Feminist Music Geek

Still from Kylie Minogue's "2 Hearts" music video, directed by Dawn Shadforth; image courtesy of whokilledbambi.co.uk

So, I was trying to build a short blog post around microphones and how female vocalists use them both as props and instruments. The trouble is, I couldn’t find enough interesting examples to go with Kylie Minogue’s rad-if-problematic, potentially Damien Hirst-inspired, diamond-encrusted skull microphone from her “2 Hearts” music video. If you can help me compile a list of artists who use the microphone in spectacular or musically interesting ways, please share!

For now, I’ll focus my attention on Dawn Shadforth, a British filmmaker who directed Minogue’s “2 Hearts“ and ”Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” and tends to work with female solo artists. Shadforth’s interesting artistic background as a sculptor and digital artist informs her style, which often explores tensions between the liberated female body and the rigid choreography she is expected to perform as a music video subject. For more on the director, I highly recommend checking out the episode about her work from the Mirrorball miniseries, which focused on emerging music video directors and ran on Channel 4 in Great Britain during the late 1990s.

What’s more, Shadforth is one of those rare directors who, apart from occasional documentary work, prefers directing music videos and has little interest moving into commercials and features because she likes working with musicians. Given her track record, I’d wager to say that she likes working with female musicians, particularly glamourous pop stars and electronic artists. Click on the names and enjoy, darlings!

Florence + the Machine
“Drumming Song”
Lungs

Goldfrapp
“Number 1″
Supernature

Björk
“Who Is It?”
Medúlla

Eternal
“What’Cha Gonna Do?”
Eternal

Moloko
“Sing It Back”
I Am Not a Doctor

Garbage
“Special”
Version 2.0

Beverley Knight
“Rewind (Find a Way)”
Prodigal Sista