Learning to Love Country Music

I’ve read a few RSVP profiles in my time, and if one memory about them stands out, it’s THIS statement;

“Favourite Music – My tastes are pretty broad. In fact, I’ll listen to pretty much anything. Except country.”

Oh dear, dear, dear… Why do people do this to themselves? Will they really, as they say, listen to anything, but bypass the entire country music section at the CD store and miss out on the wealth of talent and listening pleasure contained within? This might explain why Hinder actually made it to the top of the charts (whatever’s happened to those guys?).

I can only see this situation as terribly, terribly wrong. Folks, I can assure one and all that country music does not equal Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks. I’m not even talking about that ‘country crossover’ stuff we get from the likes of Keith Urban, or LeeAnn Rimes or Shania Twain (think I might be showing my age with that last one). Many, many excellent rock bands have their roots strongly ensconsed in the true country music sound, which has wide-reaching and pervasive influence in the USA. But anyway, here is the Fairy Girl’s brief guide to the best of country music.

Emmylou Harris – Emmylou has never truly been embraced as part of the country music community. She primarily identifies as a folk singer, and it was her collaboration with Gram Parsons that brought a country influence to her sound. Emms has had her biggest commerical success with 'Trio' recorded with Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton, 'Boulder to Birmingham' is widely considered to be her most significant work. My personal pick is iconic 1995 release (and Grammy Award-winner) ‘Wrecking Ball.’ An unbelievable, beautiful gem of an album with not a dud track on it. Produced by Daniel Lanois, it also has his personal stamp all over it, with a big, echoey, atmospheric sound. And we have to love Emmylou for her incredible hair, and for being such a sexpot at sixty (see above)!

Lyle Lovett – I know most of us know Lyle as that dorky-looking guy who was married to Julia Roberts for a while back in the 1990’s. This is horribly unfortunate, because the guy is an amazing musician and has a complete gift of a voice. My recommendation would have to be ‘Lyle Lovett and his Large Band.’ A superb overall album, with overtones of blues and swing predominant (God, this is like writing wine-tasting notes). Favourite tracks (pour moi) are ‘I Married Her Just Because She Looks Like You’ and his cover of ‘Stand By Your Man.’ I also have to make a special mention for the song ‘North Dakota’ off his ‘Joshua Judges Ruth’ album – a song so beautiful that when I play it amongst friends we observe a period of respectful silence for the 5 mins 42 seconds it lasts. And then the magical spell is broken by the godawful song that follows it.

Johnny Cash – Poor Johnny. He had to die, and be played by Joaquin Phoenix in a movie before he received Cashthe fame and recognition he truly deserved. Johnny is a true giant of musical history, and so much has already been written about the freight-train rhythm of his music blah blah blah that there’s no point in me adding to it here. Johnny is another long-standing artist with a massive back catalogue, and choosing just one or two albums for your home music selection is like limiting yourself to a single sex position for life. I’m going to go REALLY against the grain here and recommend a later, lesser-known release called ‘American III; Solitary Man.’ The track list is mostly covers, but they really, really kick ass. Especially his version of Nick Cave’s ‘The Mercy Seat.’ I also love the track ‘Field of Diamonds’ sung with his wife June Carter Cash. Just lovely.

Alison Krauss – Alison has a voice that is so, SO beautiful that I can’t understand why she isn’t wider known as an artist unto herself. She has a lot of recognition for working on the ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou’ movie soundtrack, and deservedly so… To anyone who hasn’t listened to the song ‘Down To The River To Pray’ off this album – get thee to iTunes immediately! And for the country-nervous, the album that she and lover Robert Plant released together last year, ‘Raising Sand,’ is a nice, non-threatening intro to the genre. This is not to say that this isn’t another outstanding album, and old Bob and Ali do sound unexpectedly incredible together! Alison is also considered primarily a bluegrass artist, leaning towards pop and adult comtemporary, rather than being lodged firmly within the country genre.

A note on ‘The Re-Mains’ – these guys are an Australian band from Nimbin, and they are bloody fantastic live. Albums that they have released are mostly live cuts and unfortunately the sound production isn’t what it could be and this really doesn’t do them justice. But look out for them when they play a gig near you and try to get your butt along – good times are promised.

