Spark On! Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady

 

Janelle Monae’s debut studio album, Archandroid, although only ever teetering on the edge of the mainstream, was unusually accomplished in a way that made you wonder: just how did this young new artist produce a record with the kind of meat on its bones that Fugees and billboard chart educated Lauryn Hill achieved with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Released in September, the Electric Lady furthers the storytelling concept of previous EP’s and albums, with the messianic Archandroid character of Cyndi Mayweather still very central within the narrative of the music. For those not acquainted with the character; think Beyonce’s Sasha Fierce but rooted in the grandiose sci-fi mists of Fritz Lang’s 1927 Metropolis, with a goal to lead a futuristic race of mechanical outcasts to a harmonious and unprejudiced state of equality.

There are clear lines to be drawn with the themes in The Electric Lady and the life of a young, female, black, androgynous and outspoken Monae. However, the message is not as preachy it sounds when intertwined with crisp, clean beat formations, catchy hooks, unending tasters from ever genre imaginable and obvious technical prowess; possibly aided in some part by early mentorship from Wondaland record label partner and former OutKast member, Big Boi.

The album is far more attainable than Monae’s previous work with a healthy mix of influences, capably represented to never overwhelm the overall sound of empowering, inventive Funk and Soul. Monae has created something which, although in many ways is still significantly niche, is easy for most to absorb whilst boasting more than a handful of stand out, chart worth hits. Even the skits and messages of Cyndi Mayweather’s mission bleed into tracks with enough grace and humour to be enjoyed, not endured.

In the short time since the album’s release, critical and audience acclaim has been in abundance; the record’s first single, Q.U.E.E.N received 31,000 digital sales and four million YouTube views within its first week of release alone. The record will no doubt open up to a wider base of listeners thanks to an impressive collection of collaborators including Solange, Erykah Badu, Prince, Miguel and more; all of whom contribute solidly to Monae’s vision, rather than just providing a trophy presence

Prince leads us into a distinctly reggae state, unseen anywhere else within the “suites” of The Electric Lady with Give Em What They Love. It’s a track that could almost be a little out of place on the album but instead proves to be a refreshing change of pace, eventually brought into line, stylistically, with the addition of the signature cinematic instrumental which is poured all over the track towards the fade.

R&B ballad Primetime is quite possibly the sexiest song you will hear this year, I’m not going to tell you that it will genuinely make you horny but lets say there may be “involuntary daydreams” whilst listening to this song. Miguel’s vocals slide up perfectly against Monae’s whilst every part of this track ebbs with a rolling, comforting rhythm, taking this track to a place that is way beyond smooth.

‘It’s a primetime for our love, ain’t nobody peeking but the stars above…’

The self assured, empowered anthem Q.U.E.E.N. (backed by a glossy, black and white dream of a music video) provides a perfect arena for Monae and 90’s soul legend Erykah Badu to bounce their different yet complimentary swags off of each other, surrounded by a vibrato filled bass line that’s heavy and full of funk.

The next single taken from the album is Dance Apocalyptic; a controversial track which seems to have split opinion equally between “is she serious, this sounds like Looney Tunes does R&B” and those who share my opinion: this is unashamed pop, done very well.

If the Gogo’s had a musical baby with Jack Johnson, whilst the Soundtrack from Greece watched, well that baby would sound like this. But it is surprisingly refreshing to listen to something so relentlessly upbeat and think ‘it’s fine, this is actually cool!’, and yes, if you listen closely enough there are yet more subtle references to Monae’s futuristic vision.

As for title track Electric Lady, it’s important that I warn you: you may never stop listening to this song! Aside from the fact that it is impossible to keep still to, this fist-pumper carries a high quality disco prowess with enough modern day edge to let it slide seamlessly into any DJ set of a Saturday night: think Beyoncé meets Sister Sledge, with a teeny hint of Pat Benatar. Dance floor perfection!

The album will no doubt face critique for being a dumbed down version of its predecessors, some might even accuse Monae of selling out to achieve vaster listening figures. As an artist, Monae is clearly not superficially bouncing in and out of musical styles, borrowing and forging. She is consciously hoping to transform the genre into something grander, fresher and entirely more exciting.

