gotta listen to the ladies

January 12, 2008

I was giving my friend a hard time recently about how all of his favorite musical artists/groups are not of the female gender. This is not exactly a nice thing for me to do (i.e. make fun of him) because I was the one who asked him to tell me some of his favorite albums, recent finds, and heavy rotation tunes. It’s just bad form to ask someone’s opinion on preference and then chastise them for it.

But it got me thinking about female artists that I enjoy and listen to. After a good ten seconds of reflection, here’s twenty female artists/female lead groups that I listen to (the ranking is somewhat arbitrary):

Over the Rhine
Sixpence None the Richer
Jewel
Beth Orton
Tori Amos
Sinead O’Connor
Lauryn Hill
Jennifer Knapp
Feist
Norah Jones
Sarah McLachlan
The Cranberries
Tracy Chapman – (My wife claims she doesn’t sound like a woman though.)
Bjork
Fiona Apple
Natalie Merchant
Portishead
Mazzy Starr
The Sundays
Suzanne Vega

I’ve bolded the artists above that I listen to on a fairly regular basis. (This list of twenty actually pretty much exhausts the female contingent on my I-Pod.) OK, so I’m not as "sensitive" to the opposite gender as I was claiming to be originally. But, hey, my machismo is still taking a shot by admitting how much I enjoy a good ~~Celine Dion~~, ahem, Sarah McLachlan album. Not exactly edgy, but hey. Bjork could beat the crap out of both of The Pet Shop Boys any day of the week. If it were not possible for her to beat them physically, she would just let out a operatic high-pitched scream that would shatter their skulls like delicate champagne glasses.

6 responses to “gotta listen to the ladies”

Lisa

January 12, 2008 at 6:29 am

Great list! I really enjoy most of those artists. I’d add Brandi Carlisle and Patty Griffin to my list, but they are a bit melancholy for some.
ellen b

January 12, 2008 at 4:27 pm

hey Todd! I like the new look on your blog…
yeti

January 12, 2008 at 11:46 pm

lisa: glad you have such GREAT taste in music. I’ll have to check out the others you mentioned. melancholy, for me, is not a problem. 😉

ellen: glad you like the new 2008 look!
Amy C

January 13, 2008 at 3:24 pm

Nice list. No Cowboy Junkies, huh? I personally have a great appreciation for melancholy music and they fit in nicely. But Over the Rhine just seems to grow on me more and more over the years. They would definitely be toward the top of my list, regardless of gender! KT Tunstall’s kind of fun, too. In a happier sort of way. Which us Eyores need sometimes.
JLo

January 14, 2008 at 4:56 am

Todd, you should check out the movie Juno, especially the soundtrack. Kimya Dawson has quite a few songs on there, and I love her style. Folksy, quirky and neurotic.
yeti

January 14, 2008 at 5:54 am

thanks for all the great recommendations, folks. and yes, i do also have the cowboy junkies on my Pod, but i have to be in the right mood…