoustic (Indie Rock) Anna Von Hausswolff - Dead Magic (Experimental) The Breeders - All Nerve (Alternative Rock) Camp Cope - How to Socialize & Make Friends (Indie Rock) Fanny Walked The Earth (FKA “Fanny”) - Fanny Walked The Earth (Pop Rock) Gwenno - Le Kov (Pop) Haley Heynderickx - I Need to Start a Garden (Singer/ Songwriter) Joan Baez - Whistle Down the Wind (Folk) Lost Girls (Jenny Hval) - Feeling EP (Experimental) Lucius - Nudes (Pop) Lucy Daucus - Historian (Indie Rock) Park Jiha - Communion (Free Jazz) Peggy Gou - Once (House) Rolo Tomassi - Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It (Mathcore) Rose Mercie - Rose Mercie (French Rock) Soccer Mommy - Clean (Indie Pop) Superorganism - Superorganism (Electropop) Tracey Thorn - Record (Singer/Songwriter)
MARCH 23 oo Alice Bag - Blueprint (Punk) oo Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain (Singer/Songwriter) oo Fatima Dunn - Birds and Bones (Baroque Pop) oo Gin Wigmore - Ivory (Singer/Songwriter) oo Lissie - Castles (Pop Rock) oo Nicole Cross - Shapeshifter (Pop) oo The Pandoras - Hey! It’s the Pandoras (Garage Rock)
MARCH 30 oo Daphne & Celeste - Daphne & Celeste Save the World (Electropop) oo En Vogue - Electric Café (R&B) oo Frankie Cosmos - Vessel (Indie Pop) oo Hayley Kiyoko - Expectations (Electropop) oo Jean Grae & Quelle Chris - Everything’s Fine (Hip Hop) oo Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour (Country) oo Kim Richey - Edgeland (Alt Country) oo Lindi Ortega - Liberty (Alt Country) oo No Joy & Sonic Boom - No Joy / Sonic Boom (Shoegaze) oo Queen of Jeans - Dig Yourself (Lo-Fi) oo The Shacks - Haze (Indie Rock)
MARCH 9 oo oo oo oo oo
Caroline Says - No Fool Like an Old Fool (Lo-Fi) Essaie Pas - New Path (Synthpop) Fickle Friends - You Are Someone Else (Indie Pop) Lauren Auder - Who Carry’s You (Art Pop) Meshell Ndegeocello - Ventriloquism (Neo-Soul) Sunflower Bean - Twenty Two in Blue (Indie Rock)
Alexandra Burke - The Truth Is (Pop) Lisa Stansfield - Deeper (Soul) Liza Anne - Fine But Dying (Folk) Martha Ffion - Sunday Best (Indie Pop) Whyte Horses - Empty Words (Indie Rock)
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MUSIC BY WOMEN 2017
MUSIC BY WOMEN Project by Sara Loebig · 5 January 2018 Writing by Sara Loebig and Lily Makowski Playlists by Sara Loebig and Lily Makowski
Editing by Lily Makowski, Mollie Wiener, Emily Csuy Data Entry by Lily Makowski and Mollie Wiener Artwork and Design by Emily Csuy
Welcome to the 2017 edition of Music by Women! What you’ll find here are selections from over 500 (!) tediously compiled albums and EP’s by artists within the Women/Trans/Femme gender spectrum, released in 2017 and categorized by genre and identity (see www.voice-piece.com for the full lists/playlists). This time we go beyond genre to help celebrate the diversity featured on our full music list. In a year of marches, political turmoil, travel bans, the #MeToo movement and much more, women faced a daunting number of challenges in 2017.
Through our freedom of expression in music, we come together to form a sisterhood that will help us power through it all. This is illustrated in the playlist art (shown above in the header and on the previous page)— each playlist cover is a piece of the big picture. We hope through this music you can find artists that remind you of yourself—your nationality, identity and/or language, or find someone that is from a different world than yours.
ROCK
POP
Enjoy! Let’s dive in!
oo Slowdive - Slowdive (shoegaze) oo Waxahatchee - Out in the Storm (indie rock) oo Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds from Another Planet (indie rock/pop) [album review on page 9] oo The Courtneys - The Courtneys II (grunge/power pop) oo Wolf Alice - Visions of a Life (noise rock) oo Palehound - A Place I’ll Always Go (indie rock) [album cover pictured below] oo The Big Moon - Love In The Fourth Dimension (indie rock) oo Alvvays - Antisocialites (indie rock/pop) oo Spotlights - Seismic (metal/ post-rock) oo Big Thief - Capacity (indie rock)
oo St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION (electropop/glam rock) oo Adult Mom - Soft Spots (lo-fi bedroom pop) oo Lorde - Melodrama (electropop) [album cover pictured below] oo Fever Ray - Plunge (experimental electropop) oo Kesha - Rainbow (pop) oo Lana Del Rey - Lust for Life (pop) oo Rina Sawayama - RINA (electropop/R&B) oo Tennis - Yours Conditionally (indie pop) oo Maison Book Girl - Image (art pop J-pop) oo Mega Bog - Happy Together (indie pop)
[ 14 ]
2017 HIP-HOP/R&B
SINGER-SONGWRITER
oo Jhené Aiko - Trip (psychedelic soul) oo Astrophanes - Humans Become Machines (experimental hip-hop) oo SZA - CTRL (alternative R&B) [album cover pictured below] oo CupcakKe - Queen Elizabitch (hardcore hip-hop) oo Princess Nokia - 1992 Deluxe (East Coast hip-hop) oo Syd - Fin (alternative R&B) oo Kelela - Take Me Apart (electroR&B) oo Linn da Quebrada - Pajubá (conscious hip-hop/ funk carioca) oo Sampa the Great - Birds and the BEE9 (jazz hip-hop/ neo-soul) oo Rapsody - Laila’s Wisdom (conscious hip-hop)
oo Florist - If Blue Could Be Happiness (lo-fi indie folk) oo Molly Burch - Please Be Mine (indie folk) oo Vagabon - Infinite Worlds (lo-fi indie) [album cover pictured below] oo Common Holly - Playing House (indie folk) oo Phoebe Bridgers - Stranger in the Alps (chamber folk) oo Margo Price - All American Made (contemporary country) oo Circuit Des Yeux - Reaching for Indigo (avant-folk) oo Julie Byrne - Not Even Happiness (indie folk) oo Margo Price - All American Made (contemporary country) oo Linda Perhacs - I’m a Harmony (psychedelic folk)
