Peaches

Peaches (Merrill Nisker) burst into transcontinental favor with her very particular brand of cocksure rapping and groovebox beats. Indeed, this vulgar Canadian temptress may have come from an underground womb of acoustic folk (Mermaid Café), avant-garde jazz (Fancypants Hoodlum), and deconstructed noise swarms (the S**t), but it wasn't until 2000's new guise that her fearless, apolitical gender play truly raised heads. European trawls unearthed new admirers, and collaborations with the equally lewd Chilly Gonzales certainly fueled the fire for her first solo effort. By the time she signed with Berlin's Kitty-Yo label and unleashed The Teaches of Peaches, her niche had already been carved out. Peaches sounded like a Penthouse Forum together with Grandmaster Flash, Shirley Manson, and Charles Manson — or just Justine Frischmann hitting her sexual peak. Peaches moved to XL, which reissued The Teaches of Peaches in 2002 and released F**********r in 2003 and Impeach My Bush in 2006. For 2009's I Feel Cream, Peaches worked with Simian Mobile Disco and took her sound in a more electronic, eclectic direction.