Project 8: Celebrate Women in Music
March is Women’s History Month, so let’s pay tribute to women in music.
Rather that sharing a playlist, choose a female musical artist who you particularly enjoy and email me her name. Include a brief write up why you chose whomever you selected. If you’d like, you can also share a few songs from that artist to provide examples of her music.
All women artist submissions were due by March 12.
Each basement sketches contributor picks a song or songs to cover from the musical catalog from one of the female artists shared.
Only rule: don’t cover a song by the artist you shared, as in previous projects when contributors didn’t pick from their own playlists.
April 4 will be the final day to submit songs.
Neil’s submission:
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known as Nina Simone, was a bad ass. She was arguably a prodigy, playing piano by ear starting at age 3. Originally she aspired to be a concert pianist. She enrolled at Juilliard and then applied for the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, just to be denied despite allegedly having an amazing audition. Pissed off, Eunice started playing nightclubs under the name Nina Simone, so her family wouldn’t hear about her playing “the devil’s music.” Though up until that point she’d never fancied herself a singer, the nightclub required Nina to sing. So it was ultimately circumstance that launched Nina Simone onto the path to become one the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th Century.
Nina was an advocate for Civil rights, speaking and performing at events including the Selma to Montgomery marches and releasing songs like “Mississippi Goddman.” She became famous for her stage presence and earned the title “the High Priestess of Soul.” She’d stop concerts mid song and wait for silence, if she felt the crowd wasn’t sufficiently engaged. Nina didn’t fuck around. She knew how good she was and she demanded the respect she deserved. That’s punk rock.
Many of the songs Nina Simone performed and was best known for were covers, so I think it’s fair game to cover a song that Nina made famous through her own cover version. She also has a number of great originals, including the aforementioned “Mississippi Goddamn.” Anything is fair game from her repertoire.
-Neil
Nina Simone covers
Noah Warren covers “Feeling Good”
I listened to most of her catalog and watched a lot of YouTube uploads of her live work. There’s one live Montreux performance where she revisits “My Baby Just Cares For Me” that just floors me. She introduces it by mentioning it’s off her first record, a hit she sang before she had a lifetime of suffering to experience. I couldn’t touch that... or most her classics. “Sinnerman”, “See-Line Woman” and “I Put a Spell On You” were my backups, but I wanted to try “Feeling Good”. This song has always creeped me out.
There was probably an easier way to accomplish this, but I had to sing it in one key, knowing it would come out in another- a lot of confusing musical math.
Lastly another Youtube video I love is her ‘76 Montreux performance of “I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free)”. I’m quite glad I fell down the Nina rabbit hole for much of March.
-Noah
Jeff Mooridian’s submission:
Kate Bush
The first person I think of is Kate Bush, though I'd really want to cover one of her songs so I almost don't want to mention her (I've never done a cover btw, so not even sure I can do one anyway), and I'm sure I'm not the only person to mention her. What an oeuvre, but of course, The Dreaming is pretty solid straight through. Like this song a lot: https://open.spotify.com/track/1VsQhQbF4SwVvbbFeQ5EOa?si=55ec3dd4682a4f8d
-Jeff Mooridian
Kate Bush covers
Randy Dever covers “Experiment IV”
I remember being blown away by this lofty, high-concept song when I first heard it. If you aren’t familiar with Kate’s “Experiment IV” perhaps you should listen to it first. Here’s a link to the music video they made for it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTUcoR8_pyE
The premise is that the narrator is a musician/scientist involved in a military experiment to produce a sonic weapon – “a sound that can kill someone from a distance.” This goes against the narrator’s principles, but they agree to it anyway. In the video, the experiment goes horribly awry. As a synthesizer/sampler/drum machine enthusiast, I would be lying if I said I haven’t envisioned similar concepts.
I had planned to make an audio depiction of the actual experiment., but may have ended up being extra iffy and I didn’t have enough time.
Instruments:
Percussion bells, shaker egg, Elektron Digitakt, Yamaha SU700, modified cassette player thing, Arturia Microfreak (vocoder), micro-cassette dictaphone.
