Best Ever Albums

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

Anonymous — Mon, 2 Apr 2018 11:59:15 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/02/2018 15:59

baystateoftheart wrote:

Thanks Puncture Repair for going on the journey with me.

You bet - hopefully next year I'll remember to start from the start.

Last week was cut short with Easter but it was mostly just a Joni Mitchell and Jenny Hval week since I had a hard time finding solo female artists working in the mid 20th century.

I was really excited to learn about Alice Coltrane though, who I breezed past before but turns out has made some of my favourite jazz I've heard to date. Got through plenty of her work, which I totally recommend, especially where jazz is such a heavily male genre.

Definitely a learning experience. I knew there was a bias on internet forums, but hadn't realized it was so extreme - I guess I'd never looked at it through that 'lense' before. I got me thinking about our responsibility as music listeners. I really don't think we should forcibly shape our charts to look more representative, the best charts are always the one's that are the most true to that person's unique taste. That said, I do think more we expose ourselves to music from all walks of life, the more likely we are to be surprised and discover that personal favourite we may have otherwise glossed over. A representative taste will follow. Everyone benefits from a more proactive day-to-day music listening.

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

baystateoftheart — Sun, 1 Apr 2018 12:37:51 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 04/01/2018 16:37

And that's a wrap. 70 albums listened, including 48 new discoveries (all in the first post). It's been a fun project. Thanks Puncture Repair for going on the journey with me.

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

RoundTheBend — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 17:15:17 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 03/25/2018 21:15

Just stumbled up this cool article too:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_music

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

RoundTheBend — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 17:12:43 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 03/25/2018 21:12

One thing often forgotten is how pivotal women are/were in bands and often get overlooked on these lists.

Here's a list of bands from my top 100 who have female artists:
Smashing Pumpkins
Arcade Fire
Bob Marley and The Wailers
The White Stripes
The Beautiful South
The Anniversary
LCD Soundsystem
John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band
Cowboy Junkies
The Velvet Underground (and not Nico)
The B-52's
Sly and The Family Stone
Portishead
Talking Heads
Pixies

And there's countless more...

But like many posting, only 4 solo female artists make my overall... Billie Holiday would if when I created my list I was rating music recorded before 1950 (hoping to be a thing soon) as her 50s output isn't her best imo:
Fiona Apple
Aretha Franklin
Björk
Lana Del Rey

I'd be interested to now look at my decade charts/other charts.

I suppose a sample of women who should be recognized from ancient/medieval music:
The work Suzanne Haik Vantoura did to possibly reveal the music of Hebrew oral tradition of the Bible.
Hildegard von Bingen
The Daughter of Ioannes Kladas
Kassiani

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 15:41:04 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/25/2018 19:41

Had a good week, guided myself mostly with the kind recs of baystateofheart.

Kate Tempest - Everybody Down - I saw Kate Tempest live back at a festival in 2014 and thought she was wicked. Really didn't enjoy this though. She's definitely a spoken word poet more than a rapper, and it felt like she was struggling to keep up with that ecosystem she was in. Very strange, unappealing beats that felt oddly dated. I feel like a much looser, sample based backing with more complicated rhythms would have guided Tempest much better. Too much of her poetry here seemed to be what her mates did at the pub though, which is great once maybe.

Syd - Fin - Stellar album from last year. Syd switches up from singing to rapping totally effortlessly. Strong beats throughout, and some really punchy moments in between the smoothness. For sure an all time favourite, everyone should hear it.

Lorde - Melodrama - thought I'd spin this since it got a lot of hype when it came out but I didn't feel it first listen. Still not super mad about it. Green Light slaps hard, the rest I can hardly remember. Lorde could very well be the great female pop artist we look back on in ten years, I'm excited to see where she goes next.

Solange - A Seat at the Table - Pitchfork's AotY. I wasn't really feeling it at the time and not really feeling it now. A very good message behind it, delivered confidently, but there's nothing to really hook you in. It's consistently just good. I'm not totally convinced I'll think otherwise on a closer listen.

Noname - Telephone - First listen, absolutely loved this. Listened to it twice and will probably give it another spin next week. It's way too short. Hope to hear more from her soon. It's totally backpacker rap but it's just too mellow for me to resist, and Noname comes across with a real effortless technicality in her delivery - haven't listened to closely about what she had to say, so that'll have to come later.

