Woman and Child First: Music

Direct your daughters and yourselves over to . In the words of the current author of - It's awesome. Go there.

From there, I was lead, with daughter by side, down a lovely path of colour and creativity. Where did we end up? In the land of gutzy women, young.

Here: Her face is a map of the world, Is a map of the world. You can see she's a beautiful girl, She's a beautiful girl..

.
And here: I am unwritten, Can't read my mind, I'm undefined.
Ah yes, we can relax.

There's many young women who are so talented and spirited. The world it be in safe hands, aye.
March 16, 2007 in , , , , | They've got private lawns.

..
And public parks.

, brother/sister duo from the Northern Beaches of Sydney (the beautiful stunning gorgeous northern beaches) singing a beautiful stunning gorgeous song.
Windy city? I'm guessing that it's Wellington, New Zealand.

Sublime. These guys are gonna go places.
Favourite Madonna clip.

Favourite Madonna song.
Choreography, brilliant.
Show it to your girlie, here's one helluva woman doin' one helluva song.

Horse ain't bad either...

February 01, 2007 in , , , , | You've also spoken about how you think the Pussycat Dolls and Paris Hilton are soft porn.
It is soft porn. It's really depressing.

But there's only so much I can say about those people. They're not going to stop until people stop buying it or watching it on TV. The guys controlling those TV stations will ban you for swearing.

I've been banned from certain channels for swearing, yet they'll let people like Paris Hilton and the Pussycat Dolls go on there gyrating themselves up against a pole. I'm sorry, but you think a young child is going to grow up quicker because they hear the word f--- and not because they see some girl basically masturbating at 4pm? I don't think so.

From an interview with Lilly Allen in the . Go Lilly Allen. We need more of her type!

We need more women doing what they love, in their own way. Women who speak their minds in public. She's featured in a recent , singing in her own ( I don't have to answer to anyone ) way.

I just knew she'd be great...

site - you have to eat the mushroom to get in! (If you're interested in the major controversy over the banning of the Oz flag at the Sydney gig, the organizers have written their clarification of the issue on the site).
January 22, 2007 in , , , | I've admired Tim Finn for most of my adult life.

He's the former lead singer of Split Enz, and continues to produce amazing music. About 10 or so years ago, I was reading an article on Depression in the Sydney Morning Herald's weekend mag. It featured celebrities (Australian/New Zealand) who had come out to talk about their experiences.

Tim Finn was one of them. That's an act of bravery.
Rewind say 10 - 15 years beforehand to when the Enz were big here and in NZ - I mean really big.

One of the best songs they released, in my opinion, was Dirty Creature. It's got such great bass, superb melody but..

.. It's a fabulous and creative yarn about depression.

I can only recognize that now, many years later.
Sung by Timmy himself, I am humbled to view the youth and brilliant poetry, not to mention the healthy humour (piss-taking) about being so..

. so depressed.
Now this is what a person can do with a condition .

Take heed!
to the clip.
I need a Dragon Slayer/Who can save me from myself.

.. Dirty Creature's got me and he gets his knowledge from the inside.

.. My daughter and I discovered 2 fabulous young women musician/singers whilst watching the other morning.

Individual, unique and really funny. British of course..

. I think the Brits have a monopoly on humour and their women can be hilarious. Humour is culturally specified, so others may not agree.

These girls offer up a different set of images for young girls and women. Old bags will giggle and hum as well (Well I did).
First we have rapper singing to her homeland: I'm English.

Try and deport me! (Reference to large breasts, violent portrayal of cutting fingernails. F word is cut out in this video - you may want to check it before you show it to kiddies).

A female slant on what is largely a male genre. .
Second, sporting a fabulous red evening dress and runners with a comic sketch to kick the whole thing off.

Her accent is gorgeous and raw.
When you look with your eyes, it all seems nice. But if you look twice, you can see it's all lies.

Music can teach, in this song the lesson is: Look behind appearences. Not a bad pointer for sharpening intuition in a young person. (Again, check).

Humour brings laughter to that which is deadly serious. Female humour? Well, that's just deadly.

January 08, 2007 in , , , , | So why should it stop me?
I'll conquer and sail free!
Lucky just to keep afloat.

