Tracks where the vocalist 'talks' rather than 'sings'

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Ladytron 'He Took Her To A Movie'

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:04 (twenty-three years ago)

laika "bad times"

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:06 (twenty-three years ago)

laurie anderson "O Superman"

― A Nairn (moretap), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:09 (twenty-three years ago)

morrissey "sorrow will come for you in the end"

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:10 (twenty-three years ago)

It's called "spinging."

― s1utsky (slutsky), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Lou Reed to thread.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Flying Lizards own i guess

this is harder than i thought tho, all i can think of now is that 'Toast' song, or whether things like Squeeze's 'Cool For Cats; count

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:37 (twenty-three years ago)

King Missle - Jesus was way cool
(insert the rest of King Missle's recordings here)

― Fecal Jesus (mawill), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Belle and Sebastian - A Century of Elvis
Belle and Sebastian - A Spaceboy Dream

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:42 (twenty-three years ago)

leftfield '20th century poem'
coldcut 'noah's journey'
dj q 'we are one'
massive attack 'antistar'

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Pixies - "Monkey Gone To Heaven"
Dire Straits - "Sultans of Swing"

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 18 August 2003 22:43 (twenty-three years ago)

The verses of Soft Machine's "Why Are We Sleeping?" are all (I think) quietly 'uttered', line by line ...whereas the choruses sure are sung.

And there certainly are several other Laurie Anderson 'tracks' where she just 'tells stories'.

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Pixies - "Monkey Gone To Heaven"
Dire Straits - "Sultans of Swing"

i'd class these both as singing

Lo Fidelity All Stars and Campag Velocet - everything!

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:45 (twenty-three years ago)

"People Who Died", "Three Sisters" by the Jim Carroll Band
"88 Lines about 44 Women", "The Things You Left Beind" by the Nails
"AEIOU Sometimes Y" by Ebn-Ozn
"Losing My Edge" by LCD Soundsystem
"Let There Be More Darkness" by Robyn Hitchcock

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Truckloads of Trick y must fit the bill also.

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:50 (twenty-three years ago)

i'd count Tricky as hip hop tho, unless you had in mind something from one of the more recent albums where there's no female backing?

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:52 (twenty-three years ago)

I take it we're excluding rap, and Miss Kittin to thread.

Pet Shop Boys - Left To My Own Devices
Tom Waits - 9th & Hennepin
Black Box Recorder - Child Psychology
Sinéad O'Connor - "Famine"
Ani DiFranco - Tamburitza Lingua
John Parish & Polly Jean Harvey - Is That All There Is?
Tori Amos - '97 Bonnie & Clyde

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:56 (twenty-three years ago)

And that bit at the end of Girls Aloud, 'No Good Advice'.

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:57 (twenty-three years ago)

i'd count Tricky as hip hop tho, unless you had in mind something from one of the more recent albums where there's no female backing?

Okeh, let's change "truckloads" to "molehills" then ;-)

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:59 (twenty-three years ago)

chris bouchillon invented the talking blues, they say.

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:01 (twenty-three years ago)

"Breethe Deeply" by Lambchop is all talk. I think that's the name of it anyway; it's the one about the guy who buys a whole bunch of room deoderizers, and has been for weeks, and sets them all off like bug bombs.

"The Gift" by the Velvet Underground (I know Lou's been mentioned, but this is a Cale reading).

"By the Time I get to Phoenix", the Isaac Hayes version, is mostly talk.

― Moss Feaster, Monday, 18 August 2003 23:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Tom Waits "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me", "What's He Building in There?" & "Frank's Wild Years".

― Moss Feaster, Monday, 18 August 2003 23:04 (twenty-three years ago)

What's that Pavement song off Slanted and Enchanted — the one that goes "I'm tryin', i'm tryin' " I think it's called Loretta's Scars and Malkmus is definitely talking.
Talkin' like a mofo.

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:31 (twenty-three years ago)

plus the fall song that song rips off

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:33 (twenty-three years ago)

"The First Big Weekend" by Arab Strap. Other Arab Strap songs too.
Pretty much everything by Lifter Puller.

― fffv (fffv), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:38 (twenty-three years ago)

U2 - Numb (Edge singing...i mean talking)

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Meanwhile Back In Communist Russia to thread.

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:44 (twenty-three years ago)

once in a lifetime - talking heads

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, my mistake, it wasn't Loretta's Scars (I'm at work, doin' this from my noggin'). It was Conduit For Sale, and The Fall song it rips off is New Face in Hell.

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Slint, "Don A Man" and "Breadcrumb Trail" and some other songs of theirs.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:31 (twenty-three years ago)

There are many spoken word interludes in (mainly older) Patti Smith songs.

― Sean (Sean), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:33 (twenty-three years ago)

It's on the edge of talking/singing, but:

"E-Bow the Letter" -- R.E.M.

(It was the Patti reference that twigged my memory.)

(plus, a lot of early Stipe used to mumble/sing -- does this count?)

― David A. (Davant), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:45 (twenty-three years ago)

A number of early Dylan cuts, including a few explicitly labelled as "Talkin"" blues ("Talkin' World War III...", "Talkin' John Birch Society...".

"Indiscipline", the verses of "Neurotica", and "Dig Me" by the Adrian Belew-voiced lineup of King Crimson.

"A Simple Desultory Philippic" -- Simon & Garfunkel.

Also Billy Bragg's cover of "Don't Walk Away Renee".

― Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:05 (twenty-three years ago)

a lot of Tindersticks songs...though it's more mumbling than whispering

― manuel (manuel), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:00 (twenty-three years ago)

fosca - diary of an antibody

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Much of Serge Gainsbourg's output from "Melody Nelson" onwards ownz this...

