Editors' Picks

Five Fearless Femme Fatales of 2009

Every year, we like to shine a light on the women in music who have really grabbed us over the past 12 months. No, not the ones that are dominating the entertainment press. Taylor, Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Alicia don't need any ink from us.

But there are women in music out there who are insanely talented, write their own music, put Robert Plant to shame and defy convention with every step of their careers- whether they are a solo artist, part of an all female band, or the female lead at the helm.

Here are the five that blew us away this year, each of whom had a song place in our Top 50 Songs of 2009.

1. Florence Welch Of Florence And The Machine

The 2009 debut album Lungs by Florence and her backing machine reached the #2 spot on the UK charts (behind Michael Jackson) and stayed there for the rest of this year. No other female newcomer attracted the blog ink and critical accolades that Welch did. Her peculiar theatrics and ballsy lyrics garnered her lots of attention but it's her vocal chops and song writing skills that kept her there. In  less than two years she's proven she's a force to be reckoned with.

She's one part Beth Orton (on steroids) and one part Candi Staton (whose song "You've Got The Love" she covers brilliantly). Gospel, soul and indie rock all combine in this, feisty, smart, trend setting, 23 year old British red head whose star is still very much on the rise. Her music has already been featured on the TV shows "Mercy", "Saving Grace", "Desperate Housewives", and the new versions of "Melrose Place" and "90210".

Here's "Hurricane Drunk" from her Abbey Road Session and the outstanding "The Dog Days Are Over"

2. Erika Wennerstrum of Heartless Bastards

Erika Wennerstrom is as close to a female Robert Plant as we're likely to ever have and her band The Heartless Bastards are the rising stars of the blues rock scene. But 'the band' really serves as the support to balance out the power house that is Erica. She commands the stage with a quiet presence that belies the sheer force of  both her guitar prowess and vocal chops. I was lucky enough to see her perform 3 times this year and if you get the chance, don't miss her.

On "Hold Your Head High" from her third album, 2009's The Mountain, Erika wails "I've made a lot of choices / Most have not been wise" but as her story unfolds, she imbues the song with such strong female determination and grit that we find ourselves routing right along with her.




And on the title track, a literal mountain of sound surrounds Wennerstrom's roar of "And so you peak into the mountain/where your desire goes" as an all out guitar jam ensues. No other track from this year will make you long to be in a small crowded bar with good friends and cold beer playing air guitar.

3. That Girl From jj:

No one actually know who is in the band Jj. Well, I assume someone who has seen them perform live (have they?) would know. What we do know: they're from Sweden (where I pretty much look to for all of my electronic pop needs). They're a duo. They're on Sweden's Sincerely Yours records, also home to The Tough Alliance and Air France and rumors abound that jj are also members of one or both of those bands.

Heck, this band isn't even on MySpace (and oh how I love them for that). They seemingly don't exist and yet they do... for their 2009 debut album jj no 2 is one of my favorites of the year. To put them in the same rare air as Bjork and Sigur Ros seems fair but with less Iceland-y-ness and more Swedish warmth...if Sweden were to suddenly find itself somewhere near an island in the Indian Ocean.

It's music that at first listen feels overly simple. Almost Twee. Stripped of it's electronic component (which is gloriously understated), would it drift toward banal, mindless pop? Repeated listens reveal that the opposite occurs. It's music whose subtle complexities waft in an an out of your ears, causing you to fall hopelessly in love with these songs and for me, provided THE soundtrack of summer 2009.

Pure bliss, whoever you are!

4. Sharon Foo of The Raveonettes

Sharon Foo is one half of the Danish king and queen of distortion doo-wop, The Raveonettes, a band who stayed musically close to their true north on their 4th album In And Out Of Control, released in October. But as much as their sound continues to echo the fuzzy distortion of The Jesus and Mary Chain married with The Rondells, Foo takes risks on this album; delivering dark lyrics and taking stands that hopefully will speak to young women all over the world.


Most notably, the track "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed) makes a bold statement that takes girl power to a whole level. Ditto "Suicide", a song about a runaway girl contemplating suicide on the Brooklyn Bridge or "D.R.U.G.S" which paints a decidedly unglamorous look at drug use.



And on  the album's breakout track "Last Dance" she takes a song that at first blush appears to be a classic break-up song and turns it on it's head-revealing the 'last dance' to be the ultimate betrayal of a drug addict-the final trip to the emergency room.



Thanks Sharon, for taking your amazing music and wrapping it up in messages that make us all think about the consequences of bad behavior.

5.Oslo's Discordant Female Foursome: Katzenjammer

Spin Magazine described their sound as "Appalachian witches drunk on White Lightning". David Byrne hand picked them to open up his "That Tent" curated set at 2009's Bonnaroo. MusicFile friend Brian Perigo raved after seeing them playing in the middle of 6th Street at this year's SXSW festival. This is a band that stops you in your tracks and makes you say WTF was that?

K-Jammer play the kind of punk infused brand of mixed up music that recalls the early genius of The B-52's but painted with a much wider brush. Think gypsy mountain punk but with overtones of Jazz, Sea Shanties, and Spaghetti Western. It's a bouillabaise of energy that is unlike anything out there. Not only can these four ladies play about 9000 instruments between them, they can croon with the best of them.