classically trained female singers who sing weird songs

josephine foster -- have liked for years, since i saw her at one of those million tongue festivals in chicago -- 2 maybe? anyway, LOVE HER through psych and in german, love the children's hour, found that weird album she released with some sort of people on a commune somewhat lacking, though.

katie stelmanis -- love love love "believe me" but am a little afraid she will disappoint me eventually by being too cute

becky stark -- a little twee, not exactly weird, but sometimes this is just what i want and she's, apparently, just being herself, which i appreciate. has disappointed me on occasion, but was pretty great live

MORE

note -- what matters here is that the voice is NOT like joanna newsom's. it is pretty.

haha

that weird album she released with some sort of people on a commune

what album is this?

Lavinia Blackwall - trained in early music, primarily does weird stuff in Directing Hand (one of the best avant-garde performances I've ever seen), also plays in the awesome but much more standard folk-rock ensemble Trembling Bells.

I like Joanna Newsom's voice

i don't remember what it's called and i can't find it. maybe i'm imagining it?

Cathy Berberian to thread.

Beat me to it!!!!

ps i was talking about commune record, not joanna n's voice

also i don't hate her, i just am looking for something different and i was afraid that this would become a thread about joanna newsom, which would be unfortunate

ohok

Diamanda Galás

hmmmmm
i have always been a little afraid of her. perhaps baselessly?

no, she's terrifying

Lisa Gerrard?

but definitely worth hearing (xpost)

Joan La Barbarra?

Carla Bley? Pauline Oliveros? they are more known for composition than singing though.

it's mostly the singing that i like; arrangements are important, but they don't save us from a weak indievoice.

ooh i like joan la barbara

i am feeling unsure about cathy berberian (based on the samples from her website), but always enjoy surabaya johnny

She is awesome

Meredith Monk?

this is pretty neat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT9K1eG53zU

but i am not sure what to make of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHRb35H4kLc&feature=related

There's this song called Emu, but I can't remember who sang it.

i like lavinia b better than the trembling bells

Trying but failing to find an image of Berio's "Recital 1 (For Cathy)", the version where Cathy Berberian looks like Phyllis Diller on the front

Miharu Koshi's Boy Soprano album could be right up your alley. I can't find any cuts from it on youtube, but this is pretty good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzfcyXWCIfo

i would like to add that i am looking for singers who are not retired or dead.
it breaks my heart that i will never hear shirley collins sing, for instance.

(she is retired from singing but is well alive and kicking last time i checked)

This might not be what you're looking for at all, since it's more about the composer than the specific singer, but David del Tredici has done numerous opera-cum-concerto works utilizing texts from "Alice In Wonderland." The one I have, "Final Alice," features soprano Barbara Hendricks (sometimes amplified through a bullhorn.)

NINA HAGEN

marissa marchant

...is off the internets because of you

this thread to thread:

if I like Diamanda Galas/Patty Waters/Fatima Miranda/Meredith Monk...

(though not everyone on it is clssically trained)

this thread is great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFvKHIcoQYc

i am glad you're enjoying this thread!

yeah, its multifunctional too, introducing me to stuff I have never heard of (cathy berberian), encouraging me to actually check up stuff I have heard OF but never HEARD (Meredith Monk), and reminding me of the awesomeness of Diamanda Galas, which is surprisingly easy to forget it turns out!!!!

dolmen music is shockingly great

that meredith, she's coming to perform here this fall. i'm excited to go. she's been here a number of times and i've never been.

found this documentary about her on youtube that i'm watching

yeah, i'd love it if there was more opportunity to see more out there stuff in live settings, but there really isn't.

i meant here

i know what you meant!

lol yeah!

has anyone mentioned Ute Wassermann yet? though I dunno if she's been mentioned but she sings through a gong!

howzabout Yma Sumac? don't know if she's classically trained though....
also, Charming Hostess is great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_Xj3ID-ybw&feature=PlayList&p=3FA24E89569DE42B&index=0&playnext=1

link to meredith monk doc playlist btw

grr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_Xj3ID-ybw&feature=PlayList&p=3FA24E89569DE42B&index=0&playnext=1

xxxpost Yeah I was about to say, any of George Crumb's song cycles to thread (my fave is Night Of The Four Moons)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjXB2NaOQRc

I need a thread to talk about Dina Emerson and Jonathan Segel's new band Chaos Butterfly

Dina = the soprano on the Least Wanted Song, sings with Meredith Monk, Gary Lucas, day job is with Cirque de Soleil, all around amazing person

Kate Bush. I mean, at least some of her songs are kinda weird, and classically trained she is...

Formally trained, and her recent work is a bit weird:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ayz2QV4Pas

hanne hukkelberg

Always wondered: what's the one roulade Cathy Berberian can't sing?

Dina = the soprano on the Least Wanted Song

this cannot be stressed enough.

