Women of rock

Oct. 31, 2010

2010 - Women of Rock
By Kristi Kates
Although one name may predominate this year’s music scene when you
consider women in rock, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that one
songstress was the best the year had to offer - nor the only artist
around.
2010’s roster of the coolest half-dozen musical women run the gamut
from country to pop and beyond, showcasing a quirky lineup that runs
second to the 2010 Men of Rock (Northern Express, August 23 issue) in
what was most definitely a men’s musical year - but nonetheless, the
ladies hold their own.

6. FLORENCE WELCH
The lead singer and helm of the UK collective Florence and the Machine
- which basically consists of Welch as singer, and a host of others
who provide the backing music for her singing - broke out early this
year when her debut album, Lungs, hit number one on the UK album chart
back in January, consecutively winning the Mastercard British Album
award at the 2010 Brit Awards. She’s perhaps best known stateside for
the album’s third single, “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up,) with its dark
piano, catchy rhythm, and layers and layers of overdubbed vocal
harmonies. This month, Florence and the rest of the Machine are back
in the studio working on what is already a highly-anticipated second
set.

5. REGINA SPEKTOR
Back for the second year in a row, Soviet-American singer Regina
Spektor had a great 2010, and it looks to just keep getting better for
the talented pianist-songwriter. This summer, she performed at the
White House for the President and the First Lady as part of the
first-ever White House reception in honor of Jewish-American heritage.
Spektor’s fifth album, Far, is in-stores now and snagging top-notch
reviews; she’s touring Europe to promote the new songs; and she’s also
offering up her first DVD concert film, Live in London, - a 64-minute
long set that features all of Spektor’s best songs to date (including
hit “On the Radio”), plus backstage footage, soundcheck footage, and
more.
4. IMOGEN HEAP
Also back for 2010 is talented former Frou Frou singer Heap, who
continues to be one of the most popular Twitterers on the music scene,
having used Twitter to allow fans to follow along in the making of her
latest album, Ellipse. Well, all that documentation - in addition to
making fans happy - has paid off again, as Heap, who recently won a
Grammy for the album (for Best Engineered Album - Heap
produced/engineered it herself), has just released a new DVD,
Everything In-Between: The Story of Ellipse, about the making of the
set It was a three-year process that’s revealed in plenty of
interesting footage; and the DVD will also coincide with a UK tour for
the productive artist.

3. INGRID MICHAELSON
She was living at home with family on Staten Island until 2007, when
she suddenly became a breakout musician through an upload of several
songs onto her MySpace page. She had a song featured on the TV show
Grey’s Anatomy, another placed in an Old Navy commercial, and was
selected to be on VH1’s Artist Discovery - before she was even signed.
In 2008, she released her own album, on her own label. And today,
she’s promoting another new album and her popular “Parachute” single.
Michaelson’s climb may be slow, but it’s steady - and she’s garnering
comparisons to another NY singer-songwriter - namely Lisa Loeb - right
down to the retro-styled glasses she wears.

2. LADY GAGA
Whether you think she’s the coolest or the most annoying, you can’t
deny that Lady Gaga - aka Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta - has
made plenty of noise this year. From her dresses made of meat (wha?)
or plastic bubbles to her outspokenness, the focus may have been more
on the lady than on her music (“lady,” of course, being a questionable
term in this instance), but attention she wanted, and attention she
got. She was feted with an entire episode of the cult TV series Glee,
inspired legions of imitators at this year’s Lollapalooza, and
criss-crossed the country doing shows that gave new meaning to the
word “trendy.” Even if you disliked her, you knew she was there.

1. TAYLOR SWIFT
Swift’s distinctive blonde curls and surprisingly personal lyrics
marked her as one to watch a couple of years ago, but this year was
really one that defined her arrival. She struck back - albeit subtlely
- at Kanye West for his outburst during her 2009 MTV Awards win; she
toured Australia with opening act Gloriana; completed recording for
her third album, Speak Now (just out October 25); and made her feature
film acting debut as Felicia in the movie Valentine’s Day.
Swift’s autobiographical songs and country-pop crossover tunes have
proved to be songs that her fans can relate to, posing her as the
quiet underdog striking out gently against the popular kids. And it’s
working, making her the top of our list for this year.