Added by DrStrangeblog on 19 Dec 2012 09:21

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Favorite Female Vocalists Of (Un)Popular Music

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Rating: List Type:

Toni Halliday

(Curve, Chatelaine)

Sexiest.
Voice.
Ever.

tinysong.com/19XIr

8.6

Elizabeth Fraser

(Cocteau Twins)

"The voice of God," is how one prominent critic famously described her gorgeous ethereal, unintelligible ululations.

tinysong.com/180mz

Harriet Wheeler

(The Sundays)

My idea of Heaven contains an angelic choir made up of Harriets.

tinysong.com/19XIH

7.2

Lush

Miki Berenyi

Spectacularly mixes the dreamy and the spooky.

tinysong.com/KMl6

8.8

Juliana Hatfield

(solo, Blake Babies, Some Girls, Lemonheads)

An indie darling for 20 years and counting, her distinctive girlish pitch lends extra bite to her sharp lyrics.

tinysong.com/Kkkr

7.2

Fiona Apple

Alluringly smokey vocals betray bitter wisdom beyond her years.

tinysong.com/JP42

6.6

Cowboy Junkies

Margo Timmins

Misery never sounded so appealing.

tinysong.com/15mg6

Jodi Phillis

(solo, Clouds, Girls From The Clouds, Roger Loves Betty)

Power and pitch-perfect refinement all mixed into one sublime projection.

tinysong.com/19XOi

Stacy Dupree

(Eisley, Sucre)

If you went online to Amazon.com and ordered a product as abstract as something called 'Beauty,' in two weeks you would receive a small shiny package, and when you opened it up you would hear Stacy sing. As with every aspect of her being just 21 years, her singing keeps maturing and now has a beautifully rich, mellow timbre.

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8.4

Susanna Hoffs

(solo, The Bangles)

This is what a glorious casual summer day sounds like.

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6.4

Sleater-Kinney

Corin Tucker (also The Corin Tucker Band, Cadallaca, Heavens To Betsy)

Nobody can raise the hair on the back of my neck like the Queen of the Banshees.

tinysong.com/GCVg

7.5

Velocity Girl

Sarah Shannon

Propels her pseudo-operatic vocals on waves of feedback and pop hooks.

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8.3

Aretha Franklin

Don't forget that she once was, and on record will always remain, the Queen of Soul.

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6.6

Christina Aguilera

The Voice indeed. A sonic boom removed from her pop tart contemporaries, Christina can belt a tune to the rafters like nobody else. Prone to excess gymnastics to be sure, but you can't blame a girl for trying!

tinysong.com/I6qA

6.5

Leigh Nash

(solo, Sixpence None the Richer, Fauxliage)

Defines adorable with her pixie haircut, beaming smile, charming demeanor, and fragile intonations.

tinysong.com/iUcL

6.3

Veruca Salt

Nina Gordon (also solo)

Masterful mix of sweet and sour.

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6.4

Natalie Merchant

(solo, 10,000 Maniacs)

A voice that wraps around you like a cashmere sweater on a cold day.

tinysong.com/DQnU

7.5

ABBA

Frida Lyngstad (the redhead)

With exceptional control, surely could have tackled more "serious" singing roles had she not gone the pop route.

tinysong.com/17Idt

Anna Waronker

(solo, that dog.)

Sassy and saucy with the juiciest sing-talking delivery around.

tinysong.com/wWp1

7.2

Dido

I am under a spell when this British chanteuse opens her mouth. Full-bodied, rich, and silky are words to describe both a fine Burgundy wine and Dido's voice, and in fact both are flavors that go extremely well together.

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7.5

PJ Harvey

Her voice cascades in a thrilling rush as if falling from a great height directly onto your skull.