Emily Bezar.

i finally found that josephine foster commune thing i was talking about -- it's called the cherry blossoms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMgHv9c2acY

^ Keep seeing the name Zola Jesus a lot on Last.fm recommendations and stuff lately. Is she any good?

Jesca Hoop

revive

two years later zola jesus has her own thread
austra (on the strength of katie stelmanis, i think) is also somewhat frequently discussed and quasi-popular and also has a thread

also both of them now have blonde hair
not sure what to make of that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu5QVDdThdw

^ Julia Holter

Trying but failing to find an image of Berio's "Recital 1 (For Cathy)", the version where Cathy Berberian looks like Phyllis Diller on the front

― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan an' aw noo (Tom D.), Tuesday, 18 August 2009 15:55 (2 years ago)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L15YmCk2Opg/Tl0smafe4hI/AAAAAAAABv8/qymG-fldxXQ/s1600/IMG00178-20110830-2120.jpg

Amazing sleeve!

Why's she got one glove on?

she's upset because she lost the other one, clearly

that julia holter song is GOOD!
i really like the music AND the video
this is exactly what i was looking for today
ty

i am always afraid that voices like hers are going to start to sound borderline petulant/bratty, which is not a sound i really like, but hers doesn't go over the line

She's trying to remember where she put the other one? xp grrr!

Don't really know that much about Julia Holter, picked up her album at random on emusic the other day, but haven't got round to listening to it properly yet.

i just looked on lastfm and here's what was there

Julia Shammas Holter is a classically-trained keytarist from Echo Park. After infiltrating Human Ear Music headquarters dressed as an intern, she wrote and recorded her own release on the label.

Her music is witty, surreal and optimistic. She plays without sarcasm in the terrains that divide sentimentality, passion, and control. Her songs are written instinctively, and treated with an off-kilter fastidiousness, working orchestral variety from minimal instrumentation. Her singing voice is crystalline either like sugar or jewelry.

that Julia Holter vid is awesome!

classically-trained keytarist.

I don't think Leda Annest has been mentioned yet. I read about her album in the first "Incredibly Strange Music" book, and then found the LP in a thrift store.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKQjxw6WcOQ

i'm shy about hyping my own stuff, but some of the more recent grannykart stuff i've been doing (like on the $c!3n+0l0gy comp) falls into this category. i've had some classical voice training and my style leans toward "weird."

bring it! or webmail it to me if you are feeling shy.

i don't have a direct link to the song handy, but it's in this zip file:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/niapg7csh0phart/ILX%20Comp%20320kbps%20Mp3%20FolderREVISED.zip

from this thread: ilx comp v. five - this is not the music of l. ron hubbard, music maker (available to download)

Ute Lemper qualifies for this thread, yes? The two Scott Walker-penned songs are plenty weird (and awesome!).

Weird that noone has mentioned Björk iirc correctly she was classically trained before she became punk before she became alt-pop before she became weirder and artsier.

bas sheva to thread. this record is nuts

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pkv51AYRgCM/R2hZQ76goAI/AAAAAAAAAV4/cjmGXiozcAc/s1600/album_cover.jpg

i've always got some classically trained vibes out of sinead but i'm almost positive that's not the case w/her.

Bjork wasn't trained as a singer. (xp)

I don't think either Bjork or Sinead O'Connor have good enough tuning to be classically trained.

The Glasgow band Tattie Toes could well fit here...

http://thequietus.com/articles/07284-tattie-toes-interview

I don't know if Dagmar Krause was clasically trained, but she definitely sings weird songs.

http://youtu.be/WOGwxhZDCUA

Would put Jesca Hoop and Mia Doi Todd in this category.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp-AxSnUtCo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ZGq_XuNfI

I'd say I.D. Company are a better example of Dagmar Krause's weirdness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ic_QW7uNwM

I don't think she is classically trained, to be honest, but god damn does she have a voice.

Irene Aebi - Steve Lacy's wife and frequent collaborator. See for instance The Beat Suite, where she sings some pretty difficult melodic lines in unison with the horns.

i need to listen to some of these when i get home. thanks!

also i think no one mentioned bjork because maybe everyone knows about bjork? originally i started the thread so i could get recommendations for new things. bjork's like family!

Dawn Upshwaw with Osvaldo Golijov has made some avantgarde compositions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtIHrPxnEpU

milla jovovich sounds hell of classically trained, sings renaissance faire music (musick?)

that is, quite seriously, the best I have ever head Dawn Upshaw sound

Mimi from Hugo Largo?

Is Zola Jesus really "classically trained"? Cuz the time I saw her she sounded so thin and also was pretty off key.

you guys are getting really hung up on the technical part of this

classically-trained singers can still be out of tune! (see: Whitney Houston's flat high notes)

not really being technical so much as saying that shitty Stevie Nicks imitation doesn't really bring classical singing to mind

i don't really like her singing very much tbh -- she does the same trick over and over. i admire her productivity, but not sure if i like her product.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvnaxDElj7E

Speaking of Katie Stelmanis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvMA1loQAUc