Looking back at this decade in music has led me to one conclusion: it was dominated by the ladies.
From the super-commercial success of Beyonce and Lady Gaga to the indie breakout hits of M.I.A. and Amy Winehouse, it was women who broke ground and defined the decade in music.
It was women who gave artistic identity to a decade we still haven't even found a name for. I've heard it called "the ots."
I like the term, but call it what you will – these chicks were too cool for school.
This include: Alison Mosshart, Fiest, Lisa Hannigan, Alison Krauss, Tegan and Sara, Visqueen, Norah Jones, Neko Case, Lily Allen, Markéta Irglová, Stars and Regina Spektor. The list goes on and on.
Now to be fair, I'll admit there was a lot of collaboration with talented males artists.
Take, for instance, Alison Mosshart singing lead in one OK band (The Kills) and one totally bitchin' band (The Dead Weather).
Or Lisa Hannigan's heart-wrenching vocal collaborations with the Irish bard Damien Rice on their 2002 release, "O". It was exquisite, and that album was definitely one of the decade's best.
Or Markéta Irglová's breakout success with The Frames' Glen Hansard on projects like the Academy Award-winning film "Once" and their newly released album titled, "Strict Joy."
Similarly, Neko Case's work with the band, The New Pornographers, was simply sublime. I maintain that The New Pornographers' 2007 release, "Challengers," was one of the ots' top five.
Regina Spektor has had five impressive releases since 2001. The best so far being her first commercially successful album, 2006's "Begin to Hope." It was a pizzicato masterpiece.
I was listening to the track "Field Below" when I broke my femur skiing in the winter of 2007. I heard the bone snap as Spektor crooned, "like ancient bruises" in her delicate yet powerful soprano voice. It was poetic and intensely painful.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs came out swinging in the ots as well, releasing three albums altogether. The best definitely being 2006's "Show Your Bones." "Gold Lion" and "Cheated Hearts" are two really cool tracks from that album that I still have on heavy rotation on my iPod.
In the more mainstream side, Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" video was just plain cool. I'm sure even guys will admit to a little dancing and humming along when no one's looking.
And whatever you want to call Lady Gaga's approach to fashion, there is no doubt she is breaking ground as not only a pop diva, but as a visual artist. Those razor-blade glasses she wears in her "Bad Romance" video are pretty trippy.
But call it what you wanna call it. The years since Y2K have been constantly and pleasantly surprising with the breath and depth of female talent on the music scene. The girls are showing the boys how things are done.
Kudos, ladies. Well done.
Have you been kind of LOL'ing at the All Songs Considered decade retrospectives as I have?
ReplyDeleteHaha yeah. They do this every year. The entire month of December is dedicated to rehashing ALL the year's music. Sometimes it's nice though because you go back to stuff you forgot about. I wanted to write this column before they did though!
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