This past week, a major record label made an incredibly sexist joke on their Facebook and Twitter.  Furthermore, once the backlash occurred, they didn’t seem to believe they did anything wrong.  This made me take a deeper look, particularly in the EDM scene at the discrimination against female acts.  Some shocking ones included that EDC in New York this year had 82 male DJs as opposed to 3 female DJs and that DJ Mag’s annual top 100 DJs list has only had 3 female DJs on it EVER with the NERVO sisters being the highest at #46.  Anyway, to the right is the post in question.

I mean, wow, a “women in the kitchen” joke.  You must feel so original.  It’d be one thing if it was one idiot in their PR department, but one of Spinnin’ Record’s co-founders shrugged off the joke as well.  Frankly, I’m pissed off.  Hell, maybe it’s because I was raised by a single mother and can’t imagine ever working as hard as she did for my brother and I.  I’d drop from exhaustion within a week tops.  That’s kind of beside the point though.  It’s 2013 and unsurprisingly, I’ve got a huge pool of female talents to choose from to share with you, including several DJs.  Personally, I don’t want to see Spinnin’ Records let off so easily for this one.  Eat your hearts out, Spinnin’ Records… you fucking imbeciles.

 

Phantogram – Black Out Days

Phantogram wrote one of my favorite songs of all times as well as what has been my ringtone and alarm for the last 2 years with Mouthful of Diamonds.  Their music is something in between trip-hop & hip-hop and the singer at the forefront, Sarah Barthel, is largely a part of their success as a band.  They haven’t done much original work as of late, but did make appearances on Big Boi and The Flaming Lips’ new albums, and will be performing on Saturday at Treasure Island Music Festival in October.  Personally, my favorite of the four songs they made with them was Lines on Big Boi’s Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors.  This past week, they came out with a new single titled Black Out Days.  Funnily enough, it was exactly on the day that I actually got a concussion and blacked out (long story, let’s just talk about music).

Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball (XOXO Remix)

https://soundcloud.com/yesitsxoxo/miley-cyrus-wrecking-ball-xoxo

…Miley Cyrus.  Yes, I never expected for this to happen.  I don’t know what else to say, honestly.  I’ll just leave this here.  I promise it’s a nice remix, particularly if you enjoy trap (and I hope you have a solid subwoofer handy).  If trap isn’t your kind of thing, maybe this video would be instead.

Lorde – Team

While I’m still on the topic of pop music, I’d like to give Lorde a nod.  She’s recently blowing up with her hit single Royals & I don’t think she’s going to be a one-hit wonder judging from the rest of her songs.  This song was a new one that she brought out in the past week while she was in Paris.  In the first Tunesday since I came back, I mentioned that kids are too talented these days like your grandpa or something & Lorde is one of those people that proves it having been signed to Universal Records at the age of 12 (currently 16).

TOKiMONSTA – Cigarette Lust

https://soundcloud.com/proximalrecords/tokimonsta-cigarette-lust

TOKiMONSTA performed at UC Berkeley last year in a performance presented by SUPERB and she proved her talent.  She’s got a wide range of styles that she can take on, but personally, I’m a fan of her hip-hop-Nujabes-esque beats such as “Cigarette Lust” rather than the dubsteppy stuff she did when she performed at Coachella.

The Jaze Doze – I Knew Lies Were Trouble (Marina & The Diamonds x Zeds Dead x Taylor Swift)

https://soundcloud.com/thejanedoze/i-knew-lies-were-trouble

The Jaze Doze are a talented pair of DJs that closely follow the issue of sexism in the EDM world.  They were largely a part of what brought the Spinnin’ Records incident to light to a greater portion of the public.  In this mash-up, they pair Taylor Swift’s recent hit and still my guilty pleasure, “Trouble”, with Zeds Dead’s remix of Marina & The Diamond’s “Lies” which I briefly mentioned last week.

 

The Internet – Give It Time

If you don’t know The Internet, it’s a group that Syd Tha Kyd is involved in.  For those of you don’t know who that is, it’s one of the main producers of Odd Future who recently have exploded in fame with names from the group such as Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator and Earl the Sweatshirt making it big.  However, going back to Syd Tha Kyd, that’s the name you should be focusing on as her production made them sound so good.  The Internet is a side project that she, also known as Sydney Bennett, is working on with OFWGKTA’s live DJ, Matt Martians.  That’s also her on vocals. It’s also worth noting that she’s awesome live, as Ashley (who did an amazing job with Tunesday all summer) can vouch.