Yes, The Electric Lady may seem less ‘ground-breaking’ than her previous offerings but after setting the bar so incredibly high, of course the follow up act will seem like a continuation rather than yet another entirely original body of work but the themes are anything but stale; they have developed into a fuller, more intoxicating chapter of the Metropolis tale.

Overall the album walks a thin and impossibly smart line between the mainstream and avant garde, music and script, entertainment and education. We never doubt that we’re listening to the work of a woman who stays away from cheap tricks; her confidence, sexuality, strength and capability worn as proudly as the bow-tie on her freshly starched tuxedo. Whether on the record, in person or in video Janelle Monae hasn’t had to lick a sledge hammer and ride heavy machinery stark bollock naked to make our ‘antennas stand up’, you won’t even see a collar bone and you won’t need to!

At times, The Electric Lady is like a movie soundtrack from some post-apocalyptic, impossibly stylish, film noir masterpiece, nodding all the while to the Ziegfeld follies and the golden age of Jazz. Do yourself a favour: take a night, invest in a bottle of merlot and a packet of vogues and just let this wrap all around you, explore it and get totally lost within the cinematic suites a rarity that simultaneously stimulates and pacifies.

One thing is certain: nobody’s switching off this Electric Lady anytime soon. Spark on Cyndi Mayweather!

9 Everyday Inventions From The Minds of Women

Aside from appealing to my naturally engrained love of Disney, this video, witty as it may be, makes a sadly all too relevant point about the state of professional gender equality in today's society. It may sound odd to many of us that in 2013 women could be paid less for doing the exact same job as their male counter-part, but seriously, it happens, like a lot! This year’s National Management Salary Survey revealed that female managers are not only still lagging behind men in terms of pay parity, they also stand to miss out on £141,500 worth of bonuses compared with men doing the same role over the course of a working lifetime.

So, to keep you ever inspired and in honour of those women who have gone before us who stood up to these obstacles and worse, to pursue their own careers; here is a list of the pioneering females who held their middle fingers firmly skywards to the glass ceiling to bring us some of the greatest inventions off the modern world!

1) Wireless Communication/Spread Spectrum Technology

 

Australian silver screen starlet Hedy Lamarr became a pioneer in the field of wireless communication in the 1930/40s. The internationally recognised beauty, along with co-inventor George Anthiel, devised a “Secret Communications System” to aid the fight against the Nazis in World War II. By manipulating radio frequencies at irregular intervals, the pair devised an unbreakable cloaking method for sending classified messages without interception. The spread spectrum technology, invented partly by Ms Lamarr, was to act as a foundation for the development of all future digital communication.

2) The Modern Brassiere 

 

Emancipator of breasts worldwide, Mary Phelps Jacob's exasperation with whale bone and steel corsetry lead to the creation of the worlds first modern designed brassier. Originally created from two silk handkerchiefs and ribbon, the early design was incredibly popular with the braver women of the time who, disregarding social conventions chose an undergarment for its comfort, not to mention the general health benefits which occurred from the lack of extreme restriction endure on a daily basis by most women.

3) Computer Programming

Augusta Ada Byron, the Countess of Lovelace, was a self titled “Analyst and Metaphysician” who in recent years has been uncovered as the founder of scientific computing. Renowned scientist of the era, who would become a lifelong friend to the Countess, Charles Babbage has been fairly credited in history as the inventor of the first mechanical computer. However, without Lovelace's notes concerning Babbage's early analytical engine, the first general computer in 1843 would have been unable to process information and act as a platform for development into the format used today.

4) The Engine Muffler

In 1913 El Dorado Jones of Manhattan, New York (*cue award for most fantastic name in history) devised the auto mobile engine muffler. Inspired by an extractor fan above a stove in a restaurant, Jones' invention was a reaction to her offence at the excessive noise produced by the early Ford motor vehicles. Containing a series of pin-wheels, she devised the first muffler that was able to quieten an exhaust without clogging the engine with excess fumes. In 1930, she adapted her invention for use with aeroplanes.

