Electro Ladyland : Digest Of The Best Females In Electronic Music

by Fairy Cake

March hails the return of every pretentious clubber’s dream festival, BLOC, which, for the last 5 years, has been gathering together dance music’ more unhinged torchbearers for a weekend of rug-cutting, pill-popping, and bass to make even the most proverbial of balls drop.

However, if the only balls you’ve got are the proverbial kind, you’re unlikely to be on this year’s line-up. On scanning BLOC’s website this week, I saw only TWO lady beatmakers amongst a sea of gentlemen; the eponymous Ms Mary Anne Hobbs, and dubstep extraordinaire Ikonika.

I’ve got to admit, I’m pretty angry. Not (as you may have guessed) because I’m a big man-hating feminazi who will only be happy when every headliner has a vagina, but because there are some incredible female electronic artists out there, who have firmly won the right to be ripping it up with the big guns. Sadly, there seems to be a bit of a boy’s club conspiracy to keep females in electronica either on the mic, or in a UV rubber catsuit, swinging around in a cage for drunk punters.

I don’t know the organisers of BLOC. And even if I do meet them during that weekend in March, I’ll probably be dressed in some kind of animal costume and far too fucked to compose a coherent argument as to why they should be promoting more ladies. But, what I can do, is make a big list of women making ace glitchy tuneage, and then you can read it and show all your friends. And next year, they’ll be more vagina.

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Kito

http://www.myspace.com/thisiskito
Style : Spacious, atmospheric dubstep
What people say : “This is so good I’d cry if I wasn’t a shell of a human being”, some guy on YouTube
Listen here : ‘Cold’ from Disfigured Beats single

Aussie producer Kito creates stark, beautiful landscapes that’d send a shiver down even the most hardened raver’s spine. Check out her Disfigured Dubs release for her track ‘Cold’, which kind of makes me want to die in a really good way.

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TOKiMONSTA

www.myspace.com/tokibeats
Style : Bouncy, glitchy, eclectic grooves
What people say : “The most exciting electronic music on the planet”, Mary Anne Hobbs
Listen here : ‘Sweet Day’ from Midnight Menu LP

TOKiMONSTA’s appallingly diverse back catalogue jumps from hip-hop to trip-hop to dubstep, occasionally pausing to make cute noises and play with stuffed animals (IN MY HEAD). Signed to Flying Lotus’ label Brainfeeder, and has earned lofty comparisons with hip-hop master Prefuse 73. Quite possibly one of the most interesting, innovative producers about today.

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Vaccine

www.myspace.com/vaccinedub
Style: San Diego lady of dub
What the people say : “Metroid Primestep. Mmmm”, another guy on YouTube
Listen here : ‘Breathless’  from the Breathless EP

Gentler than her pal Kito, Vaccine writes reflective, choppy beats with lots of warm sub-bass for your tummy.  Great for sleeping to. Not so great for the neighbours.

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Hannah Holland

www.myspace.com/hannahholland
Style : Batty bass and clean, harsh samples
What the people say : “So fierce that if you’re not dancing when this drops you need to drag your sorry ass home to bed”, Heidi, Radio One
Listen here : ‘Shake It Up’ ft Mama

See. This. Girl. Live. Her snare is like being stabbed in the eardrum. But good.

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Leila Arab

www.myspace.com/leilaarab
Style : Used-to-play-keys-for-Bjork fantasy music
What the people say : “24 Carat classic Warp electronica”, MixMag
Listen here : ‘Lush Dolphins’ from Blood, Looms and Blooms

You know when you get lost in an enchanted forest and everything’s very nice and all but you really wish you had something on your iPod that was a bit more fitting than ‘Do It Like A Dude’? Problem.  Solved.

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Alexis K

www.myspace.com/kidsader
Style : Just turn the fucking bass up
What the people say : “I wanna rip my eyyyyyes ouuuut”, some other guy on YouTube
Listen here : Her remix of Agent K’s ‘Sierra Leone’

If you’re more into Nero than slowly-onsetting neurosis, then Alexis is for you. This girl does dubstep remixes like you wouldn’t believe.  Case in point, the aforementioned complete and utter demolition of Agent K and Bella’s track ‘Sierra Leone’. It’s pretty mainstream. It’s also pretty fucking amazing.

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Jezika

www.myspace.com/jezikajunglemonkey
Style : Like Squirtel going for it in the ambient tent
What the people say : “A koala crapped rainbows in my brain”, the lady herself.
Listen here : ‘Bathtub Chess’ from Ocean Of Mind

This girl should be so much bigger than she is. Constantly shifting layers of squeaks, synths and square leads, and all painfully listenable.  Check out the track ‘Dancing With Death’ on her Myspace and submerge yourself. She’s signed to label FEM, which puts out some great female electronic artists.

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Subeena

www.myspace.com/subeena
Style : Blissed-out, star-lit house and trip-hop
What the people say : “Genre-defying”, MixPak Records
Listen : ‘Analyse’ from the single Solidify

Hailing from my own neck of the woods (NW. Arguably more armpit), Subeena’s tunes morph from soporific soundscapes to really dirty drops. And she occasionally chucks in Jamie Woon for good measure.  This girl is well exciting, and 100% homegrown.  Represent!

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Ellen Allien

www.myspace.com/ellenallien
Style : Clever but danceable
What the people say : “Allies music-box tinkles to big, banging techno grooves to superb effect”, The Guardian
Listen here : ‘Flashy Flashy’ remixed by Nicolas Jaar

All that 5-times-signature-in-two-minutes stuff is all very well, but if you prefer something a little more four-to-the-four that doesn’t suck, try Ellen. Intelligent, elegant, and utterly kinetic.

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Despite all of this, you should still go to BLOC.  Because, amongst others, Four Tet, Aphex Twin, Boxcutter, and Moderat are playing, and they are all awesome.  Even if they don’t have vaginas.