The Singer/Songwriter Thread

[hookers with machineguns]

Just checked out both Brendan Benson and Ed Harcourt...both are actually upbeat. For whatever reason, I was expecting something gloomy and dark...Both are very catchy though.

Any thoughts on Regina, anyone?

[swim]

^very good songwriter.
Brendan Benson is my favorite out of the 3.

[hookers with machineguns]

Ok, had this one written.

Katie Melua



…is a British artist with very memorable and melodic tunes. Her sound is very radio-friendly, but since I am completely unaware of that world, I couldn’t tell you how much exposure she has gotten.

Her debut album “Call Off The Search” has to have earned some success in the U.K. She made an appearance at the Brit Awards along with Jamie Cullum to perform a cover of The Cure’s “Love Cats.” The song and video is widely available on the internet. They actually seem like a workable pair…would kind of be interesting to see them do more work together down the road. It’s also not the only Cure song she has covered. “Just Like Heaven” is featured on the debut album, and unlike other Cure covers, she doesn’t slaughter it. Well, she kept it nice and simple, so it was bound to work out.

She has a very cute, innocent voice…sounds younger than she actually is (she is only 21 after all, but her voice alone can probably pass for being younger). The first single was “The Closest Thing To Crazy”…it’s a great mellow song. But, the song that I first heard and got me hooked was “Crawling Up A Hill.” It’s definitely her best song, because it has a soul/blues-like tempo that she almost-surprisingly pulls off well.

Her next album Piece By Piece was released totally out of my radar in the fall of last year. I didn’t discover it until maybe a few weeks ago, and I instantly liked the single “Nine Million Bicycles,” which unfortunately was not even written by her, but received some bizarre criticism. In the song, she sings "We are 12 billion light-years from the edge. That's a guess — no-one can ever say it's true.” Some cosmologist took strong offense to that line and called her out on it.

Originally Posted by Simon Singh of the Guardian

When Katie sings "We are 12 billion light-years from the edge", she is suggesting that this is the distance to the edge of the observable universe, which in turn implies that the universe is only 12 billion years old. This is incredibly frustrating, because there are thousands of astronomers working day and (of course) night to measure the age of the universe, and the latest observations imply a universe that is almost 14 billion years old, not 12 billion.

I question how much creative control she had on both her albums, but whoever is pulling the strings did a fine job. They just need to keep up with all the cosmology facts, I guess.

Favorite Songs: Crawling Up A Hill, Nine Million Bicycles, Blame It On The Moon, My Aphrodisiac Is You, & The Closest Thing To Crazy.

http://www.katiemelua.com/
http://www.myspace.com/katiemelua
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bglK...=Katie%20Melua (Nine Million Bicycles)

[hookers with machineguns]

Meh, might as well post the last one I have written up so far.

Martha Wainwright



…is a Canadian artist from a notorious musical family (daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle and sister of Rufus Wainwright). If you’re familiar with the family, then you can sense a little bit of their respective flavors in Martha’s voice. But still, she brings her own unique style. And, if you have heard her sing with Rufus, they actually find a way to make it work.

One of her greatest abilities is to sound flawless live. It’s as if you are listening to her at home (Rufus has this same quality). I think the real question here is…would she have been discovered if it wasn’t for the family connection? Mmm, who knows. But, no one can question the talent. She has a great, seductive voice with a wide vocal range. It’s almost cute, but it’s almost too powerful to say that it is. She can be very passionate and raw in delivery, like in “Bloody Mother ****ing *******,” her most recognizable song. The song has been mistakenly thought of to be about her father, but actually, it is about a conversation with her father (he didn’t think Martha had what it takes to make it big), maybe perhaps about herself. Even Martha claims, "I'm not sure who this song's about." The debut self-titled is filled with NOTHING BUT soulful and beautiful melodies…you quickly forget the relation to her prestigious family. But for the record…if you ask me, what Rufus doesn’t execute, she does. And what Rufus does well, she does even better.

Favorite Tracks: Factory, Far Away, Bloody Mother ****ing *******, When The Day Is Short, and Ball & Chain.

http://www.marthawainwright.com/
http://www.myspace.com/marthawainwright
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecuIs...a%20wainwright (Who the **** is this Jools Holland guy? He has a lot of good guests, but my god, he seems like the biggest tool on the planet).