5) Suspension Bridge Supports

Born in Birmingham in 1770, Sarah Guppy's inventions and technical concepts heavily impacted the shaping of Britain's infrastructure. Included in the ten patents taken out by Ms Guppy in the first half of the 19th century, was a method of producing safer piling for building bridges. The use of this patent was granted to Thomas Telford, free of charge, to aid in his construction of suspension bridge foundations.

6) Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dietician and guest house owner Ruth Wakefield became the unintentional creator of the chocolate chip cookie whilst preparing recipes for guests at her lodge, The Toll House Inn. After realising that she had run out of baker's chocolate, Ms Wakefield substituted the ingredient with Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate bar. The chocolate did not melt into the mixture as hoped, but the new texture created a phenomenon which drove sales of Nestle's chocolate bars higher than ever before and led to a partnership between Ms Wakefield and Nestle which eventually spawned the internationally recognisable “Toll-House” Cookie.

7) Tippex/Liquid Paper

As a reaction to the invention of the electric typewriter in 1950s America, high school drop-out and secretary Bette Nesmith Graham designed a product which was to become one of the most widely used stationary items of the 20th century. Frustrated with the inability to erase or correct the carbon printed text of the new style typewriters, Ms Graham used a technique of applying a solution of white water based tempera paint on top of typing mistakes. Originally named Mistake Out and later Liquid Paper, the solution was fine tuned over time and met with overwhelming demand. A patent was applied in 1958.

8) Kevlar 

American chemistry graduate Stephanie Kwolek worked with the DuPont company as one of the country's first female research chemists. Her discoveries in the field of textile technology and chemistry received national recognition and in 1971 the researcher developed a liquid crystalline polymer solution. The solution's properties, such as incredible strength and rigidity, provided the building blocks for the invention of Kevlar, a material with five times the strength of steel, internationally utilised in the manufacture of the bullet proof vest.

9) Processing Corn

Ho ho ho, Green Goddess! In 1715 the British government recognised that American colonist Sybilla Masters had invented a new method of cleaning and curing the Indian corn growing in several colonies at the time. King George I praised her invention as having played an important role in developing the Pennsylvania economy, which relied heavily upon the harvest of consumable produce. However, bowing to social convention, the patent was duly issued to the name of her husband, Thomas.

10 People Wearing Tartan Better Than You Ever Could!

OK so this whole never ending 90’s revival thing has FINALLY gotten around to my wavelength. No dear, I don’t want to look like I’ve lost my way to the set of Saved By The Bell and no dear, I don’t want to wear an ironic Kurt Cobain t shirt, complete with bullet holes (?!),  which is just way vintage because you got it from the back of the rail in Primark.

One of the biggest issues I have with this craze for the 5-minutes-ago-retro is how distorted the retrospective has become in such a short period of time; at least, that’s just not how it looked in the small portion of the early 90’s that I remember! That said, busting back out the Tartan? I loved it then and I think I could love it now. Sign me all the way up!

Whether it was oversized plaid flannel shirts, dungarees, baker boys, the obligatory pleated school skirt or the million other ways the fashion makers of the 1990’s managed to work tartan into every sartorial oraphis of our pre-millennium lives; it’s a strong look!

For AW13, almost all of the major design houses are showing tartan in some form and considering that for the last three years we seem to have just been reverting back to pleather, studs and metallics the moment that the first autumn leaf falls; it's actually really refreshing to see something a little more….wintry?  

So, if you don’t quite feel ready for the trend then brace yourself, because it will be everywhere this autumn!

To give you some inspiration on how to rock the sh*t out of this style without looking like a bag of shortbread; here’s the 10 finest examples of tartan-wearing ever recorded in history!

10) Hugh Jackman being a lumberjack, be still my beating everything!

9) SJP doing this...

8) Cyndi Lauper being Cyndi Lauper at the MTV 1984 VMA's...

 7) The fittie from this porridge box...

6) Hit Girl...

5) Braveheart being blates on trend!

4) The Craft girls being everything ever...

3) Liv Tyler being the perfect 90's babe in Empire Records...

2) Cher & Dionne; let's just "totally pause" for a second and let this sink in...

