RIP Chuck Mosley

It was a dirty job but someone had to do it

101 Best Albums Made By Women Not on NPR's List of 150 Best Albums Made By Women

I re-discovered a list I had started making back around the time in July when NPR Released its list of 150 Best Albums by Women. I had got to about 60 or so and planned to expand it to 150, but, you know, time, resources, mental faculties, et al. In the interest of completion, I expanded the list to 101.

 The logic of the inital list was a little difficult to follow, but I attempted to do so.  Albums with just female members didn't really apply, unless they were also songwriters for the bulk of the album.  Albums with frontwomen who didn't write their own songs, however, did seem to apply as the spotlight was more on musicality rather than songwriting itself.  Overall though, the criteria seemed a bit loose, so I kept it so. The list leans a little more recent since these tend to be the type of things left off of canon-building exercises (and also I just tend to think there's been great stuff produced in the last 10-20 years that hasn't seeped into canon for structural reasons to do with the critical praxis rather than aesthetic reasons). I'm sure I missed a bunch, but I never see these things as definitive. 

101. Shop Assistants- Shop Assistants

100. Curve- Cuckoo

99. Ada- Blondie

98. Jody Watley- Jody Watley

97. Rachel Stevens- Come and Get It

96. Goldfrapp- Supernature

95. Shystie- Diamond in the Dirt

94. L7- Hungry for Stink

93. Nicki Minaj- Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

92. Lily Allen- Alright, Still

91. Chelsea Wolfe- Abyss

90. Bis- New Transistor Heroes

89. Anne Clark- Joined Up Writing

88. Bat for Lashes- Fur & Gold

87. Nite Jewel- Good Evening

86. Nicolette- Let No One Live Rent Free In Your Head

85. Cristina- Sleep it Off

84. Lady Sovereign- Public Warning

83. Francoise Hardy- Francoise Hardy (1962)

82. Annie-Anniemal

81. Tilt- 'Til it Kills

80. Pameila Kurstin- Thinking Out Loud

79. Chicks on Speed- The Re-Release of the Un-Releases

78. Ramona Lisa- Arcadia

77. Julia Holter-Ekstasis

76. AC Marias- One of Our Girls is Missing

75. Cat Power- Moon Pix

74. Frightwig- Cat Farm Faboo

73. Heavenly- the Decline and Fall of Heavely

72. Letta Mbulu- Letta Mbulu Sings

71. Sheila Chandra- The Struggle

70. Xosar- Holographic Matrix

69. Teenage Jesus and the Jerks- Teenage Jesus and the Jerks

68. Syreeta- Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta

67. Michele- Magic Love

66. Electrelane-The Power Out

65. Miss Kitten and the Hacker- First Album

64. Peaches- the Teaches of Peaches

63. Pale Saints- The Comforts of Madness

62. Seven Fields of Aphelion- Periphery

61. Minnie Riperton- Adventures in Paradise

60. Everything But the Girl- Walking Wounded

59. Teddy and the Frat Girls- I Wanna Be a Man

58. Carter Tutti- Cabal

57. Rachel Zeffira- The Deserters

56. Windy and Carl- Drawing of Sound

55. Julianna Barwick- Will

54. Book of Love- Book of Love

53. Rosebud- Discoballs

52. Lady June- Lady June's Linguistic Leprosy

51. Cibo Matto- Viva! La Woman!

50. Au Revoir Simone- The Bird of Music

49. Grimes- Art Angels

48. Huggy Bear- Weaponry Listens to Love

47. Virginia Astley- From Gardens We Feel Secure

46. Sky Ferreira- Night Time, My Time

45. ABBA- Waterloo

44. Vashti Bunyan- Just Another Diamond Day

43. Kelis- Tasty

42. Julie London- Around Midnight

41. Dead Can Dance- Spleen and Ideal

40. Karen Dalton- In My Own Time

39. Kaitlyn Auerlia Smith- EARS

38. Nancy Sinatra- Boots

37. Garbage- Garbage

36. Pocahaunted- Chains

35. Sibylle Baier- Colour Green

34. Chrisma- Chinese Restaurant

33. Bobbi Humphrey- Satin Doll

32. Ellen Allien- Berlinette

31. Fatima Al Qadiri- Desert Strike

30. Blossom Dearie- Blossom Dearie

29. White Noise- An Electric Storm

28. Annie Anxiety- Soul Possession

27. Camille Yarborough- The Iron Pot Cooker

26. Mazzy Star- Among My Swan

25. Richard and Linda Thompson- I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

24. Aghast- Hexerei Im Zwielicht Der Finsternis

23. Dionne Warwick- Anyone Who Had a Heart

22. Yma Sumac- Mambo!

21. High Places- High Places

20. Danielle Dax- Jesus Egg That Wept

19. Ladytron- The Witching Hour

18. Gazelle Twin- Unflesh

17. Rihanna- Anti-

16. Ludus- The Seduction

15. Holly Herndon- Platform

14. Sweet Trip- Velocity:Design:Comfort

13. FKA Twigs- LP1

12. Laurie Spiegel- The Expanding Universe

11. Jlin- Dark Energy

10. Jenny Hval- Blood Bitch

9. The Knife- Silent Shout

8. Bow Wow Wow- See Jungle!See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy

7. Stereolab- Emperor Tomato Ketchup

6. The United States of America- The United States of America

5. Lisa Germano- Geek the Girl

4. Dawn Richard- Blackheart

3. St Vincent- St Vincent

2. Grouper- Dragging a Dead Dear Up a Hill

1. Broadcast- the Noise Made By People

MenToo

Something I shared on Facebook a few weeks ago, reshared below. 