I would like to thank William Shatner for his pioneering vocal style. It is becoming familiar ground for me.
-Dtron
Bill Fricke covers “Love and Anger” in the style of Joy Division
Yes, this is quick out of the gate, but earlier in the week when I found Kate Bush was nominated, I had to do Love and Anger.
However, it has coincided with my recent obsession with learning and recording Joy Division and early New Order songs.
So, what if.... Joy Division covered Kate Bush?
I pared down the lyrics to keep the hopeful ones out as much as possible to keep with the JD style. Liberties were taken with structure.
The hardest part was trying to sing Ian Curtis-ish-ly-esque?
I plan on tackling other covers. So many great ones to choose from. But it was too much fun to not share now.
Hope ya'll enjoy it.
-Bill
Colby Heston’s submission:
Heart
For Project 8, I would like to submit Heart (Ann & Nancy Wilson) as my female artist(s). The reason I chose the Wilson sisters/Heart is that I feel that the music that they created helped to pave the way for women in Rock and Roll. The influence of Ann's vocals on Barracuda and Magic Man and Nancy's guitar work on the intro to Crazy on You are still present today.
Thanks,
Colby
Heart Covers
Jeff Kearns covers “These Dreams”
Got to know this song by randomly hearing it through the years while driving. Good cinematic feel. Borrowed a Jazzmaster for the tremolo arm. Inspired by the keyboard swoops. Nacy Wilson's astral plane vocal. At the heart of all that 80's hair.
Thanks !
Jeff
Tom Stromsodt covers “Bad Animals” by Heart
I decided on doing a Heart song but those Wilson sisters can really wail. After a day of listening, I was struck by how closely many of the songs were aligned with the era they were recorded in. Bad Animals was an interesting example. It was a fairly straightforward Em vamp with a somewhat hopeful chorus but it was recorded in an over the top late 80s fashion. I wondered what would happen if I made a mess of it. The results are below.
-Tom
Randy “Devetron” Dever’s submission:
Aimee Mann
I choose the enchanting Ms. Aimee Mann. When I hear her sing, it really pulls on the old heart strings. Evocative as all heck. I may be disproportionately affected by her voice because of the strong association with her many songs in the film Magnolia – “Wise Up” in Particular. “Voices Carry” is so, so very good and she has never stopped. I listened to her as a frequent guest of “The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling” and she just seems so rad and cool and kind and gracious. I don’t claim to be an Aimee Mann scholar, but yeah. Go Aimee.
-Dtron
Aimee mann Covers
Barrett covers “Save Me”
I was on the verge of submitting Aimee Mann for my artist, but I’m glad Randy did so that I could cover one of her songs. Her albums have always been regular fixtures in our household, such a distinct style and voice, also super funny in Portlandia. I love soundtrack to the movie Magnolia, it felt fresh and integral to the picture, like Simon and Garfunkel in the Graduate or Air’s Virgin Suicides soundtrack. Save Me comes at the end of the film and hovers over a singular shot. Trying to push myself on each of these challenges, I thought it would be interesting to try an orchestral version of it as would be expected in a film score, maybe an alternate version that ends up in the trailer or during the credits. There is an album by Ramsey Lewis that I love right now called Mother Nature’s Son, it is an album of amazing synth-infused, heavily orchestrated jazz covers of Beatles songs which definitely had an impact on my approach.
I didn’t have as much time this round to learn and record all of the parts so I leaned on an existing midi track a bit more, especially for the little runs and flourishes that I don’t think I am capable of. Most of my attempts at making a more traditional orchestral score sounded a bit generic, so opted for a Mellotron to take the place of the rhythm guitar foundation and a few of the flute parts, replacing the bass line with pizzicato strings and building up several layers of strings with some heavy reverb to create swells that were less realistic but felt more intense and emotive. Most of these instruments are free Spitfire Audio Labs or from the Arturia library. Throw in a sprinkle of vibraphone and here it is.
This is a photo of Aimee Mann listening to my cover curiously in her den.
-Barrett
Jeff Kearns’ submission:
Exene Cervenka from X.