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:30 (twenty-three years ago)

A number of early Dylan cuts, including a few explicitly labelled as "Talkin"" blues ("Talkin' World War III...", "Talkin' John Birch Society...".

as hinted above, this was an entire mode of country (and folk) music which dylan was paying tribute to/slyly lampooning.

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Loads of recent Bruce Cockburn. 'Postcards from Cambodia', et. al

― derrick (derrick), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Lots of songs by Slint, June of 44, Bitch Magnet etc... bleh

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:13 (twenty-three years ago)

TV Personalities "Mentioned in Dispatches"

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Telly Savalas - If!

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:11 (twenty-three years ago)

The Rolling Stones - "Far Away Eyes"

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:14 (twenty-three years ago)

baz luhrmann - everybody's free (to wear sunscreen)

― willem (willem), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:16 (twenty-three years ago)

i thought the world had officially agreed to forget that song ever existed.

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:19 (twenty-three years ago)

everybody's free to do so

― willem (willem), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:26 (twenty-three years ago)

From a very quick perusal, I cna't believe no one's mentioned Pulp.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 09:10 (twenty-three years ago)

That recent Placebo single. And how horrible it is, too.

― person#0 (person#0), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 09:24 (twenty-three years ago)

a lot of these have talking verses but singing choruses...no good

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 11:17 (twenty-three years ago)

David Bowie - Future Legend

― willem (willem), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 11:21 (twenty-three years ago)

"No Sex In the Champagne Room" fules!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 11:31 (twenty-three years ago)

"Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Pelvis" owns!

Who was it, posted the mp3 a few days ago?

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 11:41 (twenty-three years ago)

new one, spearmint- the book.

with quite possibly the best summery tune of 2003 (saloon's the good life is also a conteder for best summery tune of 2003 aswell)

― Myles, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 11:49 (twenty-three years ago)

loren green "ringo"
m.

― msp, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 13:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Nada Surf - Popular
Rammstein - Spieluhr
Sleater-Kinney - Get Up

― Id Off, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 13:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Primus "Mephisto and Kevin" and "Arnie"

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 14:07 (twenty-three years ago)

A helluva lot of Tarwater

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 14:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Ummm...every hip hop track ever.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 16:56 (twenty-three years ago)

There's gotta be some Leonard Cohen songs. The Rheostatics 'Guns', Sloan 'Before I Do' parts of Neil Young 'Tired Eyes' and The Normal 'Warm Leatherette' all come to mind.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 17:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Pelvis" owns!

Are you talking about the Barry Adamson song?

Sleater-Kinney - Get Up

If this counts, then so does Sonic Youth's "Tunic (Song for Karen)," which Corin's vocals on here always reminds me of. Also probably more SY songs -- like "Skip Tracer."

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 17:04 (twenty-three years ago)

But her out of MBICR isn't actually a singer...

Shangri-Las - Past, Present, Future

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 17:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Isaac Hayes - Theme from Shaft (a lot of it, anyway)
Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized

― Tom Breihan (Tom Breihan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 17:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Karel Fialka 'Hey Matthew' - he borders on singing but not quite

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 17:13 (twenty-three years ago)

"Sabotage", John Cale
"Six Six Sixties", Throbbing Gristle
"Smoke Time", Blurt
"Ampheta Speak", Ut
"Lady Coca Cola", Metal Urbain

Lots of songs by the Sun City Girls

― Stephen Boyle (SBoyle), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 17:25 (twenty-three years ago)

MOSS ICON

― dz, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 20:29 (twenty-three years ago)

War, and that one guy . . . Eric Burdon I think his name was . . . - Spill the Wine.

That's a fucking fantastic song, too.

― David Allen, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 20:33 (twenty-three years ago)

anything by green velvet.

― michael wells (michael w.), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 20:34 (twenty-three years ago)

'never say never' by romeo void!

― heywood jablomi (heywood), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 20:50 (twenty-three years ago)

ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 21:11 (twenty-three years ago)

two weeks pass...

Black Box Recorder 'Uptown Top Ranking'

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 8 September 2003 23:52 (twenty-three years ago)

"Stuart" - Dead Milkmen. BEST RANT EVAH.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 00:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh and if someone's gonna count Baz Luhrman then shurely we must also include "Not the Sunscreen Song" by John Safran.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 00:10 (twenty-three years ago)

dubstar - unchained monologue

― Slump Man (Slump Man), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 00:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Magic Dirt - "Vulcanella" (from their new one, Tough Love, which is awfully fantastic).

Orson Welles -- "I know what it is to be young (but you don't know what it is to be old"

Much Bongwater

― dlp9001, Tuesday, 9 September 2003 00:33 (twenty-three years ago)

AC/DC "Big Balls"

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 01:04 (twenty-three years ago)

John Cale - The Jeweller, Piano Magic - I Came To Your Party Dressed As A Shadow

― Damian (Damian), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 01:37 (twenty-three years ago)

Owners of this thread: Soul Coughing.

― Ess, Tuesday, 9 September 2003 12:46 (twenty-three years ago)

"exits to freeways twisted like knots on fingers/jewels cleaving skin between breasts"

Ess = OTM

Trayce also hella OTM. "...that's why they call it a burrow owl!"

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 13:12 (twenty-three years ago)

All the Ursula Rucker-voiced last-or-almost-last-tracks-on-Roots-CDs to thread! "alright ladies, lights out!"

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 13:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Warren Zevon-Werewolves of London

― Sean (Sean), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 13:24 (twenty-three years ago)

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