"GIRL MONSTER" tells a rich historical story, from the original girl monsters of punk and post punk to contemporary tricksters and electro-rock pranksters... Female heroes of the late 70ies and early 80ies like The Slits, The Raincoats or Malaria! appear alongside contemporary classics like BjA¶rk, Le Tigre, Peaches or Chicks On Speed. But what sets the compilation apart from all the other compilations around the topic of "Women and Music" is that it is not just a collection of what everybody knows already, packaged under the misleading slogan of "Women in Rock", instead this compilation creates a movement of its own, containing 2/3 EXCLUSIVE tracks, showcasing some of the finest (and mostly unreleased) tracks from a worldwide underground network of female musicians, even following in the tracks of some of the classics like Tina Weymouth (Tomtom Club/Talking Heads), Cosey Fanni Tutti (Throbbing Gristle), Siouxsie Sioux (Siouxsie and the Banshees), or Ana Da Sliva (The Raincoats) by featuring their latest productions. This specially priced and packaged 3 CD set contains 60 tracks, (of which 40 exclusively appear on Girl Monster), an 8-page Girl Monster Newspaper with exclusive texts by Lucy O'Brien (author of the classic "She-Bop") and others. Designed by Chicks On Speed and Factor Product. The 3 CD set has a playing time of more than 3A½ hours. Girl Monster was conceived by Alex Murray-Leslie from Chicks on Speed, and realised in conjunction with Anat Ben David and Chicks on Speed Records. Watch out for future volumes.
Review by Heather Phares
Conceived as a mix album tying Chicks on Speed's music to likeminded artists of the past and present, Girl Monster also works as a loving history of underground music made mostly by women from the '70s to the 2000s. This sprawling, three-disc collection spans 61 songs from acts that are too fierce or too weird to conform to the airbrushed, mainstream image of female pop stars, or "fembots," as they're wittily described in "Girl Monster Intro." Since Chicks on Speed's main influences are punk and electronic music, those are the sounds that are most represented on Girl Monster, usually fused together, as on Le Tigre's shout-out track "Hot Topic" and Kevin Blechdom's saucy "Me Saw Me Momma." And while most of the songs here lean toward the energetic and emphatic, there are plenty of quiet, pretty moments, such as Barbara Morgenstern's "Mountain Place," Pam Hogg's "Honeyland," and Hanayo's "Pita Pata" that provide thoughtful respites from the more uptempo tracks. The collection's roster of artists reads like a "who's who" of forward-thinking rock and electronic performers: Hanin Elias, Ana Da Silva, Tina Weymouth, the Slits, Delta 5, Bjork, Liliput, and the Raincoats are just the beginning. However, Girl Monster's most exciting moments come from discovering the "who's that?" artists, and the sheer number of performers represented ends up emphasizing the creative spirit that they have in common. Girl Monster's only flaw, if it can be called that, is that the collection doesn't offer more detailed historical information on the artists included here, especially since enough of these acts -- both historical and current -- might not be well known to even the hippest audiences. However, the essays and photo collages in the liner notes, which include pieces by the Raincoats' Shirley O'Loughlin and Perfect Sound Forever's Jason Gross, evoke the spirit of rebellion, fun, expression, and subversive glamour that the music embodies. Girl Monster celebrates all of these qualities and more; even better, you don't have to be a girl to appreciate how great this collection is.
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