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Music: Try the Alternative Scene

posted by ChickSpeak
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 3:34pm CDT

When it comes to music, chicks who do things differently are a bit of a rare commodity. You know, those chicks who take risks and sort of go off the beaten path; the Lady Gagas of the world, if you will. Alternative music already takes a stand to mainstream expectations and the chicks who are dominating the genre do the same, and look better doing it.

Here are a few chicks breathing fresh air into the alternative scene:

Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine

Florence Welch’s voice isn’t necessarily easy to describe. The London native says she’s influenced by everything from punk to soul and you can hear it all in her edgy yet bluesy voice, along with the backing for that voice - the Machine part of the equation that Welch arranges according to the feeling of each song.

The chick has pipes for days, as she showcases on her aptly titled debut, Lungs. The album debuted at number two, just behind Michael Jackson’s posthumous The Essential Michael Jackson compilation, and earned Welch a 2010 BRIT Award (think of it as a cross between a Grammy and an MTV Music Award).

And Welch deserves all the hype. Her combination of soulful storytelling and offbeat humor, with her penchant for dark subject matter (take the lyrics from dark and dramatic, “Girl With One Eye,” featured on the season finale of 90210 - “I’ll cut your little heart out/’Cause you made me cry”) make her one unique chick. And our iPods are better for it.

Regina Spektor

The quirky Russian export burst onto the scene with her unconventional first single, the lilting “Fidelity.” Her first entry into the Billboard charts, and her most commercially successful single to date, “Fidelity” introduced us all to a new type of female artist - one interested solely in the progression and perfection of her music and not at all in making herself fodder for the media.

Further setting herself apart from her contemporaries, Spektor has continued to release solid hits, including the beautifully melodic, and equally melancholic, “Eet” from her fifth and most recent studio album, Far. (Check out the viral video here.) The piano builds and emotions swell and even more adoration grows for the skills of this incomparable chick.

Spektor recently performed at the White House for Jewish Heritage Month. Maybe we should all take a cue from the First Family’s musical tastes.

Shingai Shoniwa of Noisettes

Born and raised in London, Shingai Shoniwa, the daughter of Zimbabwean parents, has said that it took her a while to break out of her shell. “I’m from a huge African family; they’re so flamboyant that I tried to rebel against it,” she told UK website City Life earlier this year. Thankfully for us, Shoniwa, whose name means “perseverance,” has turned her rebellion instead to music industry standards.

The one time introvert now holds court as the lead singer and bassist of Noisettes, backed by her drummer and guitarist, two guys man enough to stand behind a tough chick…even if there are some romantic bumps in the road. According to MTV UK, the band nearly split because of guitarist Smith’s feelings for Shoniwa. “We had a dysfunctional love affair that never came to fruition,” he says. “Me and Shingai made up and the moment that kind of sums it up is when we do our things on stage and I think ‘How could I throw away that?’” The attraction to such an amazing chick is easy to understand.

The statuesque beauty, easily spotted with her impressive bouffant and hipster-couture fashions, sings her heart out with a fearlessness hard to match. Shoniwa’s doo-wop undertones give the music a vintage, jukebox feel while the bursting instruments make it timelessly fun, as if a Noisettes record could be played at both a sock hop and that house party you have coming up. Check out “Wild Young Hearts” and “Never Forget You” if you feel like dancing.

Faithlynn Morris has long been in love with alternative music and with the influx of strong chicks in the genre, an even stronger flame now burns in her wild young heart.