Kill Rock Music

The catch-all musical genre of ‘singer-songwriter’ has always been a problematic one. Technically, any old asshole with a guitar, vocal chords and too much damn time on his/her hands can call themselves a ‘singer-songwriter’, and therein lies the problem. In general, I find that female singer-songwriters lately seem to be a bit more innovative than their male counterparts. However, I don’t think it’s always true and sometimes women just get credit for things for no other critical reason than novelty – they sing about things that society has decided girls shouldn’t (or don’t) sing about, and therefore it’s edgy. I have a particular problem with the Lily Allen school of songwriting on this front, as I think she’s highly overrated. She’s simply doing what Mike Skinner did with the Streets years ago, singing about everyday life mid-20s ennui in southern England in slightly insightful, slightly snarky and slightly thoughtful ways. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Streets and even Lily Allen can be fun, but I find something patronising in some of the positive critical reception she receives. It shouldn’t be a shock that somebody like Allen can string together a couple of witty one-liners examining the everyday phenomenon of societal annoyance. The same thing happens with guitar-heavy artists like Marnie Stern. She’s got a lot of notice for her frantic finger-tapping style on the guitar, but I think she should get the notice because she plays pretty cool songs (although they’re definitely not for everybody). It’s the 21^st Century! Women should be able to be as annoying phallic and wanky with their guitar playing as the average male! I think a lot of these artists give a real bad name to women in music. The focus often falls on the novelty factor, rather than on genuine talent in areas that may already seem played out (like the aforementioned singer-songwriter one). Therefore, you get barely-talented bands like the Distillers getting noticed for their faux-punk mallrat posturing just because it’s led by a sweary, tattooed and mildly angry (but still safe) young woman, rather than a sweary, tattooed and mildly angry (but still safe) young man, while truly talented artists are ignored because they lack that ultimately meaningless novelty factor. I’m not claiming to be immune to it either. Novelty can be good, but I don’t think that novelty should simply stem from the sex of the person playing the instrument.

This week, I turn myself over to that troublesome genre of ‘singer-songwriter’, focusing on the female persuasion. I do find that some really innovative, or at least interesting, approaches to the traditional person-with-instrument-and-voice are taking place and here’s a few of my favourites.

Florence + The Machine

I wasn’t convinced by Florence Welch when she was identified as the next ‘it’ thing late last year. I picked up the CD on a whim though and really enjoy it. Striking me as a poppier (and more fun) version of Bat for Lashes, this doesn’t mean that Florence + The Machine’s music is completely derivative. In actuality, it’s a highly effective amalgamation of the best bits of Kate Bush’s slight mysticism, the poppiness and 80s sensibility of, um, poppy 80s bands and the extensive and innovative (but not purposefully obtuse) use of instrumentation of Björk. While she doesn’t take any of these facets as far as her influences do, she combines them into something much more accessible than the sometimes difficult work of, again, say Björk. Oh I don’t know, it’s just a damn catchy CD and she’s got one hell of a voice.

Bat for Lashes

Natasha Khan’s brainchild, Bat for Lashes produce a spooky, atmospheric moody music perfect for brooding late rainy nights. Whatever that means. It’s just good contemplatin’ music. To be honest, her stage theatrics, interviews and music sometimes veer dangerously close to the precipice of annoyingly pretentious, but usually she steers clear of disappearing too far up her own conjured view of snobbish abstraction. I don’t mean to be too hard on her however. There are plenty of annoying musical creatures, and I can forgive a lot if they produce something as beguiling as this.

Sarah Slean

I’ve been a big fan of Sarah Slean since 2002’s Night Bugs. Her mixture of charming and wide-eyed naïveté and a bit of a deeper sadness really drew me to her catchy cabaret pop. That album remains my favourite, but she continues to do interesting and varied work, including poetry, artwork, work with orchestras (along with composing and conducting all of the strings on her records), and acting.

Marnie Stern

And now for something completely different. Stern produces a slightly mad, manic hammer-on style of bizarro-guitar songs. It’s a bit too out there for my tastes sometimes, but when the tune wins out over the guitar blitz, it feels like a rush of blood to the head, and I don’t mean that in the Coldplay sense.

Amanda Palmer

I think that piano punk is a sadly under-utilised genre. Ben Folds occasionally gets close to pulling off what I hear in my head when I think those two words, but my favourite in this admittedly small genre is the Dresden Dolls. The songs rollick along with an aggression and snarl that one doesn’t usually associate with the piano, and I think it’s really damn cool. Dresden Dolls singer/piano pounder Amanda Palmer released her debut solo album last year, which mostly continues on with the DD tradition, which isn’t a bad thing in my books.

Joanna Newsom

If there were little fairy creatures who lived in forests and wore flowers in their hair, they would likely produce music like Joanna Newsom. Everything about Joanna Newsom and her music seems like it would be about 400 shades too winsome for my tastes (and is the reason I’ve written off nearly everybody else in the ridiculously titled Freak Folk movement, like that hairy kumbaya fellow Devendra Banhart), but for some reason her music clicks with me. Ten years ago, as I listened to horrible nu-metal, I didn’t really think I’d be rockin’ out to harp music in 2009.

St. Vincent

I’d heard a couple of St. Vincent songs a few years back, but they didn’t stick out in my mind. I saw her open for the National in 2007 and was won over enough to buy her first album. Live, Annie Clark is pretty fascinating to watch, just her diminutive self and a guitar. She works with live loops though, to build a layered and insistent sound that takes fairly standard (although well-written) songs and spins them into something more complex. It’s work like hers that makes me appreciate the work of good production on albums, as it acts as another instrument or partner in the music process and can raise ‘singer-songwriter’ to loftier heights. Her second album, Actress, released earlier this year, built on what she’s trying to accomplish and has produced songs deceptive in their delivery, sounding relatively straightforward until all of a sudden you realise things are slightly off-kilter like a carnival fun house mirror. She’s likely better at simile than I am too.

New Music News

Let’s take a minute to remember Les Paul, whose namesake guitar has been cradled, throttled, burned and just goddamn played by many, many great musicians. The man pretty much created the electric guitar, or at least its dominant place in music, and pioneered multi-track recording. He was a musician in his own right, but to be honest, there are people more knowledgeable and thoughtful than I who can provide a better account of the man’s life. I just know I appreciate what he did for it. Les Paul died this week at the age of 94. See you next week!

Florence & The Machine - Cosmic Love

Bat for Lashes - Daniel

Sarah Slean - Drastic Measures

Marnie Stern - Logical Volume

Amanda Palmer - Runs in the Family

Joanna Newsom - Monkey & Bear

St. Vincent - Actor Out of Work