Paste Magazine released it’s list of the Top 50 albums of the decade. Unsurprisingly, the list is a total sausage fest, with the exceptions of the obligatory M.I.A., Björk, and Amy Winehouse (plus a couple of other women). Yup. The O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack beat out PJ Harvey.
But here’s a startling revelation: women could’ve made up more than 10% of that list. Shocking, I know. My album recommendations:
PJ Harvey (Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea)
Video and artist info via Paste
To celebrate, here’s the music video for “Do They Know It’s Hallowe’en?” by the North American Hallowe’en Prevention Initiative, aka:
But for those of you with more subtle, mellow musical tastes, here are:
And if you missed it, here’s my Halloween mix for this year. Be safe tonight!
You get a full length mixtape this week because Halloween rules and I’m awesome. That, and I had nothing to do after Mad Men.
Considering what a huge Rufus Wainwright fan I am—my cat is named after him, after all!—I’m amazed I’d never seen the music video for “Rules and Regulations” until a couple of weeks ago.
It is SO ridiculously campy (and awesome). Enjoy.
The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle on songwriting, feminism, and the new album:
Paste: How does your feminism inform your songwriting, not to mention your reading of the Bible?
Darnielle: My feminism is what came squarely up against my faith. There’s a lot of ecstatic post-patriarchal Christians who have stuff they do with that. But at that point, you’re doing Christianity with a double-superscript. The Bible, and especially the book of Genesis, is pretty unapologetically patriarchal. But as a songwriter, I’m actually really happy to be asked that. For years, I’ve written narrators who aren’t gender-identified. When I do autobiographical stuff, that’s different, obviously. But I’ve always tried to keep my songs as potentially not a man’s thing. I think so many rock songs you assume by default it’s a man’s thing. That’s a weakness of narrative. And when I was younger, my early songs employed this trope that is popular to this day with indie singer-songwriters, where a guy is gonna hurt himself or do something drastic and appalling in order to show the object of his affection how intense his love for her is.
Paste: And we’re supposed to celebrate his self-destruction.
Darnielle: Yeah! And you’re supposed to think that’s amazing when these guys tell these stories: “Oh, he broke something, he hurt somebody, he did something rash; his love must have been so great!” instead of, “Oh no, he’s a psycho.” When I was younger, I did those too. And then I thought, that’s kinda bullshit to tell stories like that. I try not to write songs in which men glamorize their own need for approval from women. That’s kinda a bogus way to go out. But I try to do this quietly, I’m not about to go around telling people how they should or shouldn’t think. My feminism is for me. [emphasis added]
Read the full interview here.
I was watching Dogfight last night (the River Phoenix/Lily Taylor movie), and Lily’s character was obsessed with folk music. I haven’t been able to get Bob Dylan out of my head all day. Granted, Blitzen Trapper and Fleet Foxes aren’t straight up folk music, but their sound is definitely country/folk/Americana-inspired.
I first heard this Fleet Foxes cover about a year ago, and I think it’s gorgeous. I was elated to find out that these women now have a CD out. You can check out their Myspace page to hear more of their music. While you’re at it, check out the Fleet Foxes page, because their sound is also amazing (and even more so live).
“Annie’s Song” remains one of my favorite songs of all time, so of course I had to include that on here. And as for “This Land Is Your Land,” I was always ambivalent about it because I just remember having to sing it in elementary school, and it always seemed like total propaganda. It wasn’t until I had the pleasure of seeing The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello) in concert that I heard the song in its entirety. He explained the radical nature of the lyrics, sang the song, then had the entire audience join in. Never in my life did I imagine that a sold out rock concert at Webster Hall would involve a Woody Guthrie sing-along!
I finally watched Itty Bitty Titty Committee this weekend, and it put me in a total riot grrl mood!
Because I feel like having a Kevin Barnes lovefest.
They get the ninja skin because “Ninjas…move it…right?”
Good times.
*Typically, you will never hear me play the shitfest that is post-Rush of Blood Coldplay (there is zero forgiveness for X&Y), but for this I make an exception.
Happy Labor Day (if you are fortunate enough to be employed, esp. in a place that gives you the day off)!
