A Journey into Sound Part II - The Human Voice (lots of videos!) | 108 comments (108 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Male Vocalists (none / 1)

Male vocalists have an unfortunate habit of dying young. To give some prop to Dodo: there's a connection to the female vocalist he opened with.

Also note the opening statement.

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (6:26)

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Sat Mar 29th, 2008 at 01:54:10 PM EST

Re: Male Vocalists (none / 1)

Another dead guy. I have to admit that with male voices I attend more to the singing than the voice. If that makes sense. So while I like Jeff, I'm much more moved by this (even though Jeff is the better vocalist). This song cuts.

Elliot Smith - Waltz #2 (xo) (04:02)

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Sat Mar 29th, 2008 at 02:12:27 PM EST
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Re: Male Vocalists (none / 1)

Well, I do love that Jeff Buckley track, that and "Corpus Christi Carol".

The difference between the singing and the voice, Tom Waits does it for me, first up his softer side, which is both more tuneful and less heartfelt (more storytelling than truth telling, though the two are entwined):

Tom Waits Martha (4:40)

I used to listen to this on a walkman way back when, walking home through the empty town late at night, Closing Time on one side of the cassette, The Times They Are a-Changin' on the other, both pretty much one instrument one voice--one all lovelorn the other protest music--great lyrics in both cases

Then there's Tom after he met Kathleen Brennan, worked up a showman role and bent his music into crazy shapes, but (for me) used the strange shapes to--over time--pick at the truth ever closer:

Tom Waits -- God's Away on Business (3:04)

There's a leak, there's a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves and lawyers

God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business

From talking to people it seems his is a voice you either love or hate. I love it.

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.

by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Sat Mar 29th, 2008 at 03:15:35 PM EST
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Re: Male Vocalists (none / 0)

I know very narrowing down, but for me, Tom Waits the musician is inseparable from Tom Waits the actor/songwriter in Jim Jarmusch movies.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Mar 30th, 2008 at 02:06:52 PM EST
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Re: Male Vocalists (none / 0)

I don't really like a lot of Dutch music, except for this. This music sometimes make me homesick. You should like it, rg, if you can get past the drum computer.

Spinvis - Voor Ik Vergeet (04:25)

Lyrics:

Spinvis - Spinvis		Spinvis - Spinvis
3: Voor ik vergeet		3: Before I forget
Voor ik vergeet dat hier een kerk heeft gestaan Voor ik vergeet dat ik jarig was En een tic-tac in mijn neusgat had toen we naar Zeeland zijn gegaan Voor ik vergeet koninginnedag En wie toen mijn vrienden zijn geweest En niets meer weet van straten en examens en vakanties en ruzie Op een feest ergens in de Biltstraat waar ik toch niemand kende		Before I forget that a church stood here Before I forget that I had my birthday And had a tic-tac in my nose when we went to Zeeland Before I forget queen's day And who were my friends back then And know nothing no more of streets and exams and vacations and fights On a party somewhere in the Biltstraat where I didn't know anyone anyway
Voor ik vergeet en later alles anders heet Voor ik vergeet en ik de feiten en de cijfers en de namen van de schrijvers niet meer weet De hele dag En alle woorden en elk uur De hele dag en ook de nacht En de zomers en de handen van mijn vader Vergeet ik op den duur		Before I forget and everything later has a different name Before I forget and I don't know the numbers and the names of the writers anymore All the day And all the words and every hour All the day and also the night And the summers and the hands of my father I forget on the long run
Voor ik vergeet Vergeten ben van die hersenscan en van die toestand met dat huis Voor ik vergeet En dat ik iemand was die van alles wou en niets begreep Van de film waarin hij speelde en de lafbek die hij was Ik hou van jou Ik hou zoveel van jou Tot ik vergeet Ik jou vergeet Jou vergeet Jou vergeet En nog alleen maar lijk te dromen		Before I forget Forget about the brain scan and the situation with that house Before I forget And that I was someone who wanted all kinds of things and understood nothing Of the film in which he played and the coward that he was I love you I love you such a lot Until I forget I forget you Forget you Forget you And only seem to be dreaming

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Sat Mar 29th, 2008 at 03:08:18 PM EST
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Re: Male Vocalists (none / 1)

Before I forget that I had my birthday
And had a tic-tac in my nose when we went to Zeeland

Gotta love it! Her singing reminds me of this lot (similar type of intro, too, though this is more upbeat):

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.

by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Sat Mar 29th, 2008 at 03:27:27 PM EST
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Re: Male Vocalists (none / 1)

Stereolab is one of these bands I keep reminding myself to listen more to, every now and then. And again.

But Spinvis is a male singer. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish. Here's another soft-sung male voice in the same vein:

Erlend Oye - Sudden Rush (03:36)

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Sat Mar 29th, 2008 at 04:56:47 PM EST
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Androgynous Vocalists (none / 1)

It's how-could-I-thought-that funny in hindsight, but when I heard their first few songs, I thought Brian Molko, Placebo's singer is a deep-voiced female...

The voice of Jas Mann is less in danger of such confusion.

Babylon Zoo: Zodiac Sign, 4:57 (I wanted to put up the un-noisy Aroma Girl, but it's not on any video site)

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Mar 30th, 2008 at 02:43:13 PM EST
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Re: Male Vocalists (none / 1)

Hip-hop music. It's not all about bling & bitches. Some say that's not even hip-hip. Here's a big part of what it's about.

Mos Def - Close Edge (02:37)

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Sat Mar 29th, 2008 at 03:48:50 PM EST
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Re: Male Vocalists (none / 1)

I was busy off-line over the weekend (among others, a don't-try-this-at-home style cutting down of a dead tree), and am too tired for a real selection here... I'll show one.

I'm not better disposed to local music than nanne to Dutch, what I like is usually older. One is the rock opera István a király ( = Stephen the King) from 1983. Note this was then a big event with sublime politics: it's superficially about Hungary's first Rome-recognised Christian king's rise to power after defeating his pagan uncle. But while Stephen argues about the need to fit in with the big Western powers and their ways, but it appears the 'freedom-fighting' pagan uncle is the real hero (e.g., West = Soviet Union, Stephen = Kádár and the communists).

What I chose doesn't involve the uncle, only pagans: Áldozatunk fogadjátok ( = accept our sacrifice), in which the táltos (pagan priest) is impersonated by Gyula "Bill" Deák, a half-footed rocker and blues singer (his first solo begins 1:25 in).

(Sorry for video quality, I didn't find better than this video from a 1990 concert I happened to attend too).

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Mar 30th, 2008 at 03:07:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Male Vocalists (none / 1)

The song is 03:00 in in this section of the video of the first concert in 1983, you can see more of the singer (but the sound quality is worse):

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}