1) My So Called Life's Angela winning for outstanding contributions to plaid! #commitment

 

Go forth and check yourselves children xX

21 Life Lessons From A Drag Queen

Do you sometimes feel as if you’ve lost your ethical due north? In our modern world of text etiquette, twitter wars, online dating/shopping/everything and too much coffee are we forgetting how to interact gracefully and kindly with other people?

It can be hard to navigate your way through our ever increasingly complex world; trying hard to further ourselves without offending or stepping on anyone else on our way to the middle and sometimes you can forget the entire reason you started out on this magical journey we call: THE GAME OF LIFE!

Luckily, we have been gifted with a beacon of hope to look towards; a shining example of poise, knowledge and humanitarianism good will. Willam Belli, a contestant on the increasingly popular US TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race and star of the hugely successful YouTube series Willam's Beatdown, showed a level of sportsmanship, charity and utter selflessness; never before seen in reality television!

He has inspired millions of us to take the time to reach out to our neighbours, comfort those around us, take care of our delicate and beautiful planet, help old people with stuff they need help with, paint beautiful murals on ugly walls, nurse ailing animals back to health, buy a stranger a sandwich, foster large quantities of children and just basically become karmically supercharged. Namaste!

Thank you Willam; your lighthouse of everything pure and altruistic is guiding our ships through stormy waters to a calmer, gentler, more pleasant sea!

1) Make love, not war:

2) Care more:

 

3) Give back to your community:

4) Set yourself achievable goals:

5) Sharing is caring:

  

6) Take your position in the world:

7) Constructive criticism is always helpful:

8) Wish the best for others:

9) Ask life's more important questions:

 

10) Subtlety is everything:

11) Never judge others:

 

12) Stand up for your rights:

13) Don't be afraid to ask for the things you want in life:

14) Live every day to it's fullest:

 15) Cherish the good times:

16) All you need is love:

17) Keep it fresh:

18) A simple smile goes a long way:

19) If someone discriminates against you, take the high road:

20) Learn how to make new friends:

21) And finally, stay classy....always!

 For more inspiration on becoming a better you: 

www.twitter.com/willambelli

On Repeat: 5 New Summer Tracks That Are Just Everything!

1) Solange – Bad Girls

Solange’s EP True has been incredibly well received by critics and genuine music lovers alike, no doubt due in some part to the involvement of uber-producer Blood Orange. I think the release of such a credible, enjoyable, unpretentious album has definitely come as something of a sneak attack to most people; it turns out, she is actually just very good.

I was surprised at the effect this song had on me the first time I heard it. Bad Girls lays down the kind of gorgeous and sad overtone that makes you lose your breath for just long enough to let you tease yourself with those thankfully patchy memories that you don’t usually like to revisit, unless you’re holding a massive glass of red and you’re ready to get your sob on! This is a lament to her own misspent youth; breaking hearts, telling lies, feeling lost, wearing old make-up and getting into trouble with boys. I, for one, felt oddly comforted and I’m sure my 15 year old self would too!

My main memory of Solange up until recently has been as a preggo cameo in the Destiny’s Child video for Soldier! Yeah, she’s come a little way since then but it’s really nice to see she'll be playing the smaller festivals around Britain this summer; she just seems to have her head on straight when it comes to how she’s putting her music out there. She dresses amazingly, her video for Losing You was just perfection and it’s good to see her standing as an interesting artist in her own right; feet firmly planted in nobody else's shadow. 


2) Parquet Courts - Master Of My Craft

Super sunny, a bit funny but still pumped-up and heavy enough to keep you on board; the entire, recently reissued, album Light Up Gold has summer 2013 written all over it. It's indie punk rock with a sense of humour; think early Strokes with a bit of Pavement, covered in cheap beer, cigarette ash and mud dust. I don’t know if my word counts for anything, but I’d say they are definitely one to watch and I am loving the whole album, head to toe, right now.

Keep a look out for the Brooklyn five piece on the festival circuit this year; can you think of anything better than mashing around to this in a field with a cider in hand? Nope, didn’t think so!


3) Ashanti - Never Should Have

OK, this might not be the “cool” choice or whatever but I could not be happier that this is a genuinely good track (if you want to hear people who take themselves seriously talk about music: it’s called NME.com, sorry ‘bout it).

