Chilly Northern Women / Various

Traditionally, the element of water is associated with female energy. Duluth sits at the tip of Lake Superior with it's 3 quadrillion frigid gallons of the stuff. Perhaps it's all that womanly energy that attracts and inspires the creative women on this compilation. Some were born here, some moved here and some just stop by from Minneapolis & St Paul or Northern Wisconsin to play, but they're all a part of an art scene sprung from extended winters that force residents to be creative or go insane. Like most music scenes, Duluth's has been male-dominated, but that's changing. Just five years ago the northern rock community boasted barely a handful of female performers; now, there are enough to fill an 18-song compilation and still have deserving acts left over. These chilly northern women reflect as many moods as the big lake itself. Jackie and the Ripoffs and the Horribles rage like a November gale, Estate Sale is as cool and dreamy as the lake's surface on a still summer evening, and the Party Store Minnows have a playfulness like that of the waves that tickle the shore on a breezy day. Encompassing punk, rock, country blues, synth pop,and spoken word, the variety of sounds on this album can't be pigeonholed as 'women's music.' It's just music, made by women. Women who know the value of a warm sweater and a sturdy pair of boots. Christine Dean Ripsaw News Music Editor KUMD 103.3 FM Disc Jockey.