Helen's Albums Of The Decade

In response to NME's rather unimaginative and questionable 'Albums of the Decade' list, Helen Of Troy... decided the only thing to do was to put on our proverbial thinking caps and come up with our own lady-led version.

Doing the list was all kinds of fun, but it also made us feel really freakin' old!

So here, in alphabetical, rather than rank, order, is our top 20 lady albums of the naughties.

Bat For Lashes – Fur And Gold

Britney Spears – Blackout

CSS – Cansei De Ser Sexy

Feist – The Reminder

Florence And The Machine – Lungs

Girls Aloud – Chemistry

Gossip – Standing In The Way Of Control

Gwen Stefani – Love, Angel, Music, Baby

Kelis – Kaleidoscope

M.I.A.- Arular

M.I.A. - Kala

Madonna - Music

Patti Smith – Trampin’

PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

PJ Harvey - White Chalk

Roisin Murphy – Ruby Blue

Sleater Kinney - The Woods

The Long Blondes – Someone To Drive You Home

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell

Yelle – Pop Up

Did we miss anyone off?

Helen Of Troy... Does Audience Participation: Part Trois

Well dear audience, it's time for the rock instalment of our ahem... much-debated 'top three favourite...' series. This has been the trickiest selection so far with so many fabulous artists and bands to choose from. Remember we wanna hear who your top three are, so get your proverbial thinking caps on and let us know who makes your list.

Without further ado, here are our top three favourite female rock acts of all time...

1. Patti Smith
Affectionately referred to as the Godmother of punk-rock, without who the acts listed below may never have existed. Need we say more?!

2. PJ Harvey
We heart Polly Jean over here at Helen Of Troy... and consequently believe the wondrous woman can do no wrong – not even by ditching her glorious guitar to produce a piano-based album full of bewitching ballads. She's proved herself an immense and unique talent over the years; transcending genres and stereotypes to become one of the most consistently interesting artists of all time.

3. Hole
Third place was a close call, but we finally decided it should go to Courtney and friends for the sheer impact they had upon the rock world back in the early 90s. They may not be the most prolific of bands, but what they lack in albums they more than made up for in attitude and accolades.

Time to let us know who your top three are. Comment away!

New Music: Ladyhawke

No, not the 1985 fantasy film starring Michelle Pfeiffer, but the up-and-coming retro-chic poptart, Pip Brown. The Modular-signed London-based Kiwi cites Blondie, Patti Smith and Stevie Nicks as musical influences, the later being the most obvious in her panoply of glittering musical offerings. With this in mind, it’s worth noting that Brown still manages to sound fresh and relevant, proffering a mix of 80s-influenced electro-tinged beats complete with funk-laden pop sensibilities. Latest single Dusk Til Dawn is the subtlest and sparsest contribution to date, but as is so often the case with Brown, less is definitely more. In other words this is evocative, melodic pop at it's electro-retro best.

Ladyhawke's eponymous début album is released on Monday 22nd September and includes recent singles Back of The Van and Paris Is Burning. You can catch Ladyhawke live on the 5th of October at Roadhouse, Central Manchester. Tickets cost £7.50 excluding fees.

http://www.ladyhawkemusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/ladyhawkerock