A further note on Junior Brown. This guy plays the weirdest-looking instrument I think I've ever seen - an electric guitar up top and a pedal-steel on the bottom - and his musical skills are unbelievable. Check out the youtube video for his 'Highway Patrol' single, and be astounded!

See further – Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, Grant-Lee Phillips (not strictly country, but very country influenced) and Gram Parsons

Review: 'Princesses and Pornstars' by Emily Maguire

GREAT book by an Australian author, that examines modern female gender stereotypes, and reinforces the role of feminism as being relevant to young women today…

Okay – that makes this book sound like a heavy read, but it truly isn’t. I read the whole thing in less than 48 hours, and found it insightful, funny, smart, succint and accurate. I know a lot of my chick contemporaries shy away from feminist writing because it’s often full of psychobabble and over-reached academic theorising (hel-LO Nancy Friday and Naomi Wolf), and because they feel that feminist ideology really has nothing to do with them and the way they go about their day-to-day lives.

To those young women, I only have this to say… Do you believe that you have the right to make your own choices in life, from whether to work or be a stay-at-home housewife/mum, to have children or not, to leave an unhappy or abusive relationship, to be with a man because you’re crazy in love with him and not due to economic dependence? Do you believe in a woman’s free and legal access to abortion, and to negotiate sexual consent, and have access to contraception? Do you want a workplace where your achievements are based on merit, and you are free from gender-based harassment? Do you want to see a legal system that doesn’t STILL hold up the idea that because a girl put on a mini-skirt and make-up for a night out, that she was inviting rape? If you answer a resounding and deep-felt YES to these questions, then welcome to feminism! These, and other issues, are basic tenets of the mainstream feminist movement, and the options open to us that we take for granted now are directly attributable to the efforts of second-wave feminist agitators. The idea that feminists do not/should not wear really sexy shoes, put on make-up, really REALLY like guys, shave their legs or get their hair done etc is a complete load of horseshit and no reason whatsoever for young women to be afraid to identify with feminist principles.

Anyway, back to the book… Ms Maguire examines the apparently contradicting trends of ‘raunch culture’ and the modesty movement among young women, and forms a theory that they are, in fact, just two sides of the same coin – both pushing women back into roles where they are judged by their sexual marketability. It doing so, she spots a modern take on the old ‘madonna/whore’ dichotomy on societal viewpoints of women. Are we ‘hot’ and fuckable, or virginal and marriageable? Pornstars or princesses? I loved this examination (probably as a big counter-point to everything I didn't like about the 'Sex and the City' movie!), and I loved a lot of the points she makes about how keeping women in defined gender roles is equally restricting to men (who are stuck in gender roles of their own), and that sex education in Australian schools is still mainly based on the idea that female sexuality is passive, whereas male sexuality is aggressive, and overlooks the idea that sexuality is as individual as a person is. I am all for a MAJOR overhaul of sex education in schools (it's as if a 'good education' is all about getting good grades... So non-true!)

However… There's at least one theme in this work about which I prefer to maintain a more critical mindset. This includes the rather annoying habit that is typical of a lot of feminist writers to throw around the phrases ‘objectifying women’ and ‘women as sex objects’ without ANY further explanation or demonstrated understanding of what such an expression means. It’s lazy writing and theorising, and it also glosses over the concept that, actually, women can be sexual subjects without it necessarily degrading them. ‘Objectification’ is a highly relative term that should require a definition of the author’s understanding of it, otherwise it's meaningless to the reader.

I'm also ambivalent about the author's standpoint on porn. I appreciate that she has one viewpoint amongst a lot of other educated viewpoints that are easily accessible to the curious reader - which is why I've tacked on a 'further resources' list at the end of this review. I don't want to say too much further - everyone is entitled to their own opinion on these things and it's probably better for those interested in the book to check out the relevant chapter and make their own decisions.

