That singing style does work in the right context: Or worse, Buffy Sainte-Marie. Or Janis Joplin for that matter. At least the song in the first post is listenable, what you have there is top level hipster horsesh!t. Nailed it.
Glad you’re amused. Initially he had the Byrds thing going but he developed his own style much like Mark Knopfler
It's the sound of those who "want to" sound eccentric, but those who are already have no need of a gimmick like that. It's a kind of received, second hand artistry that is the calling card of this style. Cat Power is an original eccentric artist. She is more indie sounding than affected to me. I don't hear her connection to this unless she is the one they are all trying to imitate, and failing?
An entire album of Buffy is tough to listen to but there is literally no voice is guaranteed to make me wince quicker than Joanie - it's almost an involuntary reaction.
C'mon . If she wasn't beautiful and didn't wear that push up nobody would take notice of her. Who wants to hear another acoustic version of such obscure tunes like Born to be wild and Highway to hell? Sex is what is in demand and she knows it.
Doesn't need a lifejacket, that's for sure. She does all cover tunes. Her "Johnny B. Goode" is mesmerizing.
You are actually taking Jess Greenberg seriously enough to criticize it? Good god, the deadpan literalism on this board is exasperating! Lighten up!
In the sixties male singers broke free of the stereotypes and many men were able to be successful singing in their individual idiosyncratic voices. Even through the seventies female singers were not afforded that luxury. If they didn't have a prototypical female singing voice then they were left off the bus. I think Mo Tucker of The Velvet Underground (and maybe Nico too) stands alone as an idiosyncratic female singer in the sixtes. In the post-2ooo's I started seeing a lot of female singers with Mo Tucker like voices, childlike singing (a bit different than what's been posted her, but a pre-cursor I think). In the post-200o's this singing style was all over the TV, as I called it back than "commercial music". Those are my observations anyway.
Good angles, for sure on the males getting to be idiosyncratic while females were locked into standard.
I agree by and large with your point, but I think there were some more exceptions. For example Janis Joplin didn't have a prototypical female singing voice at all.
It's bad but the absolute WORST singing style ever is whoever whines that "more than a bird" Superman crap from a number of years ago. There were dozens of groups who did that same indistinct whine.
I go straight to Melanie as the originator of the style that influenced the current indie folk singing style. She was folk, but with some R&B and gospel influences, and a richer tone and way more talent than the current crop, but her style might be a solid starting point to look at. .
Melanie is certainly one of the earliest examples of the current vocal sound but whether she's an influence is another matter. It seemed to become more widespread in the late 80s/early 90s and I don't think Melanie was seen as hip around then.
I got about 1.5 seconds into somewhere in the middle of the OP song, and had to turn it off, my brain pounding on the inside of my skull, screaming A GLASS OF WATER YOU ****ERS EVER HEARD OF ONE It's as annoying a copy/paste voice as those yarling bros were in the 90's.
Hahaha, before I even opened the thread and played it, that style was the first thing that came to mind. It’s so obnoxious and played out.
