Most unusual/mesmerizing female voice.
Unique female voices always get my attention. Some modern finds..... Yukimi Nagano of the Swedish band Little Dragon. A great sample here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcP5ivpLbCM She is just as good live. Little Dragon is great actually. Yukimi lends her voice to a few other projects and jazz bands as well, including Koop and Sleep Walker Another very unique and new to me performer, is Elsieanne Caplette of Elsiane. http://www.myspace.com/elsiane Cool thread. I will check out the other suggestions. |
My personal favorite is Sarah Vaughn, the great contralto. She is both unusual and at her best mesmerizing. While Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzsgerald, both contemporaries get more of the accolades I feel there is more emotion in her performances simply because of her vocal range which is the greatest among jazz singers. Her pitch is absolutely perfect and she can get into the bass range of male singers which is most unusual among female vocalists. While her voice got deeper as she got older she never lost the emotion she could evoke in her performances. Billie Holiday I feel is a favorite because of her vulnerability which the Divine One didn't convey to the same degree and is therefore more appealing to more. I get that for sure. I am really surprised she hasn't been mentioned till now. I'm sorry, but some of the above choices are real lightweights in comparison. Check out Sarah Vaughn. |
If you like Mazzy Star, check out Trespassers William (Anna-Lynne Williams/Lotte Kestner), and Lori Carson (Golden Palominos) |
thx for the heads up Jax. good stuff. i've been liking ms sandoval for many years now. enjoyed her in mazzy starr then later... jesus and mary chain. her more recent work with massive attack is really good too imho. not sure her current band, "the warm intentions" is my cup-o-tea but the older stuff mentioned above still makes the hair on my neck stand up. technically, she's not in the same league as many others mentioned in this thread. but if "haunting" and "mesmerizing" are the mark.....she's a contendert. hot as hell too! =). |
Levy03 - I share the same high opinion you have of her work with Mazzy Star. That music though requires, for me, that I be in a certain mood or it can be really depressing. In the right mood, I really love it. Absolutely it is mesmerizing and trance like. I also agree on her latest project with "the warm intentions" - I was disappointed by that effort. Agree on the heat level. Lori Carson is quite beautiful as well. I'd qualify the recommendations above: For Trespassers William, the out of print, "Anchor", which is an outstanding debut (hope they put it back in print so others can enjoy it without paying the $ it's now fetching), and "Different Stars" would be my strong preference over their recent effort. For Lori Carson, again, earlier work seems to connect with me more strongly; Golden Palominos "Pure" and "This is how it Feels", and Lori Carson's solo album, "Everything I Touch Runs Wild". |
Jimmdavis - thanks for Lemonflower - I ordered her CD on CDBaby (backordered there) after listening to a few of her cuts on YouTube. Beautiful voice..just lovely. If you like her then definitely try Emily Barker - "Despite the Snow" is her CD ...just gorgeous! Here's a link for her song, "Nostalgia" (the video sucks ain't great, but it's the better of the versions for the audio that I could find). Oh, and Lhasa is a great recommendation too. |
Wow, a 3-year-old thread reviewed. A lot of talented names mentioned in the thread, but I feel that the type of voice like Mazzy Star, Hope Sandoval, or Laura Viers are not really unusual anymore. You could also mention Feist, and Tracey Thorn in the same category, and I'm sure a host of others that came after. All great singers, but not in a category that could be called their own. The singer that has always been in a category of her own is Kate Bush, mentioned by Audiofeil, who is absolutely both unusual and mesmerizing. There has never been (and I'd go as far as to say there will never be) a voice that could be mistaken for hers. And her song-writing talent simply dwarfs any female singer out there. Here are links to three of her songs from three different albums that should leave anyone with a heart beat mesmerized, if not incapacitated. And arrangements to die for. I recommend listening through a set of earphones. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSCQPSrlNbk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YV4L-GT6oQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHIWyj2Bsa8 |
How about Ema Sumac, the "Peruvian Princess" who's heyday was primarily in the 50's when she was an international star with a 4-5 octave range. Whether you consider her voice mesmerizing or not, she is/was to her many fans. One thing for sure though her unique voice has got to rank up there with anyone in the unusual category. Then you factor in her beauty which makes watching her, whether a fan or not, much easier. |
