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Category: Popular Culture

Summertime Downloads

In preparation for this summer’s Mixmania!, I’ve been compiling songs that scream summertime to yours truly. I envisioned my playlist as what would make me sing out loud without shame at a stoplight with the windows down. Summertime usually means that three major genres are represented in my CD player: reggae, rockabilly, and synth-pop dance music. Also cue David Bowie and the B52s.

As a charitable service, I thought it might be appreciated if I offered a preview. After all, no one can complain about free music, even if you hate it.

Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs – Notorious Thugs
I genuinely hated rap until one long summer sitting out on a friend’s front lawn watching he and his buddies get drunk on PBR while whooping at people walking through campus. They forced me to listen to all sorts of hip hop, primarily hip hop from the mid- to late-90s, until I finally got it. After many years of resistance, I finally decided that, okay, I’m down as long as it isn’t too commerical.

I offered this song up for download before with some commentary on hip hop, gender, and sexism (this song has very little in comparison with the others in that post), and got this comment from Oshunluv:

How do I feel about them??? hip-hop classics! Bone-Thugs and Biggie was an Oakland classic Back in the day!

You heard it from her: classic. Unfortunately I can’t let myself listen to Bone Thugs out loud in public — they remain relegated to my headphones during walks to and from campus.

Dawn Penn – You Don’t Love Me
This slinky reggae classic gets my hips a-movin’ and head a-bobbin’. Nuff said.

The Dirtbombs – Underdog
This Detroit band is headed by Mick Collins, formerly of The Gories, and features his trademark growling, soulful voice. Detroit has been notable in the last few years for a fusion of garage rock, Motown soul, and punk rock with bands like White Stripes and the Von Bondies. The Dirtbombs are, in my opinion, a far superior choice if that’s a sound you like.

Of Montreal – The Party’s Crashing Us
And now for the synth-pop. This band is cute, but not too cute. Sweet but not saccharine. Of Montreal is thankfully missing the Angst Factor and they make my butt awkwardly move around in the driver’s seat.

Firewater – Mr. Cardiac
A slinky, sultry, cynical song with a female guest singer that furthers my delusion that somewhere deep inside of me is a singing voice fit for the public.

Reverend Horton Heat – Loco Gringos Like a Party (link fixed!)
I maintain that the Rev. is one of the greatest bands for driving long trips down sunny highways with your windows down. This song comes from Lucky 7, my favorite album since Holy Roller, a best-of compilation that unfortunately does not include the classic song “Nurture My Pig.”

Right click, save as, rename.

NOTE: I was looking at my stats to see how many people have downloaded songs and realized that the number 47 comes up every time I upload songs to the site. Forty-seven downloads or less. Is this the same forty-seven people downloading songs every time?

Tanya Stephens

Tanya Stephens has been referred to as “Jill Scott with dick jokes.” Some of her lyrics seem anti-man, some patently pro-woman, and some simply reflect the no-holds-barred stylings of female rappers we are used to in the U.S. What she does best is speak from a personal perspective on heterosexual relationships in which women feel unappreciated.

A listener unaccustomed to listening to Jamaican dancehall reggae (not crap American and British dancehall) will notice several things. First is the repetition of backing music. This isn’t sampling as we know it, but reflective of a producer-based music industry in which artists are vehicles for producer mixes, asartists are not tied down with music labels as in the States. This is changing as dancehall is becoming more of an international interest. The repetitious backing beats are labelled as riddims (rhythms for the painfully white) and are sometimes featured on full-length, ninety-minute CDs where artists lay vocals over them, resulting in ninety minutes of pure repetitive hell. I prefer them as singles rather than laid back-to-back in this manner. DJs, who remain closely tied with producers, often refuse to play new music unless they are highly compensated, reminding of the days of payola in early American rock ‘n roll.

The Jamaican music industry is almost unforgivably misogynistic in this regard. Artists who promote typical patriarchal ideals are highly rewarded, and so are the female artists that go along with it. There are always exceptions to the rule, but the patriarchal system prevails. One of my favorite reggae artists has been banned from the UK for promoting violence against gays and lesbians, even boasting: “I kill sodomites and queers, they bring AIDS and disease upon people.” The greatest shame is that he does so while promoting racial and spiritual unity.

Though the industry is changing, female artists are few and far between. Heavy hitters like Lady Saw and Tanya have been a staple for over a decade, and new artists like Ce’cile and Ms. Thing are up and coming superstars.

Tanya Stephens got quite a bit of flack for breaking from the producer-driven model and releasing an album through a Swedish label. Insiders accused her of selling out and abandoning her Jamaican heritage. Truthfully, the Swedish album is produced in a manner far more similar to American and European music. It sounds cleaner and her accent is less prevalent. But I speculate that the backlash came more from a sentiment she isn’t quiet about: “My goal on this record is to show my diversity not only as a singer but also as a songwriter and also to breakaway from the stereotypical female in Dancehall selling plain old cliche sex.”

If there is one thing about Tanya Stephens, the woman can chant. Some of the backing music is lacking in melody but I have included my favorites here for you. Right Click – Save As – Rename.

It’s a Pity (Doctor’s Darling Riddim)
This single came out shortly after Tanya’s three year stint in Sweden and was not well received by Jamaican critics. It’s a song about a woman lamenting her married beloved. She fantasizes what their life might be like should they actually be able to get together. The greatest strength in this song is the horn section, in part because it breaks from the usual riddim motifs.