ELECTRONIC
OTHER
oo Björk - Utopia (art pop/glitch pop) oo Jlin - Black Origami (footwork/IDM) [album cover pictured below] oo Pharmakon - Contact (death industrial/drone) oo Ikonika - Distractions (UK bass/wonky) oo Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid (progressive) oo Yaeji - EP2 (ambient house) oo Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens (downtempo/ambient pop) oo Laurel Halo - Dust (sound collage) oo Caterina Barbieri - Patterns of Consciousness (progressive) oo Guerilla Toss - GT Ultra (art pop/ zolo)
oo Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings - Soul of a Woman (soul/funk) oo Mavis Staples - If All I Was Was Black (soul/gospel) oo Somi - Petite Afrique (vocal jazz/neo-soul) [album cover pictured below] oo Lauren Alaina - Road Less Travelled (country pop) oo Sarah Davachi - All My Circles Run (drone) oo YolanDa Brown - Love Politics War (vocal jazz/reggae) oo Iona Fortune - Tao of I (tribal ambient/instrumental) oo Melanie De Biasio - Lillies (jazz) oo Valerie June - The Order of Time (Americana/country soul) oo L’Rain - L’Rain (experimental pop)
[ 15 ]
MUSIC BY WOMEN NON-ENGLISH
TRANS/NON-BINARY
oo Juana Molina - Halo (Spanish folktronica) oo Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest (French art pop) oo Cold Specks - Fool’s Paradise (Somali neo-soul) [album cover pictured below] oo Mooner - Tabiat (Indonesian psychedelic rock) oo Oumou Sangaré - Mogoya (Bambara Wassoulou) oo Slowgold - Drömmar (Swedish folk) oo Litku Klemetti - Juna Kainuusen (Finnish jangle pop) oo Or Edry - KIDOD (Hebrew dream pop) oo Seiko Oomori - Muteki (Japanese folk pop) oo Myrkur - Mareridt (Danish dark folk)
oo Ah-Mer-Ah-Su - Rebecca (art pop/electronic) oo Octo Octa - Where Are We Going? (deep house/ dance) [album cover pictured below] oo Fire-Toolz - Drip Mental (electro-industrial) oo ANOHNI - Paradise (electropop) oo Girlpool - Powerplant (lo-fi indie pop) oo Rook & Nomie - Superego Royal Jelly (glitch pop/industrial) oo CXDR - Someone Else’s Story (folktronica/bedroom pop) oo Girls Rituals - Emergency! (synthpop/noise pop) oo Quay Dash - Transphobic (experimental hip-hop) oo Worriers - Survival Pop (pop punk)
LGBTQ+
PEOPLE OF COLOR
oo Marika Hackman - I’m Not Your Man (indie folk/ singer-songwriter) [album cover pictured below] oo Partner - In Search of Lost Time (power pop) oo Julien Baker - Turn Out the Lights (indie folk/singer-songwriter) oo Fatima Al Qadiri - Shaneera (experimental electronic/grime) oo Quiñ - Dreamgirl EP (R&B/soul) oo Chastity Brown - Silhouette of Sirens (singersongwriter/country soul) oo Jen Cloher - Jen Cloher (lo-fi singer-songwriter) oo Petal - Comfort EP (singer-songwriter/piano rock) oo Young M.A - Herstory (East Coast hip-hop) oo The xx - I See You (indietronica)
oo Ibeyi - Ash (electrosoul/Yoruba) [album cover pictured below] oo Bomba Esteréo - Ayo (Latin electropop) oo Ravyn Lenae - Midnight Moonlight (neo-soul/alternative R&B) oo Rainbow Chan - Fabrican (experimental electronic) oo Deerhoof - Mountain Moves (art rock/noise pop) oo Mhysa - fantasii (ambient pop/UK bass) oo Rosalía - Los Ángeles (contemporary Flamenco) oo Crumb - Locket (psychedelic pop/jazz-rock) oo Aye Nako - Silver Haze (indie rock/punk) oo Jay Som - Everybody Works (indie rock/dream pop)
[ 16 ]
2017 SELECTIONS FROM MUSIC BY WOMEN 2017:
HIP-HOP/R&B Artists Pushing the Genre’s Boundaries
Linn da Quebrada - Pajubá
Writing by Sara Loebig · 11 January 2018
On Pajubá, Linn da Quebrada tells her story, living as a queer transgender woman in Brazil, through powerful lyrics and hardhitting dance beats. The album is named after a common dialect shared between LGBTQ+ people in Brazil, and the lyrics stay true
Aristophanes - Humans Become Machines Most well-known for her collaboration
to that theme of exploring your identity
with Grimes on 2016’s Art Angels,
within your community and language.
Aristophanes debuts her first mixtape
The album was also released with a
with a number of collaborators,
crowd-funded music video series for
including Grimes, who produced the
every song, which she referred to as
title track. She spits her lyrics out at the
a “Trans Lemonade”—each video is an
speed of light, but with precision—once
artistic accompaniment to the songs.
her vocals kick in, you won’t know what
While her lyrics are in Portuguese,
hit you. Spoken mostly in her native
those who don’t speak the language
language of Mandarin, don’t worry if you don’t speak her language,
will often hear a few English words. Many people would consider
as she told Bullet:
some of these English words slurs, but these are also words that many who speak Pajubá try to reclaim, including one of the song titles, “Bixa Travesty” (“f-ggot travesty”), a phrase she uses to
“I love to explore with my lyrics,” [...] “I don’t even expect people to understand them. I just want to share my point of view with the rap world, generated from all my identities— I’m Asian and Taiwanese; I’m a woman, a literature fan and a cat lover.”
describe herself in an interview with Remezcla. Concerning her identity in her music, she says: “I make music to create strength to sustain this femininity. I make music to reinvent in my own imagination the possibilities of potency that exist in feminized bodies.”