In summation, LOVE the book, Emily, and I reckon it’s highly recommended reading, and I hope the author makes a million bucks. I do, however, think it’s a text that should be read in the context of much wider reading on gender and sexual politics… For those interested, would also suggest;

‘Female Chauvinist Pigs’ by Ariel Levy (a book often referenced in ‘Princesses and Pornstars’)
‘The Porn Report’ by Alan McKee et al
‘The Smart Girl’s Guide to Porn’ by Violet Blue
‘Motherhood, Porn and Cherry Pie’ by Susie Bright (in fact any of Susie’s books – she’s my friggin’ hero!)

Poetry is sexy

This is my favourite poem of all time - I first read it when my boyfriend sent it to me (who says text messages can't be romantic?).

'Knee Song' by Anne Sexton

Being kissed on the back of the knee
is a moth at the windowscreen and yes
my darling a dot on the fathometer is
tinkerbelle with her cough
and twice I will give up my
honor and stars will stick
like tacks in the night
yes oh yes yes yes two
little snails at the back of the knee building bon-
fires something like eye-
lashes something two
zippos striking yes yes yes small
and me maker.

I HIGHLY recommend the website http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/index.html for browsing poetry... The homepage doesn't look like anything much, but persevere! You can use the index to search poems by author, title or first line, AND it includes some song lyrics. They also have a mailing list which will send a daily poem to your inbox - what could be nicer?

So many people out there have been put off the joys of great poetry by having to study it at school (trust me - this ruined a lot of perfectly good books for me too, and it took me until university and a lecturer who didn't brush over all the rude bits in Shakespeare to make me appreciate one of the English language's greatest writers!). However, there is so much beautiful and accessible poetry out there that I really believe that everyone can find something they find funny or touching or cool in this written medium. Don't believe the hype that poetry has to be something overly intellectual, or incomprehensible, or needs a Masters in English Lit. to decipher. Have fun exploring, but some of my favourites include...

- 'Ars Poetica' by Archibald MacLeish
- 'Missing Dates' by William Empson
- the poetry of American poet Wallace Stevens

'Sex and the City' movie review

I love, love, LOVE 'Sex and The City.' I have the entire series collection at home on DVD. Miranda is my favourite (she has short hair, and berates the other characters for living their lives through men). I couldn't WAIT for this movie to come out. But I have to say, my reaction to this film is lukewarm at best...

Given that the TV show was something that modern women really identified with, in terms of its exploration of lifestyle dilemmas and the relationships that become important to us, the movie really failed to be contraversial in any meaningful way. AND it presented some really annoying current, media-fied stereotypes about us girls.

The emphasis on consumerism was intrusive and annoying (including some jarring product placement shots) - it seemed every second scene involved at least one of the girls laden with boutique shopping bags. I don't know about you, but MY fantasies involve a lot more ruling the world and a lot less shopping, thank-you! And I HATED that Big's big moment in the film was picking up the tab on a new apartment and a fantasy walk-in wardrobe for Carrie, as if the sexiest possible thing about a man could be his huge, enormous.... bank account. I was desperate to see the storyline between Miranda and Steve given more grift, too. He cheats on Miranda after they haven't had sex in six months, and the rest of their moments in the film hinge on whether or not Miranda will decide to forgive him. At no time, however, is there any exploration over the issue as to whether it might be justifiable for a person to cheat if they are continually sexually rejected by their lover. Man - in the TV series, a whole episode would've been given over to discussing that one! As it was, it just fed that lame old stereotype of women losing interest in sex after marriage and kids, and expecting the man to lump it.

The movie format hasn't done 'Sex and The City' any favours - the show was great for its zing, and snappy one-liners and fast pace. The film could easily have been an hour shorter if the editors had cut all the frigging fashion montages and shots of Samantha's dog humping stuff. I went to this movie really hoping that I would see loads of humour and pizzazz and courage and outrageousness, but something was just... missing.

On the upside, I was REALLY excited to see my favourite ever porn actress, the fabulous Roxy deVille pop up (almost literally) in a brief cameo as 'Dante's Girl #3.' Yes, she's in porn, but she's still one of my favourite chicks in entertainment - gorgeous in a mildly punky way with a great natural body, funny, articulate and whip-smart, with a completely tongue-in-cheek approach to her work. I loved her work in Tristan Taormino's 'Chemistry 3' for those who are interested in checking it out.