Female Singer/Songwriter Thread

[LeapFrog]

[ QUOTE ]
by the way, I've got dibs on PJ Harvey

[/ QUOTE ] I will back off if you can answer which album of hers is the best [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Did anyone check out Patricia Barber?

[daveT]

Sister Bliss

What could be said about a female DJ, songwriter, producer? As half of the brain behind the group Faithless, her influence in the dance scene begins in the 1980s, and continues to this day. With the hit "Insomnia," Faithless helped bring dance into the mainstream.

Sister Bliss (real name Ayalah Bentovim) is the main songwriter behind Faithless. She is trained in the Saxophone, Violin, Piano, and Bass. Faithless albums cover a wide swath of genres, from rap (mostly sung by Maxi Jazz), Pop (many with Dido), and dance. For people who love eclecticism, this band offers a great combination on every album.

Discography:

# Reverence (April 1996) #63: The original classic featuring Insomnia.

Sunday 8PM (18 September 1998): An outright awesome album, featuring "God is a DJ" (electric rap/dance) and "Why Go" (a good vocal song).

Outrospective: Sister Bliss can be found singing on a song called "Crazy English Summer," a creative opera style song using digital and crickets.

No Roots: This album hit #1 in the UK. I can't remember anything about this album.

wiki on Bliss

wiki on faithless : has samples of "God is a DJ" and "Insomnia.

myspace for faithless : with songs

[Fishwhenican]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I really like Brandi Carlile's voice, she's kinda country but with a raspy rock edge.

Here's a Youtube link to her song The Story. I think it's good.



[/ QUOTE ]

I like this! Thanks for turning me on to someone new.

edited to add another song - this girl is terrific:

Fall Apart Again

[/ QUOTE ]

I really like this as well!!!
Great Stuff.

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
by the way, I've got dibs on PJ Harvey

[/ QUOTE ] I will back off if you can answer which album of hers is the best [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]



[/ QUOTE ]

trick question: they're all great

[LeapFrog]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
by the way, I've got dibs on PJ Harvey

[/ QUOTE ] I will back off if you can answer which album of hers is the best [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]


[/ QUOTE ]

trick question: they're all great

[/ QUOTE ]

Alright you win [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Guessing you would do a better writeup then I anyway.

[Roy Munson]

Over the last 13 years Marilyn Manson has been prolific. She has released 10 albums that are unlike much of the music of current and past female singer songwriters.

In addition to music, she has also acted and painted.

[daveT]

^actually, my next post is going to debunk this claim. Sorry. In fact, the singer/songwriter was once friends with Manson while he was in Florida, and got much of his showmanship from her.

/teaser.

[odellthurman]

I mentioned Mary Gauthier before in an El Diablo Forum thread. Here is the allmusic.com summary - http://wc08.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?...vfqxqtjldae~T1 - If I knew how to assign names to links, I would be a better poster.

As I mentioned when discussing Lucinda Williams, I like singers who are real and raw. Someone else in this thread complained about singers being off key - - Although I also enjoy natural, pure singers, I really look more for heart and guts. Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash are good male examples.

Gauthier has battled a drug/drinking problem and served time in prison. In my opinion, that type of background is usually indicative of a good singer/songwriter.

Here is a link to a very long interview of Mary Gauthier: http://www.puremusic.com/maryg1.html

Link to "Mercy Now", with images of the New Orleans disaster in the background - http://youtube.com/watch?v=TC_EGcswWaw A wonderful song that is appropriately coupled with one of the worst, continuing tragedies in American history.

Here is a live version of "I Drink" - http://youtube.com/watch?v=7m-vSBcMEkg

Some very good, simple lyrics in the chorus to "I Drink":

Fish swim
Birds fly
Daddies yell
Mamas cry
Old men
Sit and think
I drink

Gauthier is a great songwriter. The interview I linked mentioned her opening on a tour for John Prine, who is an unbelievable songwriter. I am using that as an excuse to mention one of my favorite two lines in any song - "Sam Stone" by John Prine:

There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.

Here is a link to Prine singing "Sam Stone" - http://youtube.com/watch?v=5OwEyXFhZ9g

If you want to get one CD as an introduction to Mary Gauthier, go with Mercy Now.

[daveT]

How to assign name to links:

Step 1: press reply
Step 2: Copy URL
Step 3: Go to URL box in Reply screen
Step 4: Paste URL in box and press ok
Step 5: Type link name in box and press ok

[MrWookie]

Odell,

I'm the guy who's the pitch nazi. IMO, Maintaining an edgy, rough, unpolished sound is an entirely different set of skills from staying on pitch. Take, for example, Louis Armstrong. You can't tell me his singing was neat, clean, or polished, but he was always dead on pitch. In the theme of this thread, consider Janis Joplin, too. Even when she was drunk off her ass and wailing at the peaks of her songs, she would have better note placement and pitch than Fiona Apple or a few of the other artists you've brought up. I'm not expecting opera-style singing from anyone in this thread outside of Brightman, but for me, staying on pitch is a fundamental of good singing that's essential. I love all sorts of singers who have all manner of colors to the sounds of their voices, but they all stay on the right pitch in the right key.