CupcakKe - Queen Elizabitch In a culture where male-created rap music contains a seemingly endless amount of objectification of women’s bodies, CupcakKe
Sampa the Great - Birds and the BEE9
is here as a counterpoint—and not in the way you’d think. Being
African-born & raised, but now based in Melbourne, Australia,
just as open as any man about her
Sampa the Great speaks about her
sexual preferences, CupcakKe breaks
identity in her new home as a visitor.
the mold with her dirty mouth on her
On the song “Bye River,” she laments
second album. Her fearless approach
the systemic racism in the country,
in her lyricism when it comes to
asking “How you supposed to be
topics like sex, love, violence, body
black down under?” Songs like “Black
positivity and more, CupcakKe is
Girl Magik” and “Protect Your Queen”
certainly one of rap’s rising stars. If you
pay tribute to black identity and the
enjoy this album, you’re in luck—she’s
matriarchal power structure of her
already released her third album Ephorize to rave reviews from
native continent. Her words are truly poetry, and her music has
publications like Pitchfork.
some funky, soulful instrumentation to boot.
[ 17 ]
MUSIC BY WOMEN SELECTIONS FROM MUSIC BY WOMEN 2017:
LGBTQ+ The Year in Queer Writing by Lily Makowski · 19 January 2018
Fire-Toolz - Drip Mental
Young M.A - Herstory
Chicago producer Angel Marcloid’s 2017 album presents itself as a
On her debut project, New York rapper Katorah Marrero exhibits
thrashing, confrontational burst of noise. However, an unexpectedly
a keen understanding of hip-hop signifiers—her braggadocio,
touching and melodically-inclined album unveils itself between the
wordplay, and infectious flows could hold their own against any
layers of digital overload engulfing Marcloid’s frenetic vocals. As
up-and-coming MC. On Herstory she uses these talents to a
she oscillates wildly between synthetic chaos, delicate melodies,
radical end, at once inhabiting and inverting the male-dominant
and musique concrete—often within the same song—her unlikely
vocabulary of hip-hop in order to express a defiantly queer brand
fusion of vaporwave and noise serves to create a poignant
of empowered womanhood, actively deriding the toxic masculinity
meditation on the experience of queer physicality in the
of her peers. This galvanizing mixtape reappropriates the familiar
internet age.
to convey an emerging perspective in thrilling form.
Ah-Mer-Ah-Su - Rebecca
Chastity Brown - Silhouette of Sirens
Star Amerasu’s debut EP is a beguiling and vulnerable mission
While Chastity Brown’s discography may not present itself as
statement. Through a series of stripped-back R&B instrumentals,
outwardly political, its very existence is an act of defiance in itself.
she sings candidly about topics ranging from self-medication
For a biracial queer woman to carve out a space for herself in the
(“Klonopin”) to the pitfalls of white feminism (“Meg Ryan”) with
staunchly white Americana scene is a
gripping tenderness and precision. Rebecca’s lyrical focus often
feat of radical visibility, and on Silhouette
feels like being guided by the hand through a series of interiors,
of Sirens, Brown presents her own
providing an intimate journey through the daily experience of a
humanity in vivid detail. Thoughtfully
stand-out voice in the making.
written and orchestrated, Silhouette is a collection of earnest, evocative ballads that transcend genre tropes, creating a
Octo Octa - Where Are We Going?
space for all to lay themselves bare.
This sophomore release from house producer Octo Octa—her first since coming out as trans—tackles identity in oblique ways. There are few explicit statements to be found in the music itself, but song
Girls Rituals - Emergency!
titles like “Fleeting Moments of Freedom (Wooo)” and “No More
Emergency!’s declarative title perfectly encapsulates the sense
Pain (Promises to a Younger Self)” imbue the album with a kind of
of detached anxiety that saturates the Toronto producer’s latest
impressionistic queerness. Its swirling synth figures and intricate
project. Backed by a set of eccentric instrumentals, she wryly
percussion provide an imaginative space in which sensations of
sing-speaks her way through an increasingly surreal set of
transfemininity are made to unfurl in vivid fashion, embracing
confessionals, in which plain, apathetic detail is often disrupted by
ecstasy and melancholy at once.
disturbing non-sequiturs. A self-described “computer music diary,”
[ 18 ]
2017 Emergency! portrays the pervasive mundanity of mental illness in a
Petal - Comfort EP
variety of witty, touching, and bizarre ways.
Pennsylvania songwriter Kiley Lotz quietly follows up her 2015 debut Shame with Comfort, a brief-but-devastating EP. In three short songs, she manages to chart the role of mental illness in a
CXDR - Someone Else’s Story
crumbling relationship with unrelenting detail. The care with which
In her own words, Avery Hutley’s final album as CXDR charts “the
she brings the narrative to life is made all the more impactful by
last three years of confusion, depression, self-love, […] visions,
her plaintive and powerful vocal performances, which deliver
revisions” and more. Appropriately, the album covers a large swath
lines like “I don’t fucking care anymore” in a hauntingly casual
of territory, from shimmering electronica (“Silent, Selfless”) to lo-fi
tone. Comfort is an affecting and necessary deconstruction of an
balladry (“Fan Favourite”). An immensely personal work, Someone
experience that far too often goes silenced.
Else’s Story traverses the vast peaks and valleys of a harrowing journey towards self-discovery. While Hutley resists drawing any conclusions, the project departs with a sense that we are never
Fatima Al Qadiri - Shaneera
alone in the process.
Experimental producer Fatima Al Qadiri continued her string of ambitious conceptual projects with Shaneera, a portrait of Qadiri’s “evil extreme femme alter ego.”
