Thriller — Imogen Heap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxrIBCwyk80

There is only so much praise I can lavish on an artist, but Imogen deserves all of it — her music is controlled, tasteful, graceful, well-composed and well-arranged, like all good electronica — her vocals are perfect, processed and trying far harder than she needs to. She has an amazing voice and an amazing sense of rhythm and tone without even the computer in between us. And her normal work — she is most famous for Hide and Seek, processed within an inch of its life. But this, an MJ cover, is pure — nearly entirely her real voice and piano, and it's gorgeous and perfect and I cannot get enough of it.

Help I'm Alive — Metric

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoK63Bk7pgw

I won't write an essay here on the topic of gender in music — I'm not nearly well-versed enough, and, frankly, it's been done. I will say that the few female vocalists I do enjoy are generally either Jazz, Trip-Hop, or Rock'n'Roll. There are some genres where I know female vocalists exist, but I don't enjoy them (modern pop, rap, alt-rock, etc). I can probably name only a few female vocalists off the top of my head, actually... Ella Fitzgerald, Blondie, the woman from Fleetwood Mac, Metric (above), The Go! Team...

Oh my god, is that all I can list? I know the names of male singers from named bands (Thom Yorke — Radiohead, etc) but rarely the names of female singers from named bands (... — The Decemberists? I know Colin Meloy.) Oh! Imogen Heap. This still isn't that many.

Doesn't Massive Attack have female vocalists? Guest vocalists. And, uh, Morcheeba, Portishead! All the associated trip-hop acts.

Oh dear.