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6.9

Aimee Mann

(solo, 'Til Tuesday)

Reigning royalty of the alternative world and she sounds just as effortlessly self-assured today as she did 30 years ago.

tinysong.com/ji7r

Howling Bells

Juanita Stein (also Waikiki)

Moody, mysterious, and supremely seductive.

tinysong.com/KHMy

8.1

Dusty Springfield

The best Britain had to offer that could rival the Motown girl groups of the '60s, and she was just one person!

tinysong.com/nQAF

6.6

Poe

Seldom have I heard an artist as musically confident as Poe that it almost seems the format was invented just for her personal form of expression.

tinysong.com/jNbZ

6.7

Emily Saliers

(Indigo Girls)

Possesses the sweetest of Southern drawls.

tinysong.com/16Rn0

8.2

Diana Ross

(solo, The Supremes)

Smooth as silk.

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7.3

Cerys Matthews

(solo, Catatonia)

Imagine a Welsh Janis Joplin with more range and you get an idea of her vocal powers. From tender whispers to gut-wrenching roars, she teeters on the brink of parody but always manages to avoid plunging into camp.

tinysong.com/Kr6V

Frente!

Angie Hart (also Splendid)

Her winning, innocent, peculiar vocal phrasings put the 'quirk' in quirky.

tinysong.com/REOF

7.6

Amanda Palmer

(solo, Dresden Dolls)

Weaves in jazz, Broadway, classical, and garage rock styles into an alternately booming and nuanced presentation.

tinysong.com/lzlg

Kristin Hersh

(solo, Throwing Muses, 50 Ft. Wave)

Wild or introspective, bizarre or quaint, manic or somber - no matter the musical incarnation, Kristin still wields the scariest and most primal voice around.

tinysong.com/lROA

Caroline Kennedy

(Deadstar, The Plums, The Tulips)

A similarly named Australian singer, not of the Kennedy clan pictured. A force with her high-register, breezy, and powerful delivery.

tinysong.com/14mfU

9.3

Tanya Donelly

(solo, Belly, Throwing Muses, The Breeders)

Her squeaky-to-shrieky voice made her an alternative rock icon.

tinysong.com/19XLK

7.8

Shirley Manson

(Garbage, Angelfish)

She sounds better live with less emphasis on canned noises and more room for her sultry, commanding wails.

tinysong.com/XVtF

7.3

Sarah Brightman

A genre crossover giant, the one good thing to come from watching Repo: The Genetic Opera was discovering her majestic set of pipes.

tinysong.com/19gSz

7.2

Martha Reeves

(Martha & The Vandellas)

Of all the girl group or Motown singers, Martha expressed the most attitude.

tinysong.com/JRFZ

7.2

Nina Persson

(The Cardigans, A Camp)

As icy cool as her native Sweden, she also knows how and when to cut loose the vocal cords.

tinysong.com/hpa0

6.5

Sheryl Crow

Blues, rock, country, gospel - doesn't matter the style, Sheryl's impressive versatility can handle them all.

tinysong.com/HWVp

7.6

Dale Bozzio

(Missing Persons)

As known for her outrageous outfits back in the 1980s as Lady Gaga is today, her peculiarly distinctive hiccup-and-squeal vocal style clearly influenced Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O.

tinysong.com/Ur0C

Dubstar

Sarah Blackwood

Electronic beats fused with shiny guitar sounds served as an ideal shimmering backdrop for Sarah's daydreamy, almost detached vocals.

tinysong.com/143Hj

Single Gun Theory

Jacqui Hunt

Arresting clarity and sensuality which gains a hypnotic quality when coupled with the exotic mysticism embedded in their music.

tinysong.com/157lt

Voters of this person list - View all

I would say popular music but only a handful of them are commonly known by the mainstream. The astute music lover has a much better perspective anyway, so let's hear it for the unpopular artists! This list focuses on the vocal qualities, the appeal of the voice rather than the music. A 'favorite bands' list would contain many of the same names but in a much different order. Each entry contains a link to a song I consider an excellent exhibition of their talent, and for variety strove to select deeper cuts rather than hits.