Quiñ - Dreamgirl
Rich with references and signifiers
Los Angeles singer Quiñ takes her brand of dreamy R&B to
embedded in Kuwaiti queer culture, the
ambitious and sophisticated heights on her sophomore release,
EP is a fascinating expression of campy
Dreamgirl. The project’s airy production provides an appropriate
menace and playful exuberance. Qadiri’s
backbone for a set of vignettes that tackle queer intimacy and
propulsive and sinister instrumentals
romance in a strikingly candid and organic fashion. These scenes
provide an engaging backdrop for a
are rounded out by a number of stellar features, most notably
rotating cast of collaborators who twist
Syd on standout “Sticky Situation.” In an age when queer women
conventional markers of gender into
remain drastically underrepresented in pop music, Dreamgirl
a fluid and indefinite realm. Shaneera brings Qadiri’s dancefloor
presents a refreshing antidote.
ambitions to the fore, merging headiness with the raw thrill of a vibrant underground.
Partner - In Search of Lost Time This Ontario-based duo’s debut is a collection of joyous power-
Rook & Nomie - Superego Royal Jelly
pop anthems that tackle off-kilter subject matter, spanning from
Off the strength of Ada Rook’s 2016 breakout Void Fantasy, she
daytime TV to rec-league dating woes (“Play the Field”). While
and indie-game sound designer Neotonomie joined forces for a
an encroaching malaise often creeps
remarkable collaboration. Superego is rife with vivid, inventive, at
into the corners of Partner’s music,
times tongue-in-cheek production, and impeccable songwriting.
they remain defiant in holding onto
Through these distinctive sonic environments, they explore
small, tangible joys as a means of
themes of identity, trauma, and healing in remarkably intimate and
finding stability and happiness in an
resonant ways. Superego condenses the burdens of trans survival
increasingly dire world. In the band’s
and transforms them into a necessary hopefulness, envisioning
own words, the album gleefully
a world of safety and strength in which the agonies of the past
illustrates “the existential predicament
transcend to a radiant embrace of life.
of being a lesbian barista in the year 2017.”
[ 19 ]
MUSIC BY WOMEN SELECTIONS FROM MUSIC BY WOMEN 2017:
SINGER-SONGWRITER Soft Tones but Explosive Songwriting Writing by Sara Loebig · 17 January 2018
Circuit Des Yeux - Reaching for Indigo
Common Holly - Playing House
The first thing you’ll notice about Haley Fohr, better known as her
Montreal’s Common Holly, also known as Brigitte Naggar, has a
musical project Circuit Des Yeux, is her deep singing voice—it’s a
quiet minimalism to her work—the instrumentation and her singing,
little Nico, and a tiny bit of Tom Waits—you can’t help but feel the
but the heaviness of her lyricism couldn’t be louder. Playing House
melancholy undertones of it. But Fohr also has another tool in her
isn’t your typical breakup album, as it deals with the aftermath—
belt—tremendous songwriting, and the two forces combined make
what you feel as an individual after a
Reaching for Indigo one of the best and most underrated albums
relationship comes to an end. It’s a
in its genre in 2017. The album is an introspective take on the way
more introspective take on a subject
we mentally interact with our surroundings. In an interview with
so common to singer-songwriters, and
Loud and Quiet, Fohr says the album was inspired by a physical
Naggar is able to do this with ease on
experience she had:
songs like “In My Heart,” which touches on the feeling of missing someone
“My life wasn’t terrible by any means but something really dark came down upon me and this new step happened in the process where things got so dark they combusted into this bright white light and I had this knowingness wash over me. I found this answer that I didn’t know I’d been searching for until I found it.”
even though you know it’s more than over. “There’s the greatest wealth/of memories and affection/I can’t help but/feel you in my self” she sings over a soft guitar pick—an instrument she has mastered, evident throughout the album, as the low guitar tones often build up to fuller instrumentation, guiding the lyrics along. Naggar is
This existential experience echoes throughout the album, in
aware of the complexities involved with making “guitar music,” as
songs like “Brain Shift”: “Cause it all feels the same/You’re just a
she told BUST:
container containing space.” Or “A Story of this World Part II,” a semi-instrumental piece, with unintelligible lyrics—the perfect
“I find oftentimes that, especially in the realm of guitar music, audiences expect less complexity in terms of composition, and that really bothers me. Someone at a show recently brought it up, and said they really admired women making complex guitar music. And to be honest, it kinda sucks that still even needs to be said. So, it’s kind of a way to debunk the myth that women and non-men have to play soft or vulnerable music. I mean, in a lot of ways, my music is sensitive [to an extent], but, like I said, I’m trying to do something different that expresses a world that exists outside of male-fronted music.”
soundtrack for a mental journey.
[ 20 ]
2017 Linda Perhacs - I’m a Harmony
makes me sad. But I think we should speak out against things like white supremacy. There are things that are bad, and we need to not be afraid to say so. To not worry about album sales. Because, man, hardly anyone even buys records nowadays.”
Linda Perhac’s first album came out in 1970, Parallelograms, a quietly received psychedelic folk album that soon became a record-head deep cut similar to Vashti Bunyan. Also similar to Bunyan, after Perhacs’s music increased in popularity over the decades, she
Vagabon - Infinite Worlds
made a comeback record—releasing
We’ve seen so many bands thrive in the New York City DIY
The Soul of All Natural Things in 2014.
scene, and it seems like the wave now is with indie rock singer-
Her latest release I’m a Harmony
songwriters, but there’s no one quite like Laetitia Tamoko, whose
highlights the collaborators Perhacs
stage name is Vagabon. A multi instrumentalist, Tamoko got
now works with, many of them indie
her start at small Brooklyn venues opening for other NYC indie
music stars, like Wilco’s Nels Cline,
superstars such as Frankie Cosmos. What makes her stand out
Devendra Banhart, and her most
is her mastery of the craft, especially the guitar which is often a
frequent collaborator, Julia Holter,
key ingredient in making her songs so powerful. In the opening
who appeared on her 2014 album and is featured on multiple
track “The Embers,” you can hear her guitar wail underneath
tracks on I’m a Harmony. Despite the passing time and with the
her words, “Run and tell everybody that Laetitia is/a small fish.”
assistance of her collaborators, Perhacs creates another album of
Another notable part of this album is that it doesn’t really care to
soft, psychedelic folk music. Listening to this album will most likely
be labeled as “indie rock” or anything
make you want to go back to her catalogue if you haven’t already.
like that—you’ll hear a bit of everything, from the wailing guitar, to soft acoustic picks you’d expect from a singer-
Margo Price - All American Made
songwriter, to an array of electronic
Leaning more heavily on the “country” genre, Margo Price has a
sounds that you maybe wouldn’t. With
crossover effect that can appeal to any fan of singer-songwriters.
