Music

To avoid getting too wrapped up in the 'tech' this page highlights a few less well known artists that are a Good Listen.
There's not much older stuff here as it tends to be well known. If you are young and haven't heard these older bands here's some of the best ones:

  • ABBA
  • AC/DC
  • Aerosmith
  • Billy Idol
  • Daddy Cool
  • David Bowie
  • Deep Purple


  • Dire Straits
  • ELO
  • Fleetwood Mac
  • Genesis
  • Grateful Dead
  • Half Man Half Biscuit
  • Jean Michel Jarre


  • Led Zeppelin
  • Level 42
  • Lynyrd Skynyrd
  • Mike Oldfield
  • Ozzy Osbourne
  • Peter Gabriel
  • Phil Collins


  • Pink Floyd
  • Queen
  • Rainbow
  • Squeeze
  • Status Quo
  • Stereophonics
  • The Beatles


  • The Clash
  • The Rolling Stones
  • The Specials
  • The Travelling Wilburys
  • Thin Lizzy
  • Tom Petty


Modern bland/generic rock tends to be a dull listen even without the dynamic compression. There is the odd interesting band like Muse and The Pretty Reckless, but the modern insistence on compression and loudness warring seems to leave the female vocal the most intact genre.
Essentially then this is a list of the best and most talented modern female singer/songwriters and are well worth a listen:

Notes

  • Note that many tracks will be clipped: but that's not a problem for our software and they all sound good to us when served from SeeDeClip4.
  • Only albums that are considered outstanding are listed here, although the odd one may have not been reviewed.
  • Click on the artist name, album names and pictures for more information.
  • MP3s at 320kbps are all very well but for these artists you'll be wanting the original CDs or FLACs. The treble is better for both cymbals and vocal realism and often the MP3's a clipped more due to encoder issues.
    Apart from supporting the artist (always search to see if you by direct from them!) the higher quality places them in your living room more accurately - which at the end of the day is what a decent Hifi is all about, especially as most of them live a really long way away and you may not get to hear them any other way.


The Artists

Artist 1-57Albums of choiceNotes
A Fine Frenzy


Fun, sonic journeys you'll wonder how you lived without. Influenced by Jon Brion.
Sadly Alison Sudol's moved into acting now so this trinity of goodness is all we'll have.


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Alexz Johnson


Versatile and fun with more talent than a first glance suggests


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Alisha's Attic


Now famous for songwriting, but worth listening to the originals


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Aly & AJ


Unexpectedly good


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Amanda Rogers


Perfect voice, amazing songs, sweeping melodies, ace mastering. This is the artist you have been looking for.
Why haven't you already bought her CDs?


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Amilia K Spicer


All three albums are well recorded and amazing in words, melody and sound. Good solid sound and talent with a hint of the grandeur of 'Floyd. When you hear her you'll wonder why she's such a well kept secret because very few artists get close today and the same seamless quality stretches through all three of her albums


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Anna Madsen


A voice as clear as a bell, well mixed recording with real bass.


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Anna Nalick


Responsible for some of the best songs you'll hear


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Anneke Van Giersbergen


Exceptionally clear voice, underrated, fantastic singer


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Annie Stela


A hidden gem found on lastfm and Youtube.
She has a lovely clear voice, the songwriting is strong and the melody and harmony make her very listenable.

Available direct from the artist via Bandcamp


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Anya Marina


Amazing drama and melody. Consistently good.


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Aura Dione


Another unexpected musical talent, although dinosaurs would have mastered their CD better.


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Chantal Kreviazuk


More Canadian goodness, some expansive, lifting songs.


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Charlotte Gainsbourg


Elegant melodies in spades


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Chlara


Top notch recording, very clear voice


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Eléphant


A two piece band with unique melody, the french lyrics make it sound even better. Great music


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Erin McCarley


Perhaps forgotten by the radio but some great songs


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Fiona Apple


Raw emotion, sonic tapestries influenced by Jon Brion, eclective, whimsy, changeable. Do not miss


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Fredrika Stahl


Fantastic singing voice and original, unique songwriting, well recorded too. 'Tomorrow' is a real gem and contains so much fun variety and quality with some lovely songs.


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Garbage


The incomparable Shirley Manson backed by real talent


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Harriet


The new Karen Carpenter


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Heather Nova


Prolific talent, you'll wonder why you hadn't heard of her and her wonderful songs.


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Holly Conlan


Interesting, cheerful songs with scale.
You'll be wanting to hear 'Ok'
Quite tricky to get CDs for.


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Jem


Quite a few famous TV/film soundtracks here, laid back brilliance


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Jewel


An epic, talented Jewel of a singer/songwriter with a goldmine of great music


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Jillette Johnson


Tunes you'll be playing again


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Jonna Lee


Catchy and subtle swedish pop. See also Ionnalee.


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Kate Earl


Bluesy jazz singer with attitude


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Katharine McPhee


Unusually good music and vocals


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Katie Herzig


Eclectic mix of styles


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Katie Melua


One of the world's great voices, usually well recorded too. Lilac Wine is a great test of a system


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Kyla La Grange


From Watford, studied philosophy at Cambridge, intelligent, wistful, eclectic music
More at http://www.kylalagrange.com


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Lenka


Ex soap actress makes good, interesting voice and style


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Lisa Mitchell


Worth buying for Neopolitan Dreams alone


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Liz Phair


Eclectic and inventive, cutting observations with great melodies, not to be missed


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Lucy Schwartz


Underated singer/songwriter


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Lucy Woodward


Excellent Jazz/Blues


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Mandy Moore


Famous hit singles have morphed into serious talent


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Maria Mena


Very interesting vocals and harmonies


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Marit Larsen


Previously half of M2M, a voice between Lenka, Prscilla Ahn and Gwen Stefani gives the gloss to great melodic sound


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Metric


Epic talent, huge catalog of top music


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Mylene Farmer


A long running french star with a great voice, check out Les Mots with Seal


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Norah Jones


Bluesy unique sound


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Priscilla Ahn


The bell like clarity of her voice is matched only by melodic tunes and inventive melodies.
Worth tracking down those rare CDs.., some of the best music you'll hear. Ever.


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Rachael Yamagata


Great melodies with depth.


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Sarah McLachlan


One of the best singers you'll hear, a rockier style from 'Fumbling Towards Ecstasy' onward
Her voice has great range and she knows how to use it


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Sarah Slean


A Canadian singer songwriter that you'll wonder why you haven't heard of before, especially after 11 albums..


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Serebro


Deep bass, funky, melodic, declips well - don't miss this magic slice of russia, you'll thank me later.
You'll be needing to declip this.


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Shakespeare's Sister


Old but not outdated, still sounds great today. Ageless and timeless.


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Sheryl Crow

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Sia


Underrