Amy Winehouse found dead

[pippin]

That's true. But the sad thing is it's not like there are crowds of new female musicians venturing off into new genres and leaving their imprint on them these days, aren't there?

I don't know why that is, it's just what I see and it's different from the 80s or 90s when we had the likes of Patti Smith, Anne Clark, Björk, Madonna, Beth Gibbons, Whitney Houston,....
We still have this here in Germany (not necessarily to a positive extend) but I don't see it on an international/English scale and then there are some leftovers from the R&B area of the late 90s, like Beyonce and a few of the YouTube generation like Lily Allen but I don't see anyone being really influential and my impression is that music is much more male-dominated than it used to be right now.

But well, maybe Lady Gaga reinvents herself with one of the next albums and leaves such a big mark that we will see things differently and maybe I'm just biased by my despise for Katy Perry and the Pussycat Dolls not granting them the respect they deserve...

[Kyle]

I think Adele is one artist who can carry on the Amy Winehouse style. (Hey, she writes her own stuff!) She is less ghetto-influenced and much softer-edged than Amy, but she's got vocal chops and her music occupies a similar space. She sold out a nearby venue in five minutes last week.

[pippin]

Yes, she's got potential. Although I find her current Album quite conventional compared to the first one, but that obviously makes it sell better

[MrSinatra]

You could see that coming a mile away. What a waste.

before or after death?

[RonM]

That's true. But the sad thing is it's not like there are crowds of new female musicians venturing off into new genres and leaving their imprint on them these days, aren't there?

I don't know why that is, it's just what I see and it's different from the 80s or 90s when we had the likes of Patti Smith, Anne Clark, Björk, Madonna, Beth Gibbons, Whitney Houston,....

I think that's kind of a narrow perspective.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the neo soul/R&B women, like Adele and Amy and Sharon Jones, especially the latter who outkicks them all by a good measure.

However, if you get beyond this narrow genre there are lots of women invading formerly guy-only turf. In "real" jazz (as distinct from the Norah Jones and Diana Krall set) we've got the likes of Esperanza Spalding (bass) and Terri Lyne Carrington (drums), both pretty good singers also. In roots/folk, I think of artists like Abigail Washburn (banjo, singer, adventurist) and the many "world music" (usually meaning not-in-English) women, like Canada's Kirin Ahluwalia.

Of course, it's always hard for even very talented musicians to make a living at their passion, but it really does seem to me like lots more women are attempting to do so, with integrity and a lot of success.

R.

[Mnyb]

Jill Scott, Meshell Ndegeocello, Erykah Badu ,Mary-Gauthier,Lucinda Williams,Gillian Welch,

some of these girls have been active the last centuries, but are still releasing new material, all have done significantly more important work than Amy.

See if an old fart like me can mention any one younger, yes ! Florence Welch aka Florence +The Machine ,she done only one record " Lungs " very good give it a listen.

And " My Brightest Diamond " aka Shara Worden also a new but significant artist, give a tune like " Inside a boy " a listen ,very good video too search youtube.

And actually if you like disco and dance music Robyn ( obviusly ) very popular in Sweden , maybe unknown to non swedes is that she runs her own record company and writes her own music and produces it to etc, she has total creative controll. In US and UK she is represented by some major label, but it is basically the same records, this is really against the sad trend with girls that are just very pretty but nothing else making " music " ( I find no significant difference between softcore porn and some music videos these days ).

The Knife, another Swedish band with significant female members ( not just singin and decoration )

Ladytron 50% girls, but unsure of how much creative input they have ?

" Joan as a police woman " ? Another indie girl

We should have a girl week in the music forum when we promote female musicians .

pippin is somewhat rigth, there is to much boring " male " releases that we can live without.
lets promote more highly original and unusual female music

[Mnyb]

and I do like Frank Amy's debut record more than back in black, but back in black has some really good tunes. It is uneven, wonder if the poor girls drug habits shows here ? i think it could have been better.
production and sound is worse, but it is never so more loudness war crap.

(Debatable I know, some significant culture work is done under heavy influences of drugs and would not exist without it ? )

[pippin]

And actually if you like disco and dance music Robyn ( obviusly ) very popular in Sweden , maybe unknown to non swedes is that she runs her own record company and writes her own music and produces it to etc, she has total creative controll.

Well, don't Swedish producers of both sexes dominate the world's music industry anyway these days? Or is it just Berlin where you get bombed by these We-Ever-Sound-More-Brit-Pop-Than-The-Brits acts all around?

And yes, I know they do other stuff as well...

[Kyle]

and I do like Frank Amy's debut record more than back in black, but back in black has some really good tunes. It is uneven, wonder if the poor girls drug habits shows here ? i think it could have been better.
production and sound is worse, but it is never so more loudness war crap.

(Debatable I know, some significant culture work is done under heavy influences of drugs and would not exist without it ? )

Back to Black utilized an excellent backing band called The Dap Kings, who also provide the backing for Sharon Jones, a talented US neo-soul artist worth checking out. If you saw the movie Up In The Air with George Clooney, she sang the song during the opening credits, a funked-up version of This Land Is Your Land. The Dap Kings are a tight, rhythm-oriented band in the New Orleans tradition. I heard they swore off Amy after trying to tour with her.

[RonM]

As I said in my earlier post, Sharon Jones outkicks the neo-soul Brits, pleasant as their music is.

>>Mary-Gauthier, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch<<

Like mnyb, I was going to mention these women -- but I decided that they were too old to be new. . . which just goes to show that really interesting and engaging music with integrity doesn't have to come from newbies, but often does come from women.

The best live music I've heard in the last year or more was Mary Gauthier, supported only by fiddle player Tania Elizabeth (formerly of the Duhks, and a true wonder herself).

Ron