artists who most deeply touch you

Rasa - Indian influenced, deeply spiritual, beautiful.
Jane Siberry, esp "When I was a boy", would love to hear this on vinyl
Kim Ritchie's new cd (great lyrics, reminds me of Beth Orton, Aimee Man)

Laurie Anderson, Leonard Cohen, Tom Moore, Tori Amos, Daniel Lanois, Emmy Lou Harris's newer cd's, Peter Gabriel, Loreena McKennit, Sequentia, Sheila Chandra, Lisa Gerrard.

Ayub Ogada from Kenya "En Mana Kuoyo",
The Trance Planet Series - 5 cds from Triloka.
Celtic/African fusion - Baka Beyond's "Spirit of the Forest"
Celtic - The Colour of Memory

There is a an African Choral piece - The Misa Luba. I've heard that the cd version is bad but on vinyl it is amazing.

The Beatles, Beethoven

Tom Waits...well, what can you say, the man is a musical genius! A favorite album would be difficult, but if pressed for a desert island disk I'd say Swordfishtrombone. His new ones are wonderful too.

Tori Amos is also a longtime favorite. If you get a chance to see her perform in a good acoustical setting, RUN don't walk to see her play those keyboards and belt out that wonderful poetry! Boys for Pele is a great album!

I just recently saw Patty Griffin in concert and just can't stop listening to two of her three albums. 1000 kisses is probably my favorite and her most recent.

These latter two have a kind of folksy, even country twang to them, so that really rubs you the wrong way, well..your loss.

Gillian Welch, also puts on a brilliant show. Her partner, David Rawlings, is just an amazing guitar player. Her stuff is pretty somber and beautiful, so you've got to be in the mood, but I do love her music.

There are other performers who I do love to listen to, like Eva Cassidy, Holly Cole, Jacintha, Patricia Barber...but many of the tunes these gifted women do sing are covers. Their originals are good too, but when you talk about long-term staying power, I do like the originality of the ones I listed at the top. Good thread.

The Collegium Vocale under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe for their interpretations of the Bach choral works, in particular the Mass in B-Minor, Magnificat and Easter Oratorio. The Collegium Vocale and Herreweghe deliver the goods by combining authentic instrumentation, period-sized forces, fine soloists, stately rhythms (no windshield wiper tempi here) and an etheric choral tone.

I tear up when i listen to Eva Cassidy! no one else has ever done that for me.