Female Genius FeMaLe GeNiuS

Julie Hair and Marnie Jaffe blasted out of the Lower East Side underground rock scene of the 1980s and are still creating. Julie’s experience in the legendary art-rock band 3 Teens Kill 4 and Marnie’s Live Skull footprint inform their musicality. (The video for “Madeline” features deep-fake versions of the two when they were in their twenties lipsynching to the song.) The trio of multi-instrumentalists Julie Hair, Marnie Jaffe, and Nikki D’Agostino. With their unique arrangements; minimal, vocal-driven music; and bass loops layered with harmonies, keyboards, percussion and sax; they seem to have found the sonic equivalent of “outsider art.” Nikki D’Agostino, an avant-garde composer who teaches music technology at CUNY City Tech, moved from being a fan to an integral member of the group. Her free improv, skronk, and lyrical sax lines add gravitas to the electric and effected instrumentation. Experienced performers, they are at home playing in an art gallery, nightclub, or someone’s home. The lyrics speak to personal politics and authentic experiences. Musical virtuosity is not the endgame. If one were to try to assign FeMaLe GEniUs a genre, music-writer Kyle Gann’s view of what he describes as “post-minimalism (a pulsing, droning, hypnotic non-traditional tonality)” might be most analogous.