Infinite Worlds, Tamoko puts together
After her excellent 2016 debut, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, Price
one of the most stunning debuts of
returns a year later with the same stellar songwriting and a Willie
the year. It’s also pertinent to note that
Nelson duet. Her writing has gotten much more political, most
Tamoko is representative of a small
notably on the song “Pay Gap,” lamenting the 75 cents women
minority in the indie community—black women, and black people
make per dollar. Her political writing is most evident on the title
in general, who are underrepresented in the music genre and in
track, which samples a multitude of overlapping presidential
the crowd, which Tamoko does not shy away from addressing in an
speeches, and comments on what we’re told in the U.S. versus
interview with Pitchfork:
what is reality—a topical subject that’s rare to hear from a country singer in
“I just also don’t want to be put into a box: ‘Look at this black musician.’ It’s like: I’m black. It is so clear. I do not deny it. I am doing this for all the black people like me who didn’t know that they could be in spaces like I am in. I have no crazy entry point. I had no friend who brought me in. I had no music school connection, and I want other people to feel like it’s OK to penetrate that scene. It’s cool.”
a post-Dixie Chicks world. She told Noisey: “I wish that maybe more people would speak out. Maybe they’ll start to. Things kinda seem like they’re at a changing point. Our country’s very divided, and that
[ 21 ]
OP-ED:
Spotify, Streaming, and the Erasure of Access Writing by Lily Makowski · 5 January 2018
W
henever I recommend a lesser-
in the process, or hold out hope that
If we continue to become increasingly
known album to my friends, I get
they’ll be fortunate enough to land on a
dependent on the algorithmic discovery
asked the same question right away: “Is it
reputable label. Either way, the pursuit of
engines and limited selections of
on Spotify?” In a time where fewer people
music-making becomes unsustainable.
streaming services, then the music of
than ever are buying music, and most can
marginalized women will continue to be
only afford a monthly streaming service,
Worse, the latter scenario is made
ignored. As our spreadsheet illustrates,
Spotify’s near-monopoly of the streaming
inordinately more difficult for
this comprises some of the most exciting
market gives this question a sinister
marginalized women. In an industry
and forward-thinking music being made
subtext. When those loyal to a streaming
landscape where even independent music
today. Instead of ignoring artists who
service ask, “is it on [blank],” what they are
is profit-driven and dominated by a white
aren’t on our choice of streaming service,
implying is, “if it isn’t, I’m not listening
cishet patriarchy, female/non-binary
we should be saying, “They’re not on
to it.”
artists are at a huge disadvantage when it
Spotify? Good.” It plays a large role in
comes to creating while maintaining their
maintaining a thriving, fascinating, and
In making the Spotify playlists for the
quality of life. If not outright ignored,
diverse music culture.
2017 Music by Women spreadsheet, I
artists from these demographics are often
took note of the releases which were not
pressured into sanitizing their art so as
So, in exploring our spreadsheet, I urge
available on streaming services. When I
to appease the higher-up gatekeepers.
you to pay particular attention to the
looked at them, I noticed an unsettling
The masses don’t like it when music
artists not featured on Spotify or other
trend: these albums were largely made
is too queer, too black, too feminine,
streaming services. These are wholly
by LGBTQ+, POC, and non-English
and labels often curate their rosters
independent artists, many of whom are
speaking artists. While the difference
accordingly. Faced with a choice between
marginalized and struggling to be heard
between being on Bandcamp instead of
compromising their art and compromising
on a multitude of levels. Stepping outside
a Spotify playlist may seem like a minor
their livelihood, the vast majority of these
the convenience of playlists and spending
technicality, it dramatically increases the
artists instead sacrifice platforms such
a few dollars on someone’s music is an
likelihood of these releases being ignored.
as Spotify and resist participating in the
effective and effortless way to expose
industry at all.
oneself to innovative, underrepresented
What this highlights is a disparity of
voices operating far outside the norm.
access that runs through the entire
This, in itself, is not an inherently bad
On a large scale, it serves to enrich not
music industry. Getting one’s music on
thing. Underground artists and scenes
only individual tastes, but the spectrum
a platform like Spotify requires either a
will always exist. They are safe havens
of musical expression. It is up to the
third-party service or a deal with a record
for the oppressed, and essential breeding
consumer to break down the barriers
label. This puts marginalized artists, who
grounds for new ideas to develop and work
restricting access to art.
often struggle to find the financial means
their way into the mainstream. But the
to record music—never mind distribute
underground is an ever-ailing organism,
Women are creating worlds. Do your part,
it, in an untenable position. An artist can
and ensuring its continued survival
and listen.
either buy their way into a platform and
requires a change in our individual
sacrifice a large chunk of their revenues
listening habits.
[ 22 ]
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[ 23 ]
the Grammys treated major female artists like Lorde, who was
BY THE NUMBERS:
not asked to perform solo. The most memorable female-led performance was by Kesha, who sang about the abuse she has
The Grammy Awards
suffered to a room filled with her abuser’s friends, colleagues,
Writing by Mollie Wiener · 12 February 2018
and supporters. The Recording Academy’s lopsided treatment of women was
O
especially present this year, but when looking at the history
n January 28, 2018, the 60th Grammy Awards took place,
of the Grammy Awards over the past 10 years, it is clear that
during which The Recording Academy honored musicians
this is nothing new. When it comes to the main four Awards
like Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, and Kendrick Lamar with gilded
(Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and
gramophones. Though largely considered to be the “Oscars of
Best New Artist), the Grammys actually hasn’t been egregious
music,” the Grammys are somewhat unique as far as the main
in terms of female representation. For instance, a total of
award shows go, considering, well, no one seems to really like them.
