Well, growing up on Trance, women were almost always the vocalists.

Woman trance vocalists: Tiff Lacey, Zoe Johnston, Justine Suissa, Jan Johnston, Jes Brieden, Nadia Ali, Damae, etc.
Male trance vocalists: BT, and I don't know any others.

They suit the music so goddamn well.



But then sometimes I prefer guy vocalists, like with Black Metal and most sad genres that I like. So it all comes down to the genre and how well they fit.

I voted anal beads because none of the options fit me.

I don't hate them. I don't love them. But I DO judge a little bit and for the most part gravitate away from them.

Love female vocalists. Also love female bassists.

Like this girl:



She's amazing.

I think this actually has more to do with me being a guy. If I want to listen to something sad it's usually because I just want something to relate to when I'm in a bad mood. As a guy, I can relate more to guys.

If I just went through a breakup I wouldn't want to listen to some girl telling me how bad it is. I want a guy whose been through that stuff. The only exception I've found so far is Camera Obscura's album My Maudlin Career. I think it would be hard for anyone to not relate to that.

Aaand you to yours, obviously.
Poll? :D

No, it's just the voice.
I should add that I usually don't like the music that accompanies female vocals either, but it's not like I don't want to listen to music written by a woman when it's good music. I often don't even know who writes the music I listen to :)

Errr, no. I won't. But I'll listen to your links soon.
But I agree that girls often sing better, technically. I just don't think it suits the music.
I don't mind someone who can't sing (e.g.: Neil Young) as long as the voice suits the music.

i find that the general content that women sing about doesnt jive with my tastes (most of the woman singers i've heard are pop artists). However, I won't avoid a woman singer unless i dont like what she sounds like/sings about. i think that women and men have inherently different tastes in music (to some degree) so it is just natural that men end up listening to more male singers and women end up listening to more female singers. I dont really know enough to be sure, that's just my hypothesis.

Yeah you're fairly spot on with that one, Albums like Beck's Sea Change or Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago are albums I would probably go for but My Maudlin Career is a very rare example of a female heartbreak album done properly and that I can relate to.

That is 100% tripe.

Ahh yes, good point! I thought of that a little bit after I posted it. Like I wonder if there's guys, who after a break up, would listen to something like Teardrops on My Guitar. I'd probably listen to some Hanging Garden, but I doubt many other people would. I just don't know why! I guess it's just that if I want sad, I want sad.

I don't really care if the singer's female of not. If the music and her voice are good, then it doesn't really matter all that much to me. I do tend to gravitate toward bands with male singers/male solo artists, though.

Also, where the hell did this "anal beads" thing come from?

Everything needs anal beads.

I used to dislike female singers (back in the dark ages of high school), but now I feel the same as Sushi up there

It's something an older member, dirt_mcgirt, used to do.

I don't think that's true. I actually have a lot more male vocalists in my library.

As far as the way I voted. I think talent is subjective, one person's talent (as a technical skill) is another persons overindulgent wankery. So I tend to judge not so much on talent, I do take it into consideration but it's taste and creativity that counts, how well they can put a song together that I can enjoy. Like say someone thinks if a women bass player doesn't play like Les Claypool she can't play - no way I have to like what she's doing, whether she's Freddy Feedback or Gail Ann Dorsey. When I do like them I do tend think they're great.

I don't see a gender gap where women lag behind men in creativity or taste in music. I am of the opinion that women can do anything they want in music, singing or playing an instrument. For the most part I think less is more and when singing. There are a lot of singers who over do it, and even women singers. And maybe that is what they are complaining about, not necessarily that women can't sing (talent-wise) but it's not to their liking.

There are a million of examples of songs and videos, I wanted different styles in muisc. I just thought the first song was ok thinking it was someone else who wrote the music, but when I found out besides singing Enya arrange and compose her songs, then I began to appreciate it more. Tracy has a great voice and delivery, she a million times more talented than John Mayer. And there really no need to say Lez Zep rocks just as hard as the original.

Yes, men do dominate rock, but it makes those women who are actually in good rock/metal bands gems, in my opinion. Men are more dominant in the entire music scene, which is a shame, but that doesn't mean I'm going to constantly search for female musicians I might like. I search for musicians I can connect with. It shouldn't be limited to that, either. I find that I still revisit an album if I don't really like it at first - you know, opening to new experiences and such. Enough talking though:


Cheshire Agusta of Stinking Lizaveta


Laura Pleasants of Kylesa

I stumbled upon this cover while searching for a video. I saw them last year, but they definitely did not do this. This might be one of the best Floyd covers I've heard. ****ing kudos.


And of course, the lovely Carla Kihlsted from Tin Hat and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. She's in a few other bands and does some solo stuff, too. I'm only familiar with these two bands, though. I saw her in Columbia, SC with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum performing while 6 months pregnant. :bowdown:

I love female singers, without a doubt they add something to music that male singers just can't bring. I've always been fond of dual male, female vocals though, I think the combination is something I've always enjoyed. Need to get some more :)

I also love female singers, I don't really understand why so many people don't like female singers, pretty much all of my favorite bands have women members/women singers.

Definitely! You ever listen to Black Mountain? They are a great combo on the vocals.

Carla Kihlsted is a fucking genius imo. Not only are Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Tin Hat absolutely amazing, but Book of Knots is even better than both.

I can't understand why anybody would only like male vocalists (let alone only males "in bands" - wtf?). It makes no sense at all.

