Contact: michele@soulfulalternative.com
KEXP Documentaries – Line Producer, Audio Editor, Programming, Voice Over:
Aretha Franklin from “The Heart of Soul” series:
Massive Attack from “Electronic Innovators” series:
Billie Holiday from “Sirens of Jazz” series:
Shabazz Palaces from “Hip-Hop the New Seattle Sound” series:
From NPR Music’s Turning The Tables: Top Songs by 21st Century Women
Review of Noura Mint Seymali’s song “Ghlana”
Noura Mint Seymali is forging the future of African music. Born into a famous line of Mauritanian praise singers, Noura Mint Seymali is a composer, vocalist and ardin (stringed-lute instrument) player who has lived and breathed Moorish griot music since childhood. As an adult, starting her solo work in 2004, she created a new hybrid of African and rock/blues arrangements and instrumentation with crossover appeal. Seymali released her first albums only in Mauritania (“Tarabe” 2006 and “El Howl” 2010), then “Tenzinni” in 2014 went international, topping the world music charts and earning her the title “Best Female Artist in North Africa” at All Africa Music Awards. The song “Ghlana” is Seymali’s current master study in fusion, found on her second global full-length “Arbina” (2016). This album took her to the #1 in the Europe and Transglobal World Music Charts. Staying close to her traditional roots, Seymali explores East and West, old and new: employing grainy, groovy electric guitar (played by husband and collaborator Jeich Ould Chighaly), audience call-and-response, rock drum beats and reverent, resonant vocals that share real life stories. “Mauritania is an expanse of desert, and blues play a part in our music.”
Review of Sia song “Chandelier”
Sia Furler is the real Wizard of Oz. In her signature blonde bob wig, this master vocalist, performance artist and songwriter curtains herself from celebrity with nose-length bangs of distinction. Behind the brand, Sia backs up her vulnerable, poetic songwriting with show-stopping pipes. Her second chart-topper as a solo artist, the 2014 ballad “Chandelier,” was a hard-won hit, not only on the pop charts, but in a personal way: It’s the confession of a former self-proclaimed party girl in a land of newly earned sobriety. Nominated at the 72nd Grammy Awards in four categories, the lyrics in “Chandelier” dig deeper than many of the hits Sia has penned for pop royalty like Rihanna, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Madonna and Celine Dion. Harkening more to her solo releases and early work with trip-hop band Zero 7, “Chandelier” cries out for the magical abandon of the party life. “I’m gonna swing from the chandelier / I’m gonna live like tomorrow doesn’t exist.” —Michele Myers (KEXP)
NPR Music Turning The Tables: Top Songs by 21st Century Women
2018 Review of Icona Pop song “I Love It (feat. Charli XCX)”
Jumping into the air, party people around the world yell at the top of their lungs: “I don’t care! I love it!” Written by British musician Charli XCX, who recorded the song with Swedish duo Icona Pop, this cathartic breakup anthem rules the dance floor. Edgy club beats kick the intro in, segueing boldly into pop romp vocals with punk attitude. Icona Pop is made up of Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo, Stockholm musicians who throw a lot of parties together; they formed in 2009 and specialize in songs about “being angry but sounding happy.” With its unique sound and impressive reach, “I Love It” continues to be influential as it is appropriated and remixed into hip-hop and DJ culture by artists as diverse as Chiddy Bang, DJ Earworm and Style of Eye. —Michele Myers (KEXP)
Link :
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/30/627398980/turning-the-tables-the-200-greatest-songs-by-21st-century-women-part-7
More Articles by MM on NPR:
Historical Write-Up on UK Music Style Big Beat
https://www.npr.org/2011/08/19/139754112/the-big-beat-revolution-11-essential-songs
Review of Alabama Shakes for NPR Music’s Turning the Tables
https://www.npr.org/2017/07/24/538371651/turning-the-tables-150-greatest-albums-made-by-women-page-5
Check out Michele Myers’ book “50 Tips for Artists in the Music Business“!