I’ve always had a huge soft spot for Ashanti, ever since the Murder Inc days and not just because she had one of the sweetest voices around. She's always been a really well rounded R&B artist, writer and actor and has never received the acclaim she deserves. As a songwriter, she has produced some of the best selling tracks for some of world's biggest artists; such as Jennifer Lopez's Number one hit, Ain’t It Funny. Oh, and also, she's an LGBT activist working in the Hip Hop genre: ballsy!

I'm loving that her upcoming release Braveheart, the first in five years, looks as if it's going to be well received and seeing her so grown up, so capable, so polished, with a more mature womanly tone makes a refreshing change. It doesn’t always go so well for an R&B princess, 10 years on. 


4) Laura Marling – Master Hunter 

The only word to describe this woman as an artist is impressive; just more and more impressive. It is an increasingly rare occurrence for a musician, especially one whose career begins at such a young age, to continuously give theirself to their art form in a way that ensures each album grows and evolves into a meatier, more personal, more deeply enjoyable listen than the last.

The delivery of the vocals on this track are so expressive and so full of subtext, at times it feels more like you’re listening to a dramatic monologue, but the escalation of the quintessentially Marling guitar secures Master Hunter as the strong female alt anthem for 2013; get your ears around it and feel strong!


5) Kelis – Jerk Ribs

This is just so damn sexy, smooth and easy on the ears whilst still keeping you wanting to move, or more precisely grind. This song actually makes me hungry, which I think is a good thing as apparently Kelis is now writing a cookbook (?!).

Here’s another artist who has never quite been given her dues but it hasn’t ever stopped her from making well put together, often commercially viable music, which always carries her own distinctive edge and style. I’m a little disappointed that she hasn’t run with the same techno-soul-glamazon vibe which exploded all over 2010’s Flesh Tone (that album was just EVERYTHING) but she’s definitely still doing what she does best!


Oh and also, THIS is happening…..obviously…. 

Are You Sure Page 3 Doesn’t Offend You?

I recently had a conversation with my mother which came about after she told me that she disagreed with a post which I had shared via a feminist social media page. She though that the post was overly sensitive and that the feminist’s views which I had appreciated, were just too touchy.

I should just clarify, my mother is the strongest woman I have ever known, largely due to the fact that she mostly has no idea of just how much strength she holds and, like many women from a generation who’s mantra seems to have been “oh just get on with it!”, she quickly forgets the endurance she has shown in moving past a life time of experiences which would leave most of us Millennials shaking in our hi-tops.

Back to the point; I mentioned to her about the NoMorePage3 initiative which I am in unfaltering support of and to whose tireless efforts to try and make a sometimes terrifyingly overwhelming tide of sexism seem a little less scary, I am very grateful. My mother said she didn’t mind Page 3 and that there were bigger problems in the world.

Yes, I am aware that there are quite possibly worse things happening to the women of the world than having to see bare breasts in a national, family newspaper, but do we really need to choose what we should find offensive and which social problems we should speak up about? Is it not reason enough that something which is seen by half of the population as “a cheeky bit of fun”, is conversely perceived by the other half as an archaic, offensive, damaging tribute to a time of rampant sexism and mockery of women?

“In a society where so many women a day are sexually assaulted, perpetuating a belief that women are there for men’s sexual pleasure doesn’t seem sensible to me.”

The No More Page 3 campaign started in the summer of 2012 when founder Lucy Holmes found she was left unable to stop thinking about the fact that the largest female image in The Sun newspaper was that of a young woman showing her breasts for men, even though Jessica Ennis had just won her gold Olympic medal and had become the pride of Britain. She wrote this letter to the editor, Dominic Mohan:

Just to clarify, last year:

• 1.2 million women suffered domestic abuse.
• Over 400,000 women were sexually assaulted. 
• 60,000 women were raped and thousands more were stalked. 

Perhaps my mother’s generation, a generation that saw a world reacting to the second wave of feminism, have understandably learned to pick their battles? To only speak out when utterly necessary? I couldn’t be more grateful that their bravery and the experiences that they endured have paved the way for women like me and women like Lucy Holmes to use their freedom to be honest about the things that offend them and to not have to defend their feminist ideals until they are blue in the face.

