Thursday, September 23, 2010

Estrogen Represent!

Family walk was thwarted this morning because SOMEbody--I won't say who--thought 5:30 was an appropriate time to wake up instead of the usual 6:30 (or later if we're lucky). Mr. Anonymous soon realized that a little more snoozing was a capital idea, so the resulting extra couple of hours put us off our schedule. But hey whatever, sleep takes precedence these days for all of us. It just reaffirms my belief though that babies are born saboteurs, that they're all part of a secret conspiracy to keep their mamas as soft and fleshy as possible for as long as they can. Damn them and their comfort agenda.

A thing about music on my mind: again. Something you may not know about me is that I don't like many female vocalists. That sounds unfair and shitty and anti-feminist, I know, but it's an acknowledged preference. I specifically don't like many female voices of the singer-songwriter variety and I can say exactly why: I don't care for endless vibrato, and earnestness (from either sex) makes me uncomfortable. And I have a penchant for male singers (Antony, Jake Shears, Mika, etc.) who can nail a falsetto. What is that all about? I've decided to start keeping a list of the women whose voices I do like, and it turns out that all hope is not lost. Here are some xx singers I really enjoy:

-Kim Deal
-Regina Spektor (in small doses)
-Sharon Jones
-Dolly Parton
-kd lang (probably my all-time favorite voice, actually)
-Johnette Napolitano
-Loretta Lynn
-Tanya Donnelly
-Ann Wilson
-Joni Mitchell (to be honest though I merely tolerate the vocals because her songwriting is so good)
-Beyonce
-Imogen Heap

There's a whole bunch of big-mouth Broadway ladies I'm forgetting too. Was there a point to this list other than to prove to myself that I'm not sexist? Well, no. But thanks for sticking around (if you did).

This weekend I'm hosting a pumpkin-themed baby shower and I reckon it should be a lovely time.

2 comments:

  1. I can't stand the white-girl-fake-blues voice that so often accompanies college-style singer-songwriters. You know, the breathy, swoopy, cracked-throat Vonda-Shephard type.

    Not much in the world is as cool as kim deal :)

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  2. I totally agree with you. Only within the last decade or so have I truly opened an ear to female vocalists. And the ones I love, I COMPLETELY love. Like Beth Gibbons, Alison Goldfrapp, Leontyne Price, and Bjork in her old Sugarcube days. Also really like Hope Sandoval, Fiona Apple, and Liz Phair (for her songwriting, mainly). Very few, compared to numerous male vocalists I love.

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