127 of the nominations for these four awards since 2008
Many publications and writers before me, such as Randall
nominations — a much better showing than when you isolate
have been for men, with women receiving 94, or 42.5% of the the most recent Grammys, where women received only 5 (25%)
Roberts for the LA Times, have pondered the various reasons
of the nominations for these awards. As for the winners of
why the Grammy Awards are not taken seriously. As Lawrence
these awards, the results are almost dead even; men have won
Burney wrote for Noisey wrote after the ceremony, “the show
23 times, women have won 21 times. Not bad, Grammys!
felt more like a temporary solution to criticism concerning race and gender without doing the real heavy lifting that
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the rest of the
would ensure viewers that the ceremony actually reflected
categories. The Grammys have adjusted their awards quite a
what people thought and felt.” Critics such as Josh Daniel
bit over the years, so for many of the genre-specific categories,
with Slate have also noted the Recording Academy’s apparent
I was able to look back only as far as 2012. I selected 30
obsession with chart performance over perceived quality,
categories that include the main four and span the genres of
while others like Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic take issue
pop, rock, R&B, alternative, rap, and country. I also included
with the lack of diversity in both nominations and award
the “Producer of the Year, Non-Classical” award to round it out
winners. The former complaint will always carry some level of
to an even 30. Take a look at how the nominations have broken
subjectivity (what does it mean to be deserving of a Grammy
down by gender at the awards of the past 7 award shows:
Award?) but, when looking at the history of the Grammys, the latter is pretty hard to deny. For example, prior to Bruno Mars sweeping the main awards at this year’s show, the recipients of the Album of the Year Award have been overwhelmingly white. In fact, you have to go as far back as 10 years just to find a non-white recipient of that award (Herbie Hancock in 2008). Since the spectacle aired, the conversations about the 60th Grammy Awards have not been particularly laudatory. Across the board, publications like Vox, Stereogum, Variety, and Pitchfork called out the Grammys, expressing criticisms consistent with those mentioned above. This time around, be it in publications or on Twitter, the main issue viewers had with the Grammys was the striking lack of female
*Note that every year but 2012 includes the “Best Urban Contemporary Album”
representation amongst the winners, and the manner in which
category, which was added in 2013.
[ 24 ]
Looking at the numbers, it’s pretty hard to deny that the Grammys skew significantly male. This chart represents 1,055 nominations since 2012, 741 of which (70.24%) were given to men. When you realize that only roughly 30% of the nominations at the past seven Grammys have been for female artists, it is a little less shocking that only 25% of the 2018 Grammys nominations were for women. This lack of representation is staggering, but unfortunately, this is not unique to the 60th Grammys. In terms of actual winners, the numbers are consistent. Among these 30 categories, there have been 209 winners since 2012.
The only surprise here is that, despite receiving only 46.5%
151, or 72.25%, have been male, and 58, or 27.75%, have been
of the nominations, female Country musicians take home an
female.
award 64.3% of the time. The only other categories in which women have won at a higher percentage than they have been
Which genres are most responsible for the disparity in
nominated are Rock (women have won 14.3% of the awards
nominations by genres? Here are the nominations across 7
despite being nominated for only 9.8%) and Alternative
individual genre categories since 2012:
(women have won 28.6% compared to being nominated for 20%). Other callouts to mention: Rap has not awarded a single female artist an award during this time period, and Dance has only awarded one. When asked about the blatant imbalance of male vs. female winners and nominations, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow infamously stated that female artists need to “step up.” But how is it women who need to “step up” when they made up 4 out of the 5 nominees for Best Pop Solo Performance, and still lost to Ed Sheeran? How is it women who need to “step up” when Lorde released one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year and was nominated
Not a single genre category has favored female nominees over
in just one category, and not even permitted to perform?
the years, though Country has come close. Rock, Alternative,
Furthermore, how is it on women to make up for this disparity,
Dance, and Rap are the worst offenders in terms of lack of
when it is women who must overcome the ever-present burden
female representation.
of institutional sexism and—in the case of women of color— racism to make their voices heard?
Let’s look at the winners...
The answer, of course, is that it isn’t women who need to step up—it is the Grammys and the music industry as a whole that must shift priorities and acknowledge the barriers to success that female musicians continue to face. Until we see an unprecedented level of change in the music industry, we are likely to see next year’s Grammys play out the same way it did this year.
[ 25 ]
Jen Cloher · Photography by Amanda Hatfield
Jen Cloher · Photography by Sara Loebig
Courtney Barnett (left) and Jen Cloher (right) · Photography by Amanda Hatfield
[ 26 ]
SHOW REVIEW:
Profound Simplicity Jen Cloher - Live @ Rough Trade, NYC Writing by Andrea Betanzos · 8 February 2018
S
omehow, I missed Jen Cloher perform
After a fun performance from fellow
Some of the biggest cheers were during
twice in New York.
Australian Mia Dyson, Jen Cloher
two pivotal moments: “Analysis Paralysis,”
appeared onstage, without a word, and
where we proudly held our heads up high
The first was when she opened for
opened with “Regional Echo,” a welcome
at the lyric, “I’ve paid my fines. Taxes on
Courtney Barnett + Kurt Vile on The Lotta
surprise given its subtlety. It’s also one of
time. But the feral right. Get to decide… if
Sea Lice Tour. I had gotten the set times
the more stunning songs on her self-titled
I can have a wife?” as she gave a quick nod
mixed up and arrived in time to hear
record, released in August of last year. If
to the blushing Barnett.
Cloher retelling the origins of “Strong
you still haven’t taken the time to listen to
Woman,” her last song of the set. I was
this yet, you’re missing out on some of the
And when Cloher proudly declared her
devastated while everyone around me
most reflective lyrics in a very long time.
age, she proved once again how unfair
raved on. When I asked her to sign my
it is that we had to wait this long to get
record later, I told her she was amazing.
