Shilpa Ray has been one of my favorite artists since I’ve discovered her music a couple of years back. I used to curate songs for fellow music service A Song A Day, and send out five songs a week for about three years. During this time I’ve probably listened to the more new and undiscovered artists than I ever have an ever will. Anyhow - Shilpa Ray had me hooked from the start.
Last year she released her sophomore record, Door Girl, via Brooklyn indie label Northern Spy Records. Instantly it became one of my favorite records of 2017, for it’s diversity and poise. There are songs on it, that are straight up punk. Then there you find wonderful pop melodies reminiscent of the Brill Building music from the 60s. All of the songs come to place in a concise, tight arrangement with wonderful, bitingly witty stories told in the lyrics.
Such a song is “Revelations of a Stamp Monkey”. As many songs on the record, it tells stories about Shilpa’s life as a door girl for bars in New York City. “Pop collar, pop collar, pop collar, muffin top”, the lyrics opening the song, describe the crowds of the people in the lobby, chatting away. Shilpa and New York rapper Skurt Vonnegurt deliver the song with such swagger, it’s hard not to feel instantly drawn to these confident, cool girls. And also, they just tell a fucking story every middle class New Yorker in their 20s can relate to: “My heart went to making the rent.”
I also interviewed Shilpa for A Song A Day - you should check it out over here!
You can learn more about Shilpa Ray here:
About the curator - Julia Maehner
Julia knows two main passions: Music and writing. From an early age she has been making music after a fashion. When she was 13, she sat herself down and decided: “I will be a music journalist. Because I love music and writing.” After a brief intermezzo in New York City working for the music boutique agency Girlie Action as a digital marketer, she moved back to Germany. This experience helped her build her know-how for her marketing client, the IT company .objective Software. She still writes for several German music magazines and is working on launching her own blog, amps on ears.
Find out more about Julia and her projects:
- juliamaehner.com
- ampsonears.com (coming soon!)
- objective.de