Sometimes it takes a little while to warm to a singer's voice. For example:
Bob Dylan - The classic. So many people can't get over his voice; they see it as an obstacle to overcome, in order to get to the music. I actually love it - even the weird "lay lady lay" variant.
Neil Young - Sounds a little bit like Kermit the frog but his voice adds so much emotion to the songs.
Kate Bush - I can remember hating her voice when I first heard it; I thought it sounded so over the top. Now I think it's brill.
Ben Kweller - It took me a while to get into his music because it sounded to me like he was putting on that singing voice. I'm used to his voice now, and I think he's pretty genuine.
Joanna Newsom - Sort of sounds like she could be deaf, or a bit special, if you know what I mean. Her odd voice adds an interesting texture to her music (which is already interesting enough).
Anyone that's a little bit country.
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7 comments:
Oh, and Bjork.
I reckon Billie Holiday can take a bit of getting used to- especially if you've listened to the smoothness of Ella Fitzgerald. Billi, even when she was young sounded like an old woman- kind of like Fred Astaire always looked like an old man.
But, oh, the emotion. In my mind, Billie is Nirvana and Ella is Pearl Jam. Billie's not technically brilliant but has heart!
I am still to acquire the taste for some of those old man singers like Fred Astaire, Al Jolson etc.
But I don't mind a bit of Billie.
Your comment reminded me of another: Eddie Vedder.
Oh geez. Joanna Newsom. Her voice is like a cow with adenoids being slowly murdered by Tinkerbell in a hurricane and some other unpleasant things argh horrible.
Dylan and Billie Holliday, however, I love. Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris also have unconventional voices that are still compelling and soulful.
Who's that guy from the Decemberists that sounds like a donkey? But in kind of a good way?
I never thought of the donkey comparison! I think I can hear what you mean. In a good way.
Tom Waits, of course.
And in my opinion, early Paul Weller. He put the B in British more than most of us are used to.
Ah yes... and speaking about putting the B in British - what about Billy Bragg?
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