This record becomes more special with
the chance to see her perform live on her
I’ve never been so sure of a lie before.
every listen. Cloher’s intimacy will feel
own. However, it was at her very best and
familiar, but you’ll always be floored by
well worth the wait. “Analysis Paralysis” is
I missed her second acoustic performance
how each song progresses towards a more
an 8-minute odyssey made all the better
the next day in Brooklyn, thanks to a
truthful version of herself. For example,
because Barnett completely loses herself
mountain of work. After this record, it’s
to examine one’s envy of another’s
in it. “Forgot Myself” is more triumphant
likely she’ll never perform a room that
success is bold, but to even admit to
because we’re witnessing Cloher after
small again.
envy is an inconvenient task that Cloher
recovery. “Shoegazers” is playful with a
does so uninhibited, (“Forgot Myself”).
sneering tone.
For her latest date in New York, you could
For a record where relationships to love
say that arriving on time was a priority to
(“Sensory Memory”), to country and home
I’ll be honest, I was really excited to
say the least.
(“Great Australian Bite,” “Regional Echo”),
see how the band worked together as a
to womanhood (“Strong Woman”) are
whole. I wasn’t prepared for how much
Since Cloher’s last two performances
explored, this album is generous when
I would enjoy seeing how much Cloher
were acoustic, it was a welcome sight to
sharing the nuances of the very regular
and Barnett complement one another.
see her take lead of her band, in which all
lives we have with a partner. The most
Later on, I realized that so much of the
parts are perfect. Drummer Jen Sholakis
moving truth of the album is just how
allure was in watching two people who
is thunderous, and looks like she’s
hard it is to love someone from a distance;
have found one another’s equal in artistry
having the best time. Bones Sloane is
how impractical that love can be, how
and love. It’s romantic. If the album
steady and dependable on bass. Courtney
it’s loneliness can be permeating, how
was a precursor to introducing us to a
Barnett’s quiet command of her guitar
fulfilling it is to have found it. This is the
relationship, watching this show was the
almost outshines Cloher…almost. It was a
space where Jen Cloher lives and thrives.
embodiment of those lyrics and melodies.
performance from a band that knows one
For an hour and change, we watched love
another so well, a result of making tons of
After ripping through her first three songs
and success, complication and envy, find
great music and videos together through
with bravado, she welcomed a crowd that
resolution and coexistence and put on a
Milk! Records.
was nothing if not quietly in awe of her.
great show.
[ 27 ]
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:
Thao Nguyen Thao & The Get Down Stay Down Writing by Emily Csuy · 8 March 2018
Thao Nguyen is the lead singer of her band Thao & The Get Down
friend and collaborator Merrill Garbus (tune-yards) who is
Stay Down. She’s a talented multi-instrumentalist, switching
featured on the opening track “Eleven.”
between guitar, banjo, mandolin, piano, bass, loops, drums/
Thao and Mirah take turns on lead vocals
percussion, and she has been known to beatbox on the side.
throughout the album. “Teeth” is a notable Thao-centered song, “Rubies and Rocks”
Fans of St. Vincent, Cat Power, tune-yards, Tegan and Sara, Dirty
is a notable Mirah-centered song, and
Projectors and Jenny Lewis/Rilo Kiley may be especially drawn to
“How Dare You” is a more vocally balanced
her music. Thao brings an infectious energy to her live shows and
collaboration between the two.
I highly recommend catching her perform if you get the chance! We Brave Bee Stings and All
We the Common
2008 folk- and jazz-inspired indie rock
2013 folk-leaning indie rock/pop album
album produced by Tucker Martine. This
produced by John Congleton, who has
album showcases brass sections and a more
produced albums by St. Vincent, Angel
relaxed vocal style from Thao in addition
Olsen, and The Mountain Goats among
to her banjo, guitar and piano playing.
many others. We the Common is full of
Notable tracks include “Beat (Health, Life,
catchy, energetic jams and features some
and Fire)” as well as “Geography” and
of Thao’s biggest hits—“Holy Roller,” “We
Thao’s beatboxing skills on “Bag of Hammers.” The sweet,
the Common (For Valerie Bolden),” and “The Feeling Kind”—as
sincere song “Violet” is also a personal favorite of mine.
well as Joanna Newsom’s harp and vocals on “Kindness Be Conceived.” Thao’s voice, guitar, banjo and mandolin shine alongside explosive horn sections and strings. One of my
Know Better Learn Faster
favorite Thao jams, “Move,” also appears on this release.
2009 indie rock/folk pop album featuring Andrew Bird’s violin and whistling on the title track. Other highlights include the toe-tapping “Cool
A Man Alive
Yourself,” the raspy pleading of “When We
2016 art pop/rock album produced by
Swam,” and the danceable closer “Easy,”
Merrill Garbus. This album is Thao’s most
but the entire album is worth a listen.
personal work to date as it deals with her father leaving her family when she was a child. Thao blends emotional subject matter (“Millionaire,”
Thao & Mirah
“Meticulous Bird”) with songs that are more sonically upbeat
2011 collaborative art pop/rock album with the indie singer-
(“Slash/Burn”). A Man Alive features some of Thao’s most
songwriter Mirah. This album was produced by Thao’s good
expressive guitar playing (“Guts”) and beat-driven work.
[ 28 ]
Photography by Maria Kanevskaya
A LOOK BACK:
“What Is Instead?” Blue Hawaii’s Untogether, Five Years On Writing by Lily Makowski · 5 March 2018
A
t first glance, the cover art for
separation. Amidst its meditations on
“Yours to Keep,” she alternates between
Blue Hawaii’s sophomore album,
codependence, sexuality, and self-doubt,
statements of devotion and uncertainty,
Untogether, acts as an obvious metaphor
the album’s most fascinating thematic
calmly declaring, “can’t say I like this.”
for codependence. On it, members
strain is the way in which Standell
With the line “staying is a choice,” she
Raphaelle Standell-Preston and Alex
articulates the engrained behaviours that
remains aware of her agency, yet not quite
“Agor” Cowan embrace as ghostly figures,
lead to the inequity depicted on its cover.
