Female Singer/Songwriter Thread

[daveT]

Crushing Velvet

A Los Angeles underground band. I saw them once in concert, and they rocked. Their style is best described as dark and heavy, but fluid.

It is a mystery why they aren't signed on a label, but their music can be found on dozens of TV show and movie soundtracks.

myspace

The only pick I could find. yuk.

[Kimbell175113]

Laura Veirs



Remember the girl singing with Colin Meloy on The Decemberists' "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)"? Yeah, that was Laura Veirs. Turns out she's a fine solo artist, and has a few solid albums of her own.

myspace page with songs
def listen to "Pink Light" and "Don't Lose Yourself," both from her newest album Saltbreakers (which is also the name of her backing band that is in the pic above)

I'm never good at describing music: her songs are indie-ish folk-ish pop, nothing crazy. Generally mellow stuff even in its most catchy moments. Something about Veirs' voice is irresistible to me, though, and thankfully she can write, as well.

[Kimbell175113]

Dom and others,

have you checked out Neko Case's website? it is A++

lololol

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
Dom and others,

have you checked out Neko Case's website? it is A++

lololol

[/ QUOTE ]

that's great...I subscribed to her newsletter in the faint hope my email address might stir feelings of longing in her.

[TiK]

Wow, I need to start visiting this section of 2+2 more often. Great post Kimbell. I too find that I gravitate towards women singer/songwriters more than men. I think it's the fact that when I hear someone sing, I picture them singing for me, and it's easier (and more of a turn-on) to imagine a woman singing to me than a man.

Anyway, lots of great artists listed so far, many of whom I love. I'll just add my commentary for those already mentioned:

Björk - Just fantastic. As others have noted, definitely can't "get" her from just listening to one or two songs. For those of you who enjoyed her solo stuff, I also recommend her stuff when she was with the Sugarcubes. This stuff is a lot more poppy, but in a quirky good way that only Björk can pull off. It's great stuff.

Hit
Birthday God I love when she wails.
Motorcrash

Lucinda Williams - Funny story. I was recently at a Magnolia Electric Company concert in NYC, which happened to be on the same night as Lucinda Williams' concert at Irving Plaza. In the middle of the show, Jason Molina says to the crowd: "I'm missing Lucinda for you [censored]." (censored word rhymes with suckers and starts with "f") at which point pretty much the entire crowd shouts back, "me too!" Pretty funny. I wish I could've caught both concerts though. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Fiona Apple - It's already been mentioned but the leaked unofficial version of Extraordinary Machine is much much better than the offical release. Try to get your hands on it if you can.

Gillian Welch - Another one who I love. Definitely worth a listen.

Tori Amos - As others have already noted, she is fantastic in concert. Definitely one of the most intense concerts I've ever been to. This was at Ithaca College circa 1998. I too stopped paying attention to her new releases over the years and recently bought a few of her recent albums after hearing one of her new songs on the radio that caught my ear. She seems to be trucking along at a fairly good clip.

Chrissy Hynde - I absolutely love that smooth buttery voice of hers.

PJ Harvey - God, I love this woman, so damn sexy. Dominic noted that she is "the coolest chick in rock, period," and he's 100% correct. She isn't the best looking girl in the world, but definitely can vie for the title of "sexiest."


Neko Case
Etta James
Aimee Mann

I will add one or two of my favorites later, when I'm no longer at work and have some time (and if they haven't yet been mentioned). The fact that I didn't comment on a few of the above artists doesn't make then any less good than those of whom I did comment on.

[Kimbell175113]

TiK,

welcome, we're glad to have ya. Anyone who types the ö in Björk is okay in my book.

[daveT]

Tegan and Sara

Twin sisters born in Calgary, Canada. They started at a young age, performing in Garage Warz, a battle of the bands show. Both lesbian, their songs are playful, talking about the quirks of love and relationships, thus little of their audience is male.

From what I have heard of their older albums, they sound like they were produced in thier bed-room. Not quite true, as they produced their own records at school. Their current album is called "The Con," produced by Cris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie).

"The Con" sounds slick, well produced, with a punky edge. "The Con" is best listened to on endless repeat. Every song on this album is solid.

Tegan and Sara's songs defy conventional category. Some songs are sung solo, and other are sung duet style. Tegan delivers her lyrics in a militaristic banter, while Sara coos in the background. Their general agreement is that who ever writes the song gets to be the primary singer.

They are gaining noteriety and attention. Big magazines, from Spin to Rolling Stone, are writing a stream of shining articles on this duo, and their albums constantly end up at the top of the "best of the year" lists. For me, "The Con" is the best album of 2007.

myspace

They have some stuff on youtube, but I don't think any of it is good.

[Notfunny1]

Leona Naess

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leona_Naess

Leona Naess - Calling

Leona Naess - Ballerina

[Kimbell175113]

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Tegan & Sara

daveT, re: their older albums: listen to So Jealous, if nothing else. It was really when the better production value started, and it includes some gems ("Walking with a Ghost" which you've probably heard, and "You Wouldn't Like Me" which is my favorite by far)

Also, there exists an album called Songs for Christoff, which is not an official release of theirs but a fan-made compilation of bootlegs. Anyway, it includes a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" which, when performed by T&S, is basically the catchiest thing you'll ever hear. edit: not that there's anything wrong with the original

[unspider]

I wholeheartedly agree with these posts. I happen to like So Jealous most of all - I can put that and If It Was You on and not have to skip a track.

The Con has to grow on me some more, but some songs, like "Call It Off" are fantastic.


And absolutely try to catch them live; they sound good but their back and forth between songs is priceless.