I think I'd have to add an addendum that since I wrote this, there's been a string of accusations that have come out.  In the spirit of this is a troubling "Shitty Men in Media" document, which seems to have originated as a doc to warn women of predators lurking in media.  While the spirit of this doc is attuned to what I've written below, things like this may just be too open to trolls.  Indeed we're now seeing it being weaponized by worthless alt-right fucks who don't give half a shit about women, or by political opponents eager to believe, or defended by political allies wanting more evidence than they're willing to grant for those they could care less about.  I worry about this whole thing becoming such a mess that it takes the spotlight off of finding paths forward in establishing accountability and attacking rape culture at its core.  In a way, this is nobody's fault.  The socio-cultural hellscape of the comments section moment is not one best suited for having these discussions. And given the personal, uncapturable, intimate nature of most of these violations, they remain a space for the cast of doubt.  What I think I mean to say below is that we can never expect to have a full interrogation of these topics without a reversal of power dynamics.  What I maybe failed to mention is that this not only means making men's intentions carry as much suspicion as women's criticisms of them historically have, but also lifting up women or other people marginalized by rape culture and finding ways for their voices and perspectives to be heard loudly. 

A little late on the draw with this, but I did want to just say that I see all your #metoo posts and I feel them and appreciate everyone using their voice on this topic, while respecting those who may not want to say anything as well.  I can't say I am surprised by anything.  I’d always assumed that these experiences were fairly universal, but it's also heartbreaking to see the trickle-down effect of patriarchy and rape culture at the individual level, affecting specific people you know in singular, uniquely devastating ways.
 I think this kind of campaign is good though, because when something exists solely as a phenomena it can be opaque and forbidding to even attempt to tackle.  When sexual harassment and sexual assault become part of the atmosphere, they get absorbed into ideology, process, and become structures in their own right.  They can hide in the margins of unobserved male privilege, obscured by the gaslight of humor, unintentionally defended either through depreciation of impact (“it wasn’t that bad”) or the pernicious passivity of consensual silence (“it’s not my problem”).  Conversely, when this behavior is laid bare and when the pain and suffering is standing in the limelight, it becomes incumbent upon us to start shining lights in the corners where illegitimate power and its enablers like to hide and present them as the black mirror image of existing mainstream culture we know them to be.
 One of the most important aspects of this is acknowledging one’s own complicity in it.  Given the way our social relations have been mediated and intercepted by the various channels our words get funneled through, these gestures can seem performative, but they’re important nonetheless.  I’ve definitely at times looked the other way or said things that may have made someone else uncomfortable.  I’ve told women to lighten up and made excuses for men who were demonstrably wrong.  Even as I evolve and try to stay cognizant of my actions, I may still wind up talking over women or undervaluing their contributions or participating in other microagressions that holistically, if not individually, denigrate the autonomy and contributions of women.  I try not to, but I know it happens.
 Here’s the thing about why it happens- living as a white dude is super easy.  Even when it’s hard, it’s not as hard as it would be for someone not identifying cisgender male.  Even if I’ve never had a problem identifying as a feminist, never intentionally inflicted harm, and tried incessantly to purge any misogynistic preconceptions from my mind, I know that I’ve still been guilty of making things worse because some of these dynamics become conscripted.  And whereas it’s incumbent upon women culturally to watch their step when they’re walking alone at night, to be careful what they’re saying in a board meeting, to be mindfully of acquaintances they know, to brush off humor in order to fit into a patriarchal order, and to monitor their appearance at every turn, none of that applies to guys.  I can be blunt and kind of a dick sometimes.  Women can’t.  Well, they can, but the consequences for them would be much steeper than it would be for me.  White men rarely face or worry about consequences at all.  And chances are something that flat out ruined your day, that still bites from years ago, probably meant nothing to him, if he even remembers it at all.  It’s fucking easy to be a white guy. And we need to make it a lot hard.
 One of the ideas that always comes up when the tables finally flip on these open secrets like Trump and Cosby and Weinstein is that nothing will change until we trust and believe women.  Indeed, there’s really nothing to gain when these coming forward.  In fact, as sick as it is, more often than not, it’s likely better for them on a personal level to stay silent, to not face reliving trauma and have hordes of frothing bros hurl vile insults and threats their way.  The status quo has a way of reinforcing itself at all costs.
 But beyond believing women, maybe it’s also time to start trusting men less.  That’s not to say that it’s a zero sum game or that there aren’t some men who are fundamentally decent, but unless a man is actively working towards solutions to the problem of rape culture do they really deserve the benefit of a doubt?  I realize that I say this to my own detriment, that these words could easily come back to haunt me. But perhaps white men need to be less comfortable and more careful until this problem is fixed.  Maybe they need to feel as vulnerable as women do every day, like their words and intentions are being second-guessed.  Unless men starting fighting for equity, maybe they could stand some equality.   

That's Good for Trump