Always had a soft spot for Exene. The way she careens on the edge of hysteria but stays tethered to the mission. Finding humor in a hard place. Strength in sharing her vulnerability. Poetic calm in the chaos. Always wondered what Westerberg might have got from her during their early 80's tours. Why Elliot Smith was afraid to meet her when she reached out. X left some magic in the cracks.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHCopndI4OeEkkct8-pQKb5jAaaqcBT-R
Thanks,
Jeff
Exene Cervenka Covers
Jeff Mooridian Jr. covers “Some Other Time”
I chose Exene and her cohorts. I just watched a bio on X that was pretty great. She's kooky and sweet, a great lyricist and I'm down with her vibe, generally speaking. (The later Trump comments are, sigh, a bit weird, but let's move on shall we?) Her harmonies are truly original: not even going to try to mimic them. The lyrics are impressionistic and/or oblique, at least in the verses–and especially on this tune. I also have a new appreciation for the band's musicianship on top of everything else. There's quite a bit of depth there, especially for how simple their tunes are. A drummer whose favorite band is Captain Beefheart always has my nod of approval, too--for whatever it's worth.
Anyway, I'm currently armed with only a synth and Logic but managed to twist out my own version of "Some Other Time" from Wild Gift–through a YMO/Kraftwerk filter?
This is my first cover ever. It's pretty fun. I guess I like the Residents' style of covering songs, that is, converting them into their own, so hopefully I'm getting close to that approach. Like I said, I pretty much laid it out with a few tracks of synth. I also decided against drums for some reason. I just liked the space, I guess.
Vocals were very rushed, though I did about 8 versions. I was going to run it through a vocoder but Logic's vocoder is pretty "meh". My mic is pretty bottom of the barrel, else I don't know how to work it--very high tech stuff, right? Yada, it's not my "Evita" in short. I have to vacate my place for Covid reasons, so that's that for both vocal attempts and this project anyway.
Also, about the vocals: Sorry. Not sorry.
Love,
Jeff
Barrett Haroldson’s submission:
Debbie Harry
I overthought picking someone but then came back to someone I simply enjoy listening to — Debbie Harry and Blondie. When I was a kid, one of the first records that I really got into was a 45 of Blondie’s The Tide Is High, a cover of the reggae track (the fact that it was a cover is a recent discovery). They were the furthest thing from where I grew up. Thinking about it now, bands like Blondie, Beck and The Beastie Boys that weaved together many influences were a vessel for a broader world of music and art to someone that lived in a small town cultural dessert.
Recently, the song Atomic popped up in a movie and it stopped me, I couldn’t place it and sent me down a rabbit hole of Blondie albums. With fresh ears, it feels stylish and timeless - like it could have been put out today or 40 years ago. With basement sketches cover projects, I find it nice to have source material that is accessible to the broader group — sheet music, tab, midi is out there for those of us that need it, to then take it in whatever direction works for the cover.
-Barrett
Debbie Harry Covers
Andrew Charon covers “Call Me”
I remember listening to Blondie when I was 10. It was 1980 and my family lived in California at the time. I remember going to this little pizza place with my parents and playing Blondie over and over in the jukebox. It’s weird thinking about moments when I was my kids age and how the world was different. Blondie was so fun at the time. Maybe I saw a picture or two of her but that time was pre MTV and I just didn’t really know much about her and her scene. Anyways, the biggest devastation that I remember while living in California was when John Lennon was shot and killed. I was dumfounded that such a thing could happen…and remember the conversation with my dad where he talked with by brother and I. In addition to everything else, we decided that it’d be a good idea to throw away our cap guns he had just purchased for us. Now, 40 or so years later my kids listen to musicians like Lizzo and Melanie Martinez and have access to their TikTok feeds tracking their everyday lives. All of this while we’ve been quarantined for a year and live five blocks from where George Floyd was murdered. I’ll never forget the look on my youngest daughters face when we told her the details about his death. Anyways, I’m curious how music from this time will link to my kids childhood as they become adults.
