Electronica is not just for ravers anymore. You can hear it at dinner parties, house parties, and at my grandmother's house (yes, she is supportive of my DJ career). You can also hear it in most clothing stores, commercials, and movies. Songs, new and old, are sent through the wringers of the remix studios. How once disco, jazz, and classical artists were once recognizable names, dance producers such as Royksopp, Morcheeba, Everything But The Girl, Mylo, Groove Armada, Crystal Method, Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, and even Paul Oakenfold are now becoming recognizable names and performing in venues usually reserved for rock, country, and top 40 music.
Until now, the dance music community was once dominated by male producers and DJs, but now many women have emerged and made their mark. Twelve of these talented DJ/producer/vocalist females are showcased on the new CD Femmes Fatales. With styles ranging from energetic trance, circuit and progressive house to breaks and drum n bass, the album illustrates the prowess, diversity, and talent they bring to the (turn) table.
Most of the songs on Femmes Fatales are vocal tracks that are not only sung by the artist, but also are self-produced tracks. The album is unmixed, but provides a nice flow between the different genres of music. What surprised me the most is that they constrained the album to current female DJ/producer/vocalists without giving credit to the women that first made their mark on dance music such as Sonique and Robin Fox. One of the older artists on the album, Colette, was featured on this album with a release from her latest artist album release "Hypnotized." Releases in feature films such as American Pie and Hackers 2 landed Jan Johnston in the top 12 to finish the album with the beautiful, loving track, Transparent. One addition to the album that would have set the album apart from other compilations would be if they had one of the stronger female DJs mix the album together. Overall the compilation offers insight to the best tracks from the 12 leading ladies of Electronica. The album also provides short information about these artists plus web information so that listeners/fans can follow up on new releases and developments from these artists.