Missy Elliott - Miss E...So Addictive - I imagine this was a huge deal when it came out back in the day. Feels like absolute flagship early 2000s hip hop now, in maybe the worst way. Enjoyed it a lot, but it's very lost in it's time. I can hear so much of this now in cupcakKe's album from this year, which I think I might prefer.

Natalia Lafourcade - Musas Vol. 1 & 2 - Figured I might as well hear both albums since I missed the first. Her 2015 record is one of my all time favourites, and this was definitely a departure. Less poppy, sweeping moments and more traditional, cultural band stuff. Which is totally cool because that's what it's meant to be. Clearly very confidentially executed, and a hell of a lot of fun. I won't pretend this stuff is in my field, but I enjoyed it. Calling it background music is probably an insult, but that's what it became for me because I'm too ignorant to know otherwise.

Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle - I remember first hearing this in 2013 and thinking 'god I hope this isn't her best work'. I think it probably is, everything since hasn't felt nearly as sharp. Really pleasant stuff, just the right amount of folk and sass. Maybe she'll go on to be today's Joni Mitchell, but this is still the best evidence of it so far.

Rapsody - Laila's Wisdom - Solid effort, washed over me a little bit, but a few standout tracks. Will definitely need to hear again. Rapsody stands very confidently alongside the very impressive feature list on this one. Beats are nothing new but work well with how Rapsody comes across. Suffered from the classic Hip Hop LP lack of editting. Hope to hear something for focused from her in the coming years.

Gunna be going back in time next week and catch up on the female artists I've missed from the mid 20th century (which according to RYM is just Nico).

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

baystateoftheart — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 15:16:28 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 03/25/2018 19:16

New week added to first post

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 06:33:35 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/17/2018 10:33

Had a bit of a crazy week so I settled for albums I was familiar with

Lucina Williams - The Ghosts of Highway 20 - Not very familiar with Williams work besides this, but I've always adored this. Effortless country music, both her and the musicians she plays with have clearly done this for years and years and years, and it's a super easy listen.

Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun - It's a classic, one of the GOATs. Neo-Soul standard. Recommend it to everyone.

Carole King - Tapestry - Definitely has that rich early 70s sound. Just some great songs, non-complicated music. Great to spend the morning with.

Cat Power - Moon Pix - I've always loved this, really harrowing, but also something you can vibe to. Will definitely be catching up on Cat Powers' discography over the month.

Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark - Still falls behind Blue and Hejira for me, but very consistent and some really pretty moments.

Christina Vantzou - No 2 - Gorgeous orchestration, mostly lost to 2014 this one. Really solid listen.

Sharon Van Etten - Are We There - One of my favourites from the time. 2-3 really stand out songs, the rest delivers too - would soundtrack a Greta Gerwig film really well.

Bjork - Vespertine - Out of Homogenic I've never really been able to get into Bjork. This reaffirmed that.

Torres - Sprinter - Glad she went down a different path musically, but I much prefer her earlier stuff. A more confident album for sure, but no softer, dreamy moments.

Sevdaliza - Ison - Really solid, modern trip hop. Nothing feels particularly original, but every song here has a worthwhile, memorable moment going for it. A smooth ride, if a bit characterless.

Gunna spend some time this weekend picking up new albums for the week!

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

baystateoftheart — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 16:54:46 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 03/14/2018 20:54

Puncture Repair wrote:

Gutted I miss these bandwagons, feels a bit cheap of me jumping in half way through.

My chart has only one female artist, that's pretty pitiful - so I'll be making a solid effort the rest of the month.

Female Hip Hop is especially overlooked, maybe I'll make that my starting point and see where that takes me.

It's never too late! I only did the Black History Month project for the last ten days of the month haha.

Cool idea. If you want recs, here are all the female rap albums I have, all of which I like. This list is not counting Lauryn Hill solo, which is closer to r&b. Bold = highly recommended.