 

Zedd – Stay the Night (ft. Hayley Williams of Paramore)

https://soundcloud.com/jessiecarecaj/zedd-stay-the-night-feat

This catchy tune comes from Zedd, who I think is one of the most talented DJs in finding female vocal talents.  The issue at hand is that Spinnin’ Records joked that women aren’t capable of DJing, but this doesn’t mean I should completely discount the fact that several DJs would not survive without their vocalists as well.  In “Stay the Night”, he employs Hayley Williams of Paramore whose music raised several young women to be more confident as they grow older.  Could you imagine his hit “Clarity” with another vocalist other than Foxes? I certainly can’t.  Last week, I discussed one of my favorite EDM vocalists in Greta Svabo Bech and I certainly can’t imagine some of the songs that she made a hit would be quite the same with another vocalist.

 

Heartless Bastards – Only for You

I’m not sure how to describe the Heartless Bastards’ sound… folk pop?  Some people say that they’re similar to The Black Keys, who also come out of Ohio.  Erika Wennerstorm, who’s on guitar and vocals, has a really unique voice that hits the highs and lows of this song beautifully.  By the way, the music video is really fucking adorable.

 

Icona Pop – All Night (Cash Cash Remix)

Chances are that you’re no stranger to Icona Pop after “I Love It” became a massive hit.  That’s gotta be one of the most danceable songs in the world.  Cash Cash remixes another one of their songs into a danceable club banger here.  This could be a fun one for your next party.

Rebecca & Fiona – Bullets

https://soundcloud.com/rebeccafiona/rebecca-fiona-bullets

Rebecca & Fiona are a pretty well-known pair of DJs for their dancey, housey music, but personally, I’d love to be listening to this while going on a carefree drive by the beach.  They’ve collaborated with the likes of Kaskade and Tiesto.  They happened to meet at a friend’s birthday party and instantaneously became best friends that make music together and I think that’s awesome.  They come from Sweden, which increasingly seems to be conspiring as a country to raise DJs and EDM artists.

Ella Fitzgerald – Blue Skies (Maya Jane Coles Remix)

https://soundcloud.com/mayajanecoles/blue-skies-maya-jane-coles

Maya Jane Coles is an absolute beast when its to DJing and is known for her deep house.  It’s the kind of thing for a kick-back rather than a party and she’s damned good at making it.  Her live performances are mesmerizing and I basically want to be best friends with her because she seems way too cool to be hanging out with me.  Here, she remixes Ella Fitzgerald and does it justice, which is my book is incredibly difficult to do.

 

BANKS – Waiting Game

I gave BANKS a mention in a previous Tunesday and some of you may even have watched her in person recently – she opened for The Weeknd at the Greek Theatre this weekend.  She seems to be gaining some fame for herself and deservedly so.

 

HAIM – The Wire (Tourist Remix)

If you’re not familiar with HAIM yet, you will be soon.  They’re three sisters who kind of reek of cool and making good music definitely helps too (they’ll be opening for Phoenix during their European tour).  They’ve been drawing comparisons to the Jonas Brothers and Hanson, but I think that’s only because they’re siblings.  No doubt that they’re poppy, but I wouldn’t categorize them as pop exactly.  I think Tourist made an interesting remix here of their recent hit, “The Wire” and I’d also like to give a shout out to my favorite song of theirs, “Save Me.”

 

NERVO & Hook-n-Sling – Reason

I’m closing this post out with NERVO, who I mentioned in the intro were the highest voted female DJs on DJ Mag’s Top 100.  This isn’t the only reason I’m including this, though.  What’s interesting is that this song in particular was released by Spinnin’ Records, the same record company that has me on my tirade this week.  NERVO’s produced other songs that I prefer to this one, but it’s nice to show the irony of Spinnin’ Record’s statements when they’re making money from talented female DJs.  Also worth noting is that NERVO were the openers for Britney Spears & Nicki Minaj’s tour, Femme Fatale.  So there you go.  This ends the Femme Fatalented post.

As usual, please comment or e-mail me with suggestions or feedback. I’m always up to listen to what you have to offer, and every once in awhile your recommendations may make it here.