Tuesday, November 14, 2017

RIP Chuck Mosley



It was a dirty job but someone had to do it

Friday, November 3, 2017

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