..
A sweet acknowledgement to the Maori nation of New Zealand occurs here.

A long intro, worth the wait till it rocks, baby.
I like the cavalier attitude, the one that suggests a wacky kind of determination in the face of the strangest odds.
Bring on 2007.

Happy holidays and great strength to you too.
December 23, 2006 in , , | I had posted this clip a while back and some freaking punk weirdo turned up, yelling into my blog and I took it off.
Then I thought to meself, 'Ang on!

' . As John Lydon himself says in the doco :

If you look like an arse'ole, and you talk like an arse'ole, and you act like an arse'ole..

.then..

. you're an arse'ole.
(That's not verbatim folks, close enough though eh?

)

Johnny Lydon is my favourite angry-guy. Check this gorgeous, full-of-cheek face out.
But more than that, take my wishes seriously.

It's an Irish blessing: May the road rise with you...

Remembering too, that anger is an energy. Like gold in fact.Certainly, there is an art, even a type of alchemy in turning anger into something strong, positive, creative and productive.

But God it's great when you learn it.
That's how Punk started. Anger.

It still sustains many. I could be wrong, but then..

.I could be right.
Go forth into 2007 and do what you have to do Girl.

December 20, 2006 in , , | One morning Australian singer/songwriter Sarah Blasko woke to hear a song she had written blaring from her clock radio and thought she was dreaming.
When the record labels started calling, she knew she wasn’t.
Look out for Sarah.

She's very very good. Where would she err though?
Cool side or Dag?

I've watched hip hop from afar and for some time. It's always good to watch your enemy. That's not entirely true, I jest.

Eminem has the ability to make me snicker and that's always a good sign.
I HATE WITH GODDAMN PASSION the trashy bling bling hip hop that presents women as useless, brainless sex toys. Why?

Well apart from the obvious (being me disagreeing with such portrayals ahem), I find it really really, mindnumbingly boring. Am I alone in this?
Methinks not.

However, then came the . An Aussie hip hop band, yes certainly reminiscent of Eminem in this clip, but with a distinctly Australian accent..

. No profanity, no insults to women, just a few blokes strolling around Adelaide with attitude honey.
I love it, also, because I really want our young people, in this country, to always have their own voice, as distinct from any other countries'.

This stuff inspires kids I work with, I like it.
On the downside, it's dark and depressive. But hey.

So are most of the adolescents I come across. Who can tell whether it's from the music, or whether the music is from them?
It's a Don't know where to go, It' s like-
Now to the other slants on heat.

sings about

That's Celcius. 45 Degrees.Please remember this when you are next not in Australia in summer.

There's a monumental demand made in this song - concerning Aboriginal people in this country. The song really had a very big impact and changed people's way of thinking.
And it captures so much about summer, harshness and stark beauty.

I love it. Please enjoy!
November 30, 2006 in , , , | I'm going to share songs that have inspired me at some point.

Notable songs that have lifted me up and over self indulgence and into higher grounds. Midnight Oil's was and still is one of those songs.
It's a kick-arse, finger up, food for thought kinda tune.

And hey. Who doesn't want to take Peter Garrett out for a drink?
Garrett (pictured) now a Labor party politician in this big old, hot and harsh, unforgiving and godforsaken, gorgeous - (never meant for white-skinned people anyway)- land.

Too much of sunshine/Too much of sky/ It's just enough to make you wanna cry.
Yothu Yindi: Treaty.
That song that says it all.

But hell it's a great dance tune too.
Speaking of schools..

. I've just found a young woman, with her own style and presence in the form of Regina Spektor. Great song with whimsical lyrics that ring true.

Get your daughters to watch this too.
You're young until you're not..

.You love until you don't..

.You try until you can't..

.You laugh until you cry..

.You cry until you laugh..

.And everyone must breathe until their dying breath..

.
This is a beautiful song and there's lots of kids doing kid stuff, so you'll be pleased with that..

.
November 18, 2006 in , , , | Self esteem would not be a such a problem if we all just loved a little better and a little more. Or maybe just giving out a few more hugs and of course getting some back would do the trick.

