Col — Morcheeba

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYPra-5tfeo

There is a quality to this sort of music; it is deliberate, cold, sterile, but overwhelming with emotion and detail and intent; it tells a story, or gets across a mood, or a time and place, as I try to do — but it does so with such force, fueled by this need to communicate, as though it can't be kept inside any more — these are songs that come across well to newcomers. All media can be repeated — TV is the least rewatchable. Movies, often. Books, almost always. But music, I have to. I can't take it all in on the first listen. Part of the fun is learning the patterns of music and letting the song itself remind you of the pattern and then deliberately lead you astray; to be surprised by the bridge; to remember and misremember the lyrics, to suddenly realize what a song is about — this is a property I think is unique. Col struck me immediately as important, but only after many listens do I appreciate it for what it is — a eulogy.

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.