02. I found a reason (Velvet Underground cover) - Cat Power (The Covers Record, 2000)

I wrote this a while ago when I made a list of best songs in 2000s:

“It occurred to me that Chan Marshall a.k.a. Cat Power could sing about reading Archie comics in the toilet and it could be the deepest and possibly saddest song ever. So few of her contemporaries can round out and explore various shades of human emotions with the ease she possesses in her vocal box and delivery.”

Chan is love. Obviously, with her being this high on the list, there really are very few other singers whose voice could do to me what Chan’s could. She’s my broken heart girl, along with my #1. Her songs? Her songs. Hers, but also mine. That’s what it feels like. I’ve lived through her.

The Greatest

Naked if I want to (starts singing @3:26)

Wonderwall (Oasis cover)

Rockets

Maybe not

King Rides By

Good Woman

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{My 50 ALL-TIME FAVOURITE FEMALE VOCALISTS list continues (tagged Female Vocalists)! The criteria are simple: they are female of the species, I love their voice, and they have attempted to sing in English at one point in their career. The present list is focused mostly on the quality/uniqueness of their tone (voice box), and their ability to emote the hell out of the songs.}

03. Now’s the only time I know - Fever Ray (Karin Dreijer-Andersson; Fever Ray, 2009)

We’re entering my top 3 female vocalists of all time. Naturally, this means it’s time to get haunted. These are the voices that drown a thousand blue days. It’s true, I get the blues, too.

Up first is Karin Dreijer-Andersson, also known as Fever Ray and one half of the Swedish electronica powerhouse, The Knife. If my life was a movie, I’d want Karin to sing on the soundtrack, especially the part where it gets Blue Velvet-esque. She can narrate my dreams, my torrid, bloody dreams, in muted colours and slow motion. Her male alter-ego voice can be my animus. She’d envelope me with that tearful, wise, yet distinctly pouty sound emanating from somewhere deep in space - between my ears or above my head. I can then dance until I lay down.

As Fever Ray: Keep the streets empty for me (Fever Ray, 2009)

With The Knife:  Heartbeats (Deep Cuts, 2003)

Pass this on (Deep Cuts, 2003)

Marble House (Silent Shout, 2006)

With Röyksopp: This must be it (Junior, 2009)

{My 50 ALL-TIME FAVOURITE FEMALE VOCALISTS list continues (tagged Female Vocalists)! The criteria are simple: they are female of the species, I love their voice, and they have attempted to sing in English at one point in their career. The present list is focused mostly on the quality/uniqueness of their tone (voice box), and their ability to emote the hell out of the songs.}

04. Hombre - M.I.A. (Arular, 2005)

In addition to her immense talent as an all-around artist, M.I.A. has the kind of sensual voice that’s meant to paint pretty pop songs. Yet, she opts to rap over heavy beats and distorted sounds instead. A loss for pop is a gain for rap, where too few female singers make the cut above ground. Her unique voice box gives her the edge over other rappers, as she retains a melody to her rapping that others often lose in the rapid fire spitting game. Her in-your-face attitude lends a certain tigress quality to her delivery: feisty, sexy, and at the odd times, even playful. I love Nicki Minaj, but nobody got miss Maya beat on this playground. Best voice in the genre, hands down.

Here she is, at the two ends of her sexiness:

{My 50 ALL-TIME FAVOURITE FEMALE VOCALISTS list continues (tagged Female Vocalists)! The criteria are simple: they are female of the species, I love their voice, and they have attempted to sing in English at one point in their career. The present list is focused mostly on the quality/uniqueness of their tone (voice box), and their ability to emote the hell out of the songs.}

05. Isis - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Karen O; Isis, 2007)

Karen O benefits greatly from her band’s (and solo) amazing catalog. However, it is her versatility that lands her in the top 5. She could do it all, from sweetness to hotness to rock goddess. Her vocal performances are raw AND pretty. The quality of her voice can go to a whisper sometimes, but the honey is sweet even when it isn’t thick. Here’s what I wrote of Karen some years ago, and it bears repeating since I feel the same way about her singular pipe: “It could be the taunts. It could be the constant breathing. It could be the pulsating music. It could be the primal, quivering voice. But I think I just had my la petite mort.”

In the name of versatility: Oh so pretty …

(the cool kids, they belong together)

… somewhere in between …

… oh so deadly…

… and then there’s this.

{My 50 ALL-TIME FAVOURITE FEMALE VOCALISTS list continues (tagged Female Vocalists)! The criteria are simple: they are female of the species, I love their voice, and they have attempted to sing in English at one point in their career. The present list is focused mostly on the quality/uniqueness of their tone (voice box), and their ability to emote the hell out of the songs.}

06. In the dark - Nina Simone (Nina Simone sings the blues, 1967)

This woman was a tour de force package - she composed and arranged music, played the piano like nobody’s business, and sang raw, intensely erotic jazz with such ease and class. I love her bluesy voice with every electron in my body and wouldn’t mind having a little Simone any time of the day - from cheerful self-affirming, booblies-checking in the morning …

… to wistful yearning in the afternoon …

… to stormy evening …

… and the band (her majesty) picks up …

… and we get a little bold …

… to that time when all you can do is wait …

… and then, it was gone.

:heart:

{My 50 ALL-TIME FAVOURITE FEMALE VOCALISTS list continues (tagged Female Vocalists)! The criteria are simple: they are female of the species, I love their voice, and they have attempted to sing in English at one point in their career. The present list is focused mostly on the quality/uniqueness of their tone (voice box), and their ability to emote the hell out of the songs.}