Peaches

Merrill Nisker, known professionally as Peaches, first attracted widespread notice across multiple continents through her signature mix of assertive rapping and groovebox rhythms. Her early work emerged from an underground milieu that encompassed acoustic folk with Mermaid Café, avant-garde jazz under the name Fancypants Hoolum, and raw, fragmented noise as part of the Shit. Yet it was the bold, politically charged gender explorations of 2000 that finally drew broader attention. Performances throughout Europe helped build an audience, and joint projects with the equally provocative Chilly Gonzales added momentum to her debut solo recording. After signing with Berlin’s Kitty-Yo imprint and issuing The Teaches of Peaches, she had already defined her territory as a fusion of Penthouse Forum with Grandmaster Flash, Shirley Manson, and Charles Manson.

She later joined XL, which re-released The Teaches of Peaches in 2002 before putting out Fatherfucker in 2003 and Impeach My Bush in 2006. On the 2009 album I Feel Cream she enlisted Simian Mobile Disco, steering her music toward a more varied, electronically driven palette. Nisker then stepped away from recording for an extended stretch, instead mounting a one-woman staging of Jesus Christ Superstar that she called Peaches Christ Superstar. Further ventures included the self-referential rock opera Peaches Does Herself, which traced her ascent, and the book What Else Is in the Teaches of Peaches, which chronicled her activities between releases. She eventually returned to the studio with longtime producer Vice Cooler and guests such as Kim Gordon, Feist, and Simonne Jones, resulting in the 2015 album Rub that captured shifts in dance and hip-hop since her prior work.