In no way do my opinions about mass media misogyny air unopposed but thanks to women like my mother, even if Page 3 wasn’t as damaging as I know it to be, I still have the freedom to say: I want it gone, because I don’t like it, I don’t want to see it and I know it doesn’t contribute to the civilised society that I am trying to be a part of!

I am tired of enduring the increasingly weak and tedious “it’s her choice, women should have choices!” excuse. In a society where images of women are made into icons and objects in a way that penetrates us on all levels, where the ultimate goal is to be attractive and anything else is merely a “good for her moment”, has the choice ever really been hers? Or is it that of the men in suits with briefcases and financial projections who formulate our media diet?

In his surprisingly uninformed recent article for the usually journalistically sound Guardian, Paul Connew argues that the only thing that is truly offensive about Page 3 is that it is outdated. He urges the No More Page 3 campaign to calm its “overreaction” and declares that, in all of his ex-Red Top editing wisdom, that “she'll vanish within a year or so anyway”. In an overly simplistic bait-and-switch suggestion, Connew attempts to guide our outrage towards something which he deems more worthy of our efforts; like something that he might find marginally offensive, such as the idea that his children are able to source hard core pornography on the new smart phones he’s given them.

Last week, it was made vividly clear just how seriously our government takes the offence continuously caused by Page 3, with David Cameron rejecting Green Party MP Caroline Lucas’ appeals for the Sun newspaper to be banned from sale Parliament until the photos of topless women on page three had been ommited. I see this as an entirely reasonable request. In fact, I don’t understand why the issue of such rampant sexism being distributed within the walls of the very house where our country’s laws are defined is even still under debate.

But I still dream of the domino effect that may one day be set in motion by finally getting rid of Page 3. For instance, an 11 year old girl looks at her family’s copy of The Sun newspaper (just one of the 7.5million copies read in Britain each day) and on the third page of the publication she sees a pornographic image of a woman, complete with obligatory mocking blurb, unsubtly hinting to an intelligence beyond the reach of this mere topless woman.

Putting aside the instant confusion inherent in the context of the feature, there is the undeniable notion that this person had been displayed in this way to the entire country, in a context that some might almost see as an elevated state of power. This image of an overtly sexualised woman, held up on a national pedestal as something to aspire to, may change the trajectory of this young girl’s life. She may now reach for this very specific idea of what it means so be a successful female and one day become one of the women who has made the “choice” to spend their fleeting youth in the pursuit of becoming this week’s Page 3 girl.

But what if a future generation of impressionable girls were to turn to the third page of their family’s daily newspaper and see a woman, respected for her intellect, achievements and passion, hailed as successful by the exact same measures which define the successful male. What then: an entire generation of women who aspire to an entirely different idea of what it means to be a woman?

If you can quite honestly say that Page 3 really doesn’t offend you in the slightest, well then that’s just lovely for you. Alternatively, it will only take a moment to sign the No More Page 3 petition and no one will judge you, call you a kill joy, man hater or an angry feminist. If something offends you on any level then, plain and simple, that means that it is offensive, and you have the right to speak up about it! So please, please do.

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/dominic-mohan-take-the-bare-boobs-out-of-the-sun-nomorepage3

Oh and also, you’ve just gotta love being able to shop for new clothes whilst supporting a cause. Cut them up, style them up, whatever, but these t-shirts are a fantastic way to show that every day women are not afraid to show that wide scale objectification in our media is not acceptable.

When, yes I’m that sure, WHEN Page 3 is discredited from being the “saucy national institution” which Dominic Mohan claims it to be and is given the gravity is deserves as an undeniable cause and symptom of a society whose passion for reducing the female form to the level of an object is compromising the safety of half of our population in a very real way, I’d like to see the hard work and bravery of those who have spoken out to be well and truly recognised.

I don’t entirely agree with Caroline Lucas’ statement that the Sun should be in the ‘rubbish bin where it belongs”; granted it will never be my news source of choice but I do feel as if it has a place in our media landscape, I just want to see it be a bit better, for all of us and I’d like it to more fairly represent our national voice, one which speaks for women, just as loudly as it does for men!