willing to act upon it. That Standell is able
their bodies literally sinking into one
to allow such paradoxical nuance to exist
another. The dissolution is subtly one-
From a very young age, women are
in a digestible form is a measure of her
sided, however. Cowan remains solid,
conditioned to see romantic compatibility
extraordinary perceptive ability.
while Standell is transparent, the edges of
as the ultimate measure of self-worth.
her blurring into his. It is the nature—and
In the historically omnipresent Disney
The self-awareness exhibited on moments
subsequent fallout—of this boundary-less,
princess trope, the heroine’s crowning
such as “Yours to Keep” plays a major
imbalanced intimacy that lends the album
achievement is marriage to her prince,
role in Untogether’s resonance. Standell’s
such lasting impact.
and this notion of unwavering
state of mind is one familiar to almost
commitment centered around the
anyone who has found themselves in
construct of “true love” inevitably
a codependent relationship. Talk of
becomes the metric through which young
patriarchy and toxic narratives aside,
women come to judge the success of
sometimes being loved just plain feels
their relationships. It’s an enormously
nice, and it’s difficult to reconcile that
patriarchal and restrictive narrative,
immediate comfort with the knowledge
and while one might prefer to think of
that it stems from an emotionally
these ideals as the territory of naïve
unhealthy place. Standell’s vocal talents
little girls, they’re so aggressively driven
reaffirm this point on the chorus of the
into children that women often struggle
tranquil “Try To Be.” When she sings
to dismantle internalized notions of
“may as well just be me,” whether she is
romantic value well into adulthood.
saying it with a sense of resignation or
Strangely, the physical proximity of the
empowerment is strikingly unclear.
album’s artwork acts in direct contrast to
It is this struggle that Standell so often
the circumstances of its creation. Then
finds herself caught in throughout
“Try To Be” also acts as a skeleton key
a couple, Standell and Cowan recorded
Untogether. By 2013, she had already
to what appears to be Standell’s own
separately, alternating solitary work on
established herself as one of Canada’s
internalized notions of self-worth, stating,
the album, rarely seeing each other during
leading songwriting talents through
“felt like as a young girl/I barely knew
what would become the final year of their
her work with Braids, and here, her
what was happening/what I want to be,
relationship. By Untogether’s release, the
plainspoken lyricism deftly articulates
what I want to be.” At the song’s climax,
pair had split, leaving behind a roadmap
the feeling of being trapped between
she lays the nature of her feelings bare:
of the nebulous territory that arises
the need for self-preservation and the
“All I wanted/was a need to be wanted.”
between emotional proximity and physical
comforts of being desired. On centerpiece
Admissions like this populate much of
[ 30 ]
Blue Hawaii · Photography by Marilis Cardinal
the album, standing as acts of immense
pitch-shifted vocals form the bulk of
much time for your life.” Coming on the
vulnerability.
Untogether’s melodic instrumentation.
heels of an album rife with self-doubt, it is
Over the course of the record, a duality
a touching moment of care. Still, it is laced
In a society where women are still
begins to appear between Standell’s
with the pain that such hard-earned act
expected to be single-minded and
unedited singing and Cowan’s subsequent
of self-actualization brings. In the tracks
unwavering in their interpersonal
alterations, forming a kind of symbolic
last moments, Standell sings, “The other
relationships, expressions of doubt and
push-pull. There are her emotions, and
day/I had the beautiful thought/‘What if
fallibility are hugely valuable. On “Sweet
the way in which he reconstructs them
I didn’t really care at all?’” True to form,
Tooth,” the album’s ode to unsatisfying
through his own lens.
the duo end the album with a mixture of
intimacy, Standell admits, “I’m still
empowerment and sadness, letting the
learning about my tastes,” and in a rare
Eventually, a clear shift takes place
two combine into something far more
instance of boundary-setting states
towards the album’s latter third. Where
powerful.
that “true O’s can only ever be achieved
Standell’s voice initially carries through
through love.” On an aesthetically delicate
unimpeded, on “Flammarion,” Cowan’s
As a collection, Untogether stands as an
pop album, this emotional bluntness is
unintelligible distortion form the sole
important embodiment of the trials of
stunning.
vocal content, distorting her perspective
modern romance. At a time where the
beyond recognition. In line with this,
boundaries set by society’s preconceived
With the knowledge that Untogether’s
Standell’s lyrics become increasingly
notions of love and sexuality are
creative process culminated in the end
defeated. “Sierra Lift,” the album’s most
beginning to erode, the album manages
of Standell and Cowan’s relationship, it’s
instrumentally spirited moment, finds
to express the muddy emotional waters
difficult not to apply that narrative to the
her apathetically asking, “someone come
left behind in the aftermath. Most
album’s overall progression. While an
and lift me out of here/I just want to go
importantly, Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s
emotional trajectory does take place, it’s
to sleep.” By “Daisy,” matters turn for the
lyrics encapsulate the ways in which the
less a step-by-step dissection of a break-
worse, her only intelligible words being
social pressures created by those long-
up as opposed to a vague passage through
“I’ve been caught in a mess.” Throughout,
held ideals affect how women perceive
the emotional states that occur leading
it sounds as if Cowan’s prismatic samples
and maintain relationships. She not only
up to one. Standell’s conflicted desires
are what is keeping her there.
charts the origin of that experience, but
gradually build into a state of disconnect
offers a crucial vision for how we might
and dissatisfaction, which progresses
In line with its characteristic emotional
be able to challenge and overcome the
alongside a unique instrumental parallel.
ambiguity, Untogether concludes neither
internalized beliefs that so often hamper
with a climax or resolution, but a small-
the existence of emotionally healthy
Throughout the album, Cowan—primarily
yet-powerful piece of attrition. On closer
dynamics. As the present-day social
on instrumental/production duties—
“The Other Day,” Standell finally gives
landscape becomes ever more fluid and
makes extensive use of Standell’s own
herself a piece of hopeful reassurance:
uncertain, Untogether offers an enduring
resampled voice. At times, her scrambled,
“Don’t give up now/and wait/there’s so
sense of how to find oneself in the murk.
[ 31 ]
“Scream against the wind.”