This track just kind of happened. When I saw that Barrett had selected Blondie I knew right away that that is who I’d cover and that the song would be Call Me. Initially, I wanted to do something a bit different and decided to learn the song on guitar thinking I could combine the guitar with synth and do something that you’d maybe hear on the Flaming Lips Embryonic. I spent a couple of weeks messing around on guitar and finally got all of the parts of the song down. I took a night to piece it together in GarageBand and it transformed into this really nice lo-fi mono track that sounded like it was recorded on a Tascam with my high school Squier(?) guitar and Crate 10 watt amp. I used my Epiphone nylon string guitar and played all of the tracks through GarageBand’s “Worlds Smallest Amp”. In the end I liked the simplicity of only the guitar track. As for the vocals I randomly and recently ended up coming across this DJ on Instagram called @koozebane and briefly became obsessed with how he combined tracks with other tracks to create new experiences. The vocals were inspired by his work. Enjoy.
-Andrew
Noah Warren’s submission:
Lana Del Rey
Okay, before you laugh (or maybe while you laugh), answer me this: If everyone hated you, and I mean like really, REALLY hated and/or dismissed you, would you make 6 albums and put out a book of poetry?
I have my laundry list of lady singers, Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos, Tracy Chapman, Fiona Apple, Ani Difranco, Solange, Suzanne Vega - (dammit, why didn't I pick Suzanne Vega)…however I'm choosing to celebrate Lana Del Rey, mainly because when her persona surfaced in 2011, she had my curiosity...but now she has my attention.
Most artists I either like or feel completely indifferent toward, but her music tends to somehow linger in my subconscious. It helps that much of it is delivered stylistically as cinematic surrealism drenched in noir, but I appreciate how her work has evolved over time, tripping from nihilism to meaningfulness and back again. I may not worship all of her tracks, but each album usually has at least one or two songs that I revisit regularly.
For some reason, her song "Love" (from 2017's Lust for Life) has a chorus that puts me in the same dream-like zone that I fell into after seeing David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, "You get ready you get all dressed up, to go nowhere in particular..."
NPR's Ann Powers wrote a bang up piece about her, "Lana Del Rey Lives in America's Messy Subconscious" https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/757545360/lana-del-rey-lives-in-americas-messy-subconscious
In the article Lana breaks down why some women don't simply hate her, they really REALLY hate her.
My closing thoughts: she's besties with Father John Misty, so she can't be that terrible. Finally, I hope one day, when safe gatherings can happen, I get to sing "Venice Bitch" at someone's wedding.
-Noah
Lana Del Rey Covers
Neil covers Lana Del Rey’s “High By The Beach”
Like Bill, I didn’t know the music of Lana Del Rey very well prior to this project. But I came to appreciate her songwriting style, after listening to a bunch of her songs while researching possible covers.
And speaking of Mr. Fricke, I was inspired by how he covered that Kate Bush song in the style of Joy Division. It got me wondering how I might do some kind of mash up of my own, covering someone’s song in a different style. When I came across “High By The Beach,” it seemed only natural that such a tune would lend itself to reggae.
I’d never attempted to play a reggae song before, so this was going to be an undertaking for me. I knew I’d need help, but I feared that if I were to explain what I had in mind, nobody would want any part of it. Neil trying to play reggae? No thanks.
I sent Randy Dever a short progression without any context and asked him to record the line using his melodica. He was a trooper and cranked out a melodica track for me without knowing what song it was for nor having any real sense for what I was doing. I then wove it into what I was hobbling together. It ended up being an essential part that helped my weird reggae aspiration take shape.
Like all of these projects for me, it’s a learning process, and I managed to learn a few new tricks this time around.
-Neil
Bill Fricke covers “Mariners Apartment Complex”
I just want to say thanks to Noah for nominating Lana Del Rey. I know who she is but never listened to her music.