Raw Like Sushi (1989) by Neneh Cherry
All Hail The Queen (1989) & Black Reign (1993) by Queen Latifah
Kollage (1996) by Bahamadia
Ill Na Na (1996) by Foxy Brown
Respect M.E. (2006) by Missy Elliott [Greatest Hits]
Reservation (2012), Classick (2012) & Back To The Woods (2015) by Angel Haze
1991 EP (2012), Fantasea (2012), Broke With Expensive Taste (2014) & Slay-Z (2016) by Azealia Banks
Everybody Down (2014) by Kate Tempest
Candy, Diamonds & Pills (2015) by Gangsta Boo
A Curious Tale Of Trials + Persons (2015) & Age 101: Drop X EP (2015) by Little Simz
A Good Night In The Ghetto (2016) by Kamaiyah
Telefone (2016) by Noname
Laila's Wisdom (2017) by Rapsody
Superman (2017) by Wednesday Campanella [in Japanese]

And groups/duos featuring female rappers:

Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time And Space) (1993) & Blowout Comb (1994) by Digable Planets
Blunted On Reality (1994) & The Score (1996) by Fugees
Crime Mob (2004) by Crime Mob
Underground Cassette Tape Music (2014) by Gangsta Boo & BeatKing

Under Appreciated Female Artists

janetjakcson — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 23:41:46 GMT

Author: janetjakcson

Posted: 03/14/2018 03:41

I feel like some underrated albums by female artists are:
1. When the Pawn... By Fiona Apple
2. Mama's Gun By Erykah Badu
3. The Boy Is Mine, and After the Storm By Monica
4. Pretty much all of Rihanna's albums have sold good but I don't think people really understand just how good she is.
5. Erotica by Madonna
6. Dangerously in Love by Beyonce
7. All of Carole King's albums other than Tapestry
8. Supernova by Lisa Lopes
9. The Notorious K.I.M. by Lil' Kim
10. Lust For Life by Lana Del Rey
😁 😁 😁 Have a good one!!

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 17:23:53 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/13/2018 21:23

Gutted I miss these bandwagons, feels a bit cheap of me jumping in half way through.

My chart has only one female artist, that's pretty pitiful - so I'll be making a solid effort the rest of the month.

Female Hip Hop is especially overlooked, maybe I'll make that my starting point and see where that takes me.

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

Tha1ChiefRocka — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 11:52:28 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 03/13/2018 15:52

Fischman wrote:

Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:

I enjoy a lot of the avant-garde type ladies in the classical/electronic fields.

Cool recs. Thanks. That'll should keep me entertained with some good new-to-me stuff for a while.

Yep. Plenty more where those came from!

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

Fischman — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 11:14:00 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 03/13/2018 15:14

Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:

I enjoy a lot of the avant-garde type ladies in the classical/electronic fields.

Cool recs. Thanks. That'll should keep me entertained with some good new-to-me stuff for a while.

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

Tha1ChiefRocka — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 11:08:54 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 03/13/2018 15:08

I enjoy a lot of the avant-garde type ladies in the classical/electronic fields.

Link

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Link

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

Fischman — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 10:46:56 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 03/13/2018 14:46

Admittedly, women are underrepresented in my collection. But there are a few gems, and even some genres in which they outnumber their male counterparts.

I'm a huge jazz fan, but not big on jazz vocals. However, when I do go for the vocals, it's usually the ladies.

While women get good ink in jazz vocals, they are often ignored in jazz instrumental circles, but some women really rip, especially on guitar:

My greatest love for female led music is female fronted metal and especially symphonic metal:

There are some old pop records I love as well:

The ladies also excel in Celtic and other World Music. Life would be so much less rich without Lorrena McKennitt:

Re: Women's History Month Listening Project

bobbyb5 — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 01:11:50 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 03/13/2018 05:11

Some of these albums were actually rather appreciated in their time but are all but forgotten today. And I suspect that in many cases the artist's later crummy work might have overshadowed their earlier good stuff and given it a bad rep. Whatever the case, these are all great albums.

Aretha Franklin.... Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)
Carly Simon.... No Secrets
Maggie Bell.... Queen of the Night
Patti Smith Group... Radio Ethiopia
Natacha Atlas....Gedida
Laurie Anderson.... Bright Red
L7.... Hungry for Stink
Diana Ross.... The Boss
Liz Phair... Whip-Smart
Nina Hagen.... Nunsexmonkrock
Lizzy Mercier Descloux.... Press Color
Bette Midler.... The Divine Miss M
Blondie.... Plastic Letters
Lene Lovich.... Stateless
Candi Station.... Young Hearts Run Free

Women's History Month Listening Project

baystateoftheart — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 16:07:54 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 03/12/2018 20:07

