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.}

I can be a frog - The Flaming Lips

Sometimes, indie = cutesy can be so reductive, but I’m totally in love with the Lips’ new video for I can be a frog. Everything just fits together so perfectly: Wayne’s narrating, Karen O’s sound effects, the girl in bikinis goofing around. I gave the new album, Embryonic, one run around the stadium and this was one of my favourite tracks (Karen O is also on another of my favourite track, Watching the planets, with decidedly a lot less growling). It’s going to take more than one run to determine the double-album’s worth. As usual, the Lips have some pretty trippy tracks, but it is a bit all over the place. That’s not to deter Lips’ fans though, and really, at this point in their career, is there anything that could deter Lips’ fans?