I happened upon Mariners Apartment Complex and it hit me instantly. Beautiful song. The chord progression, I realized, was very similar to Wicked Game. Being a huge Chris Isaak fan, I restrained myself from mashing this up with Wicked Game. Although there are a couple of guitar lines in this that hint at it. As I listen to it more, okay, there is definitely a Chris Isaak vibe. Just a little bit....Alright, perhaps a lot bit
Hardest part for me is always vocals. I want to bury them and run them through processors. Progress, not perfection. The music fell together quickly.
-Bill
Bill Fricke’s submission:
Laurie Anderson
I submit Laurie Anderson for the project. She is quirky, innovative, poetic, and upon re-listening to some of her music last night, it struck me that there could be some interesting takes on her music.
The most well-known is O Superman from Big Science. The album Mister Heartbreak is ripe with material. Strange Angels is also good fodder.
Cheers
Bill F.
Laurie Anderson Covers
Eric “Czahr” Scott covers “The Lake” by Laurie Anderson
I chose a Laurie Anderson song because, aside from a deep respect for her, I feel much of her music is open to interpretation and reinterpretations. I chose The Lake from her 2010 album Homeland because I really love the lyrics and the melody. "I walk accompanied by ghosts" is such a great line. In the spirit of that lyric, I wanted to use something from my past so I went digging through my box of old music supplies.
I was delighted to find an old Maxell tape simply labeled "Radio Noise". I have no recollection of this tape, of making it, writing on it, putting it into the box. But it's definitely my handwriting on the label. When I saw it, I thought, "There's no way this can actually be just radio noise or contain anything interesting." Well, it was all radio noise and shuffling through stations from maybe 20-25 years ago. I must have been nicely toasted when I made it and squirrelled it away.
So, throughout this recording are a couple of tracks of my old radio noise, courtesy of my old ghost. The rest of the song is just acoustic guitar, vocals, a pocket kalimba with effects, a Buddha Machine, and a little Tardigrain.
-Czahr
Tom Stromsodt’s submissions:
Cyndi Lauper
There was something so undeniable about “She’s So Unusual” that it managed to get through to even the most Motley Crue infested of brains. Maybe it was the gratuitous use of Captain Lou Albano? Whatever it was, it still makes me a little weepy when I hear Time After Time.
-Tom
Andrew Charon’s submission:
Miley Cyrus
For Project 8, I have to select Miley Cyrus. I have this soft spot in my heart for musicians who constantly redefine themselves. At one point of me being a dad to two girls, her music was high on our playlist. However there was a point of her career where Miley Cyrus collaborated with The Flaming lips and they released an album Miley Cyrus and her Dead Petz and some of the songs were nuts (and definitely not in the least super kid friendly).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu5iAgJ65dA
There was a song on that album called "Twinkle Song" that reminded me of one of my favorite songs by Neil Young called "The Last Trip to Tulsa". Kind of a dream-like psychedelic journey. It was hard to imagine that this was the same musician who I listened to with my girls however felt like this song was outstanding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtiK2QXMn8g
She's got a wide range of music to work with on Project 8. Have fun,
Andrew
Eric “Czahr” Scott’s submission:
Sara Carter
My artist submission for Project 8 is Sara Carter, of the Carter Family. Sara was the original singer and songwriter of the Carter Family, playing rhythm guitar and autoharp. She pioneered a style of playing lead and rhythm simultaneously that became known as “Carter Scratch”. Those original Carter Family recordings are the roots and seeds of countless songs and musicians to follow. You can hear most popular country music melodies in those songs.
What has always attracted me to these recordings is their essence. Each of them is like the very soul of a song. There is only vocals, guitar and autoharp. Never any percussion or keys or horns. Recording quality is poor, Sara’s voice isn’t traditionally ‘good’ and when A.P. harmonizes it becomes immediately apparent why he usually doesn’t sing. Yet the bare melody, the words, the feeling of the song is all there. This is why Carter Family songs are so covered. They are great songs to cover straight, or you can add all kinds of elements and take one almost anywhere.
One of my songwriting secrets is to start with playing a Carter Family song, then change the chords and melody, then change the words, and I’m left with my own song that has no resemblance to the original. I’ve tried this with other artists and it has never really worked as well. For me Sara’s old songs are just as much an ingredient as they are a finished product.
-cz