I think it really depends on the music. like if a dude or lou reed sang this song it owuld sound like a really lame campfire song.



but like in this istance the girl form throwing muses chiming in around 1:30 is really lame

Aaaand I'm adding another to my list. Have you ever seen her perform live? If not, I recommend SGM if they're still playing together. She's amazing, but the whole band was just perfect.

Yeah, I saw SMG several years ago. Great show, and she was amazing. As was everyone in the band honestly.

Haha, yes they were. I bought a DVD from them with my last 5 bucks at the time and it turns out to be some really ****ing strange homemade DVD by one of the band member's relatives. I still have not made it through the entire thing.

I don't immediatly dislike females in bands, it's just that it is very rare for me to get into it. There are many songs that I have started to like, but all of sudden, there are female vocals that just ruin the song for me. I'm sure there are great female vocalists, just haven't heard one that appeals to me yet. Although to be fair, the first thing that buts me off of a band is the vocals, male or female, which is why I prefer instrumental music.


I do ****ing love this song though...

One thing that puts me off female vocalists is the sort of vocal wankery that was popularised where they carry a note through a warbling look-how-good-I-am-I-can-carry-a-note-up-and-back-through-a-few-octaves. I'd much rather someone sing less proficiently but more honestly. Something like Vashti Bunyan. It has an uber-woosery that would normally put me off but there is an honesty that makes it somehow forgivable. I'm not saying that I immediately discount any music fronted by women, just that going through my all time favourites women rarely make the cut.

Just for the sake of quantification I looked through my iTunes collection to work out how many female vocalists I had. Out of 428 bands/artists I found these featuring female vocals and the first on the list I can't stand. I like Angus but Julia sucks IMO.

Angus and Julia Stone
<Edit> Bat For Lashes
Bessie Smith
Beth Orton
Björk
Carole King
Cat Power
Concrete Blonde
Dame Joan Sutherland
Dark Arts
Dead Can Dance
Deee-Lite
Diana Krall
Dido
Etta James
Eva Cassidy
George
Heart
Incognito
Kate Bush
Lamb
Laurie Anderson
Lucinda Williams
Nico
Norah Jones
PJ Harvey
Portishead
Rickie Lee Jones
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Sneaker Pimps
The Audreys
The Brand New Heavies
This Mortal Coil
Vashti Bunyan
Voo-Doo Church

Well, i didn't mean everyone, and I didnt mean that men only listen to men and that women only listen to women. i just think that the ratio of female vocalists to male vocalists is probably higher (not necessarily by a lot) in your average woman music listeners discography. I'm probably wrong though seeing as my ideas are pure "tripe".

Heh, I never said your statement was tripe, I think someone else did! Anyways, yeah that makes sense but I guess it's not always the case.

I have a deep appreciation for woman in music. I think in a world dominated by male supremacy, it is good to see Jonis Joplin, Courtney Love, Joan Jett, Mia Zapata, Wendy O. Williams, Poly Styrene (rock in peace), Exene Cervenka and others like that come along and kick the sexism right in the guts and spit in its face.

Do I care about Lindsay Lohan, Katie Perry and all that disposible stuff though, naw. Not my thing...

Preach!

Thanks!

All I could have said was:


"Got so much clit she don't need no balls"

But that alone would not have said enough... but close to it.

But in reality, I always liked to see females in rock especially, showing they could rock just as hard as the men. I think it was "American Hardcore" documentary where it was commented on it, that women in the punk scene were around, but always worked behind the scene, they were the ones making the posters, doing the promotion and working the doors and merch stands... so to see them out of the shadows and into the light is amazing.

I was discussing with someone the other day why I love Courtney Love for example... while first things first, she is batsh*t crazy.... I will not deny that. But at the same time she was also intelligent, outspoken and not afraid to start things with people. So people wanna judge her and put her down... which I think is more due to the fact that in the eyes of many men, this is not "acceptable" behavior for a female, to this day sexism still exists and women are just expected to sit down and shut up and be servants... So when you get somebody like Courtney who goes against societies view of how a female should be, they all of a sudden do everything to reduce her to nothing and put her down for being strong and intelligent.

So what I am saying is, I like females who come out and go against the grain of what is expected of them in society and rock hard. It is refreshing to see, and makes me fall in love with them and their spirit and being.

Wendy O. Williams, Lydia Lunch, Courtney Love and others embody this perfectly to me and make me happy to see that strong, intelligent, no bullsh*t females can come out and do what they want and do it better than many men. That to me is female liberation in its truest form.

in bold are some of my faves, though I have to say This Mortal Coil's not a permanent band, it's a 4AD supergroup and some songs have male vocalists

Yeah maybe I should have said bands that feature female vocals. ie. Dead Can Dance who also contributed to This Mortal Coil share vocals between Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry.

Anal beads are getting really old around here, pollstarters are going to have to change it up, maybe something non anal...

10,000 maniacs, New Bohemians and Black Hearts were/are all good.

L7 is pretty good also. Can't stand Hole.

Your mom disagrees.

I agree with some of the names put up here and there are obviously plenty of others. There is a reason some male songwriters like female singers singing their songs, Burt Bacharach liked Dionne Warwick singing his songs for example. It's like some film directors seem to have had female actresses as their 'muse' as well. Some things just require a different kind of expression. Imagine some songs made famous by female singers, it wouldn't have the same kind of heightened expression if a male singer had sung it.