Check this beautiful out, it's stunning.
A great morning in Pitt Street mall, Sydney, captured by and reported in the . The message quickly spread to the US.

This post inspired by love and who reports that today is National Hug Day.
October 20, 2006 in , , | I think Pink is a great role model for teenage girls. She was on 60 Minutes (Australia) last night and this is how Peter Overton introduced the piece:

Call us old fashioned, but why would anyone want to be like Paris Hilton or Britney Spears?

Yet, for millions of teenage girls around the world, self-obsessed, trashy airheads are all the rage. Glorified in those videos which are really just soft porn with songs.

So, it's refreshing to meet someone like Pink.

Don't get me wrong, she's no goody-two-shoes. A former teenage runaway and drug addict with tatts and hair to match her name, Pink is sexy AND smart.

The point is there's nothing wrong with dressing sexy, being sexy, talking sexy.

I just don't think it has to come with the price of tag of dumb. I don't think you have to dumb yourself down to be sexy or to be less challenging.

Great stuff.

.. all of us with daughters can be relieved this tough, cool young woman is around.

The above CD does suggest parental advisory due to explicit content. My slant on that is: Explicit content is best explained from parents and wise ones rather than being heard from elsewhere. Again, personal/family choice.

Tip of the Week: Don't Forget to Dance!
Playtime again! Just for fun I've asked my son Ben (8) and daughter, Anna (10) to name two particularly good songs they've heard in the last week.

So here they are, and I'm happy with them too:

All screened by me, and safe for parents (meaning you don't have to hold your breath and close your eyes). The songs all fit (somewhere!) into the Rock/Pop category.

Film clips of Rogue Traders can be a tad cheeky but not anything near the calibre of your average contemporary rap/hip hop film clips, which really need to be shown after 10 pm each night. Natalie of Rogue Traders (singer) dances her own way- to please herself, not to please others.
Bernard Fanning (pictured) is just extremely talented and the Dead Kennedy's are classic, intelligent punk.

I'm a sucker for a good stick figure. Ben, my son, has directed me to a very cool stick figure activity, where you can send dancing figures to your friends, with music and sound effects too.
The link is an offshoot of a Disney production High School Musical.

My kids really enjoyed this movie whilst I cringed a lot with the sugary-ness of it. That's probably because I'm cynical and jaded, and they simply relate to an innocent story about teenagers.
Send it to yourself first, so you can see what you've created.

June 30, 2006 in , , , , , , | Almost by some international magic, I find my earlier gripes about sexualizing girls and women in music video's has been handled, answered and made into a funny video by Pink. Vive la Pink!

Oh where did the smart people go.

.. I don't wanna be a stupid girl.

..What happened to the dream of a girl president/She' s dancing in the video next to 50 cent.

.. I'm so glad I don't fit in.

..Outcast girls with ambition, That's what I wanna see.

..

Click to see the video which is quite graphic in it's satire, so you might want to case it before showing your own 8 year-old/s.

But for the same reason, you might want to show it to your own 8 year olds.
In our house we play lots of music. We also watch lots of music, which means my 7 year old son and my 9 year old daughter are consistently exposed to images of women as sex/desire objects.

I call it coaching for young women: THE WRONG KIND OF COACHING.
Blossoming female sexuality is sacred and true. It's also mind-shatteringly fragile.

Fragile is private. The film clips I speak of do not support this view, but that's not my issue here anyway. I'm talking about young brains being mesmerized by at the very least, boring and narrow role models that are promoted as cool and-(this is the worst part)- necessary.

I really love it when I see a film clip that shows female creativity, intelligence and talent. I hate that these clips are not shown often enough on mainstream channels. (It's great when they are because it also means these artists are making money).

Want something different for your eyes and brain?
There's lots of strong female artists around, with music and filmclips to inspire anyone, young or old, ale or female. Most of the following artists are women I'd be happy for my kids to view, but it's always a personal choice and I should say I haven't seen all their visuals.

But check them out : , , , , , ,the . Some have video's on their websites.
There's obviously oodles more clever girls out there so when I'm inspired one of them, I'll let you know.

Even though mainstream music video's can be damning to the whole idea female expansiveness, if you're exposed to some creative stuff, at least you know there's always something else and you can choose.