Big Heavy Gals (Cuss Cuss Riddim)
This one has been featured before on Feministe in a slew of random songs. An anthem for “big heavy gals” who can still “get material,” it serves as a celebration of female sexuality in all bodily forms, and includes a few swipes at men who just don’t get it. This is one of my absolute favorite songs by Tanya.

Bounce Me (Medina Riddim)
A retrospective look at a failed relationship with a cheater.

What Makes a Gal Come
Self-explanatory — a few pointers for those who remain clueless.

All of the information in this post I have gleaned from various resources over the years. If there are any Caribbean readers who can confirm or deny anything I’ve said here, especially regarding the music industry, it would be appreciated. In addition, if any of these songs pique your interest, I have several more comparable female reggae artists I can feature. Drop a line and I’ll include them in a future download feature.

Enjoy!

Why Don’t Women Download?

In my corner of the world, the more accurate question should be, “Why don’t women buy mp3s?”

Because the smart chicks download for free. And win their mp3 players playing competitive touchscreen bar games.

The Guardian investigates, “Why is it that only 4% of legally downloaded music is being bought by women?” and actually includes this answer:

It does concern me that women don’t seem to take as much of an interest in music as men: I think a lot of female artists suffer for that.

This coming from a lady DJ who goes by JoJo de Freq.

Amanda, rev your engines.

via Culture Kitchen’s side o’ links.

Guilt-Free Download

I love Iron & Wine, composed of one solitary man named Sam Beam. He makes quiet, understated folk-blues porch rock music: slinky, sensual, lovely.

If memory serves me correctly (alas, my internet connection does not love me and will not let me confirm this information) Beam also doubles as a film professor in Florida. His catalog reflects this with his mature and mysterious music that references great literature and mythologies.

Iron & Wine – Woman King
Right click, “Save As” and be sure to rename the file.

Mixmania!

My playlist for Mixmania! is going to be a bit odd. I picked out songs that I adore that are also unobtrusive and inoffensive (both of which my favorite music is often not) and they’re ready to go. To someone else’s house. Because I have yet to fix my CD burner. Praise the lord for portable drives.

My songs for Mixmania! are (not in this particular order because I can’t burn the CD myself):
1) Grizzly Bear – Fix It
2) The Detroit Cobras – Won’t You Dance With Me
3) Need New Body – Show Me Your Heart
4) Saturday Looks Good To Me – Alcohol
5) Le Tigre – Fake French
6) My Morning Jacket – O Is The One That Is Real
7) Songs: Ohia – Two Blue Lights
8) Mr. Airplane Man – Travelin’
9) Sufjan Stevens – Niagara Falls
10) Smoke City – Underwater Love
11) Grenadine – Hell Over Hickory Dew
12) M. Ward – Here Comes The Sun Again
13) Belle and Sebastian – Your Cover’s Blown
14) Donovan – Get Thy Bearings
15) Summer At Shatter Creek – Ever Changing Mood
16) Nellie McKay – David
17) Danielson Familie – Cutest Little Dragon
18) Sean Lennon – Bathtub
19) Jens Lekman – The Wrong Hands

One or two might get dropped, again because it isn’t yet burned, so we’ll see what happens. I’m stoked about my CD.

Read More…Read More…

Leaving The Dollhouse

I have always had a little crush on this girl:

Heather Matarazzo hated high school. The 22-year-old actress, best known for her movie roles in ”Welcome to the Dollhouse” and ”Saved,” said she has known since second grade that she was attracted to other girls. But shame forced the actress into years of silence and self-destruction. She abused drugs and alcohol. She ran away from home.

Yesterday, Matarazzo described her experiences to more than 500 teachers, students, and parents who attended the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network of Boston’s 15th annual conference at Brookline High School. As the keynote speaker, Matarazzo drew tears and applause when she described her struggle to gain acceptance of her sexuality.

”It was such a burden, because I had to pretend to be this person that I wasn’t,” Matarazzo told the audience…

…Jiovani Robles and Valdir DePina, eighth-graders at the Academy of the Pacific Rim, a charter school in Hyde Park, attended the conference to support their gay teachers. Robles said he had not known until hearing Matarazzo’s speech that gay youth struggled so much for acceptance. He said his Catholic parents had taught him to respect everyone. But the boys said the conference opened their eyes to how much work still needs to be done to teach tolerance in schools.

I hated these conferences in high school (god, I hated high school), in part because they always turned into Cryfest ’99 so a particular set of kids could prolong their absence from class. But maybe that is unfair. Judging from the last paragraph, if these boys are honest, talks like this might actually make a difference.

via JC. Again.

A Brief Moment of Intellectual Superiority

I’m glad I opted for college:

Love is likely to thank for Paris’ newly angelic demeanor. She was joined at the W Hotel after-party by her new beau, Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis.

“He’s definitely the one,” she said, explaining that Paris Un et Paris Deux met way back in 1997 in a Hilton-owned Monaco club called Jimmy’s.

“Paris and I met when he was 14 and I was 16,” she said. “I had this fake tattoo on my back, and he came up and was like, ‘Is that real?’ and I totally lied and said, ‘Yeah.’ He’s like, ‘That’s hot,’ and I’m like, ‘I know.’ Then he said, ‘My name’s Paris,’ and I said, ‘My name’s Paris.’ Then we danced all night.”

“He always gives me nice gifts,” she said.