Culture chat: Sleater-Kinney and where did angry music go?

This week, we talk about the longstanding American rock band Sleater-Kinney and their 11th album, Little Rope, which came out this month. The band rose out of the grunge and riot grrrl movements in the late 1990s with a raw, rage-filled sound and feminist lyrics. And they’re one of the few all-women bands to have had a career this long. How has their sound evolved? And where did the angry countercultural music of the 90s go? Lilah is joined by FT's music critic Arwa Haider and FT Weekend Magazine editor Matt Vella.  

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, where she’s posting a photo of Breen and his burn book. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com.

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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): 

– Little Rope by Sleater Kinney is available everywhere

–Lilah, Matt and Arwa highly recommend the music video for their song ‘Say It Like You Mean It’: https://youtu.be/Vp2z1cL6qoU 

– Here are three of Arwa’s recent reviews: Tate McRae's pop album Think Later: https://on.ft.com/3HyfIxG, Dominique Dalcan's electronic album Last Night a Woman Saved My Life https://on.ft.com/3SuiXwi, Maluma's reggaeton album Don Juan: https://on.ft.com/3SvMCoG 

– Matt Vella is on X @mattvella. Arwa is @ArwaHaider  

More or less: 

– Arwa wants more daytime raves, such as Annie Mac’s Before Midnight Party. The 90s raves she mentioned were Sunny Side Up, Everything But the Girl and Sunday Best

– Matt wants to see more bad fakes, something that helps us improve our deepfake literacy. The FT Magazine article he mentioned by Tim Harford is here: https://on.ft.com/499eKDC 

– Lilah wants to go to more small local music venues. She went to the New York club Blue Note to see jazz singer Samara Joy. Watch out for Lilah’s interview with Samara in HTSI, and an episode with her here, in a few weeks!

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Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Clips courtesy of Loma Vista and Kill Rock Stars. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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