I'm doing another listening project like I did in February for Black History Month, but for Women's History Month (March in US/UK/Australia). I began listening to women's music exclusively on March 9, and like before, I'll continue until the end of the month. Anyone want to join me for this one? Even if you don't want to listen to only music by women, feel free to join the discussion here by posting under-appreciated albums by female artists.

~~~~~~~~~~

Running list of albums I've listened to, ranked:

1. E·MO·TION - Carly Rae Jepsen 95.7
2. Loveless - My Bloody Valentine 92.2
3. Heaven Or Las Vegas - Cocteau Twins 89.2
4. Ladies Of The Canyon - Joni Mitchell 88.9
5. Goo - Sonic Youth (#) 4.5/5
6. Have One On Me - Joanna Newsom (#) 4.5/5
7. End Of Daze (EP) - Dum Dum Girls 87.2
8. Vulnicura - Björk 4.5/5
9. Blood Bitch - Jenny Hval (#) 4.5/5
10. I Never Learn - Lykke Li 4.5/5
11. Parallel Lines - Blondie 4.5/5
12. Victorialand - Cocteau Twins (#) 4/5
13. Blue Bell Knoll - Cocteau Twins (#) 4/5
14. The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monáe 4/5
15. New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) - Erykah Badu 4/5
16. Pieces Of The Sky - Emmylou Harris 4/5
17. Four-Calendar Café - Cocteau Twins (#) 4/5
18. Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves (#) 4/5
19. Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit - Courtney Barnett 4/5
20. Elite Hotel - Emmylou Harris (#) 4/5
21. Luxury Liner - Emmylou Harris (#) 4/5
22. Head Over Heels - Cocteau Twins (#) 4/5
23. The End Of The World - Skeeter Davis (#) 4/5
24. Clean - Soccer Mommy (#) 4/5
25. Debut - Björk (#) 4/5
26. Turn Out The Lights - Julien Baker (#) 4/5
27. Crush (EP) - Ravyn Lenae (#) 4/5
28. Hounds Of Love - Kate Bush 79.8
29. Diamond Life - Sade (#) 4/5
30. Lesser Matters - The Radio Dept. (#) 4/5
31. Piracy Funds Terrorism Volume 1 - M.I.A. 4/5
32. Portishead - Portishead (#) 4/5
33. Depression Cherry - Beach House 4/5
34. Roses In The Snow - Emmylou Harris (#) 4/5
35. The Milk-Eyed Mender - Joanna Newsom 4/5
36. You Made Me Realise (EP) - My Bloody Valentine 77.8
37. Metropolis: The Chase Suite (EP) - Janelle Monáe 4/5
38. The Pendulum Vibe - Joi (#) 4/5
39. Strange Cacti - Angel Olsen (#) 4/5
40. No Dogs Allowed - Sidney Gish (#) 4/5
41. Just For A Day - Slowdive (#) 4/5
42. Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town - Emmylou Harris (#) 4/5
43. Half Way Home - Angel Olsen 4/5
44. Exile In Guyville - Liz Phair (#) 4/5
45. Ptah, The El Daoud - Alice Coltrane (#) 4/5
46. Kollage - Bahamadia (#) 4/5
47. Totep (EP) - Kero Kero Bonito (#) 3.5/5
48. In A Poem Unlimited - U.S. Girls (#) 3.5/5
49. Let England Shake - PJ Harvey (#) 3.5/5
50. The Kick Inside - Kate Bush (#) 3.5/5
51. Tapestry - Carole King 74.1
52. Black Tambourine - Black Tambourine (#) 3.5/5
53. Recreational Love - The Bird And The Bee 3.5/5
54. Wrecking Ball - Emmylou Harris (#) 3.5/5
55. Phases - Angel Olsen (#) 3.5/5
56. Gal - Gal Costa (#) 3.5/5
57. Blue Kentucky Girl - Emmylou Harris (#) 3.5/5
58. Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens (#) 3.5/5
59. Ahwar - Nadah El Shazly (#) 3.5/5
60. Pretenders - Pretenders (#) 3.5/5
61. Musas Vol. 2 - Natalia Lafourcade (#) 3.5/5
62. Truth Gotta Stand - The Luv'd Ones 3.5/5
63. Cut - The Slits (#) 3.5/5
64. Utopia - Björk (#) 3.5/5
65. Arrival - ABBA (#) 3.5/5
66. Pygmalion - Slowdive (#) 3.5/5
67. Someone Out There - Rae Morris (#) 3.5/5
68. Pleasure - Feist (#) 3.5/5
69. Lotta Sea Lice - Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile (#) 3.5/5
70. GFOTYBUCKS - GFOTY (#) 3/5

(#) = first listen during project
italics = listened in last week