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"My 3 Songs" for Wednesday

Posted at 2:21 PM on May 16, 2007 by Steve Seel (5 Comments)

Mark Janovec of Hudson WI says, "These three songs highlight unique female singers (and songwriters) who are currently making great music, despite not fitting in the mold that record company executives try to fit their female artists into. These women are strong enough and confident enough in their talents to sell their music instead of their sex appeal."

1) Heartless Bastards, "Grey" (singer/guitarist: Erika Wennerstrom)
2) Neko Case, "Hold On, Hold On"
3) Amy Winehouse, "He Can Only Hold Her"

I wonder, though -- can anyone deny the heapings of sex appeal these artists have? I would argue it's precisely because it's something that emanates naturally from them (and their confidence in who they are), rather than something that is contrived in any way -- especially by some record label marketing machine. Now granted, Ms. Winehouse has been drawn into the vortex of popular tabloid hype thanks to her well documented bad behavior (and this kind of hype has a way of perpetuating and reinforcing itself within the media-industrial complex), and also granted, Neko did pose for that very, uh, unmodest photo (oh, like you thought I was going provide you with a to link to it...). But still.

Comments (5)

The first (and last) time I saw Neko Case up-close, was her in-store at Electric Fetus last year. As she so sweetly autographed my poster, I noticed she didn't have a lick of make-up on. Now that's hot. Nice song choices, Mark!

Posted by Jacquie Fuller | May 16, 2007 3:42 PM

Oh, I agree...that Neko is quite the looker.

Posted by Kevin | May 16, 2007 4:39 PM

And here I thought that Neko photo was a fake. She's my #1 celebrity crush.

Posted by Mac Wilson | May 16, 2007 4:44 PM

I generally avoid try not to base my choice of music on the physical attributes of the musician.

Posted by Auntie | May 16, 2007 5:20 PM

I read a Neko interview a long time ago where she said that the cover for Furnace Room Lullaby came about during a photo session where she didn't like any of the pics that were being taken, so she and the photographer started goofing around and Neko lay on the ground, pretending to be dead. And that's how the album cover was born.

Neko has a great love for old country murder ballads, such as the Louvin Brothers "Knoxville Girl" (which is one of the most violent murder ballads I've ever heard). Hence, I think the inside photo of her over a (presumably) dead body kind of fits in with her love of those old murder ballads. Plus, the title track of Furnace Room Lullaby is essentially a song about killing a lover and burning their body...and being later haunted by it (in a similar vein as Poe's Telltale Heart). Furthermore, she also has another ballad called "Make You Bed" about killing a boyfriend and woman he was cheating with. (Maybe a good theme for another My Three Songs...murder ballads!)

Violent deaths of animals also are an ongoing theme in her work...Favorite, Tigers Have Spoken, Maybe Sparrow, etc.

Posted by Mark Janovec | May 17, 2007 5:27 PM

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