Every one of them has something kind of special that I like

[lodessa]

So I've been listening to So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter and Living In Clip, both of which J bought me for my birthday last May, and having an Ani DiFranco renaissance as I not so rarely do. Seriously, if you don't have any appreciation for Ani DiFranco I kind of don't have any for you. She's amazing on so many levels and if I had to pick one

Comments

[spectralbovine]

Ooh, I like a lot of those!

I'll throw in Sarah Slean, Dar Williams, Rose Polenzani, Emm Gryner, Sarah Fimm, Amy Miles, Tara McLean, Lily Allen, M.I.A., and Andrea Revel. To name a few.

[lodessa]

sophia_helix and I spent a lot of time listening to Lily Allen while talking about Doctor Who a while back.

[novin_ha]

Bjork, Courtney Love, PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, Liz Phair, Sinead O'Connor, Suzanne Vega, Jill Sobule, Melissa Etheridge, Tracy Chapman, Ani DiFranco, Michelle Shocked, Kate Bush, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Bessie Smith, Patti Smith, Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hynde, Bonnie Raitt

[spectralbovine]

I love Ladytron a lot! And Tegan and Sara. And some Joanna Newson, too. I was listening to "The Book of Right-On" this morning, and I love "Sprout and the Bean."

If we're listing female vocalists, I'd also point to Metric, Lacuna Coil, Evanescence, Plumb, Rilo Kiley, Ivy, Portishead, Frou Frou, Dresden Dolls, Great Northern...and more.

Oh! I forgot Jem and Eisley and the Distillers and Garbage and...more.

I'm not sure about the gender distribution of the vocalists on my playlist. If I were to guess, I might bet it would lean more toward female.

[novin_ha]

Oh yes, Ivy and Garbage... And sometimes Neko Case and The Cardigans, some P!nk. and to dance? Moloko.

[lodessa]

Yeah I made sort of an executive decision with myself to only list solo artists and not bands with female singers (oh Rilo Kiley!)

I tend to flip flop back and forth between listening to female artists and male artists, but the female artists I always come back to, whereas the male ones are more likely to be sort of a phase.

I would love to hear some Joanna Newsom since you are a lot of other people I respect seem to be very into her.

I probably will have to do more than one upload of Ani DiFranco because I could never just pick one song. So expect a plethora of uploads tonight or sometime close to it.

[vonniek]

I only have a handful of Ani DiFranco songs in my music library. I like them fine, but I don't think I ever "got" DiFranco like many who love her passionately have. And Tori Amos is a real hit-and-miss for me. On some days, I think she's fabulous and moving, and on other days, I can't take the overwroughtness. I do love Tracy Chapman though. *g*

Glancing at my music library, solo female vocalists I am the most keen on seem to be:

Thea Gilmore (OMG she's AWESOME), Neko Case, Cat Power, Deb Talan, Feist, Martha Wainwright, Laura Veirs, Poe, and of course, Joni. And Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley.

[lodessa]

Possibly you have the wrong Ani DiFranco songs for you?

Yeah, I honestly tend to forget about listening to Tori Amos for long periods of time and then get really into it for a week and then not feel it again for a while.

Tracy Chapman is someone I can always listen to though. She's got one of those voices, easy on the ear because it's low, sort of rough but deeply comforting.

I really liked Laura Veirs when sophia_helix and I saw her last spring.

Joni is another one who is totally comfort music for me, I mean really is there any better soundtrack for when you are feeling vulnerable than Blue?

I almost put Jenny Lewis on my list but I like her best when she is being part of Rilo Kiley and I wasn't putting bands so I sort of had a dilemma.

ps. Isn't being able to edit comments amazing?

[annalouwho]

regina, alanis, ani, fiona. + aimee mann, cat power, jenny lewis, feist, kate nash, natalie merchant, joanna newsom, imogen heap, the pipettes. and kate bush and patti smith are on my list of artists to get to know better.

[lodessa]

I had this whole debate about the Jenny Lewis inclusion vs. exclusion, because I really like her as part of Rilo Kiley and I wasn't listing bands just solo female artists.

[annalouwho]

you don't like her solo stuff?

[lodessa]

I haven't listened to it so lot but it just didn't really capture me the same way..

[caitie]

Oh, pleeease. I can't believe no one has mentioned Sarah McLachlan. Yeah, so it's lame to admit now, but let's not pretend that we all weren't listening to Fumbling Towards Ecstasy on a loop in 1994.

I also listened to a lot of Dar Williams and Jewel and Sarah Slean and Patty Griffin and Garbage and Cardigans as a kid. A look at iTunes confirms that Goldfrapp is the female artist I listen to the most nowadays, although probably if I hadn't switched computers back in 2005 it would say Imogen Heap. I played that CD so much in 2004 that I doubt I'll ever be able to listen to it ever again. Lately I've been enjoying the new Feist album.

I'm too tired to think of my favorites, though. Good picks by everyone, though.

[lodessa]

For me it was Surfacing.

I always forget about Jewel, because I hated her and then I loved her. Garbage&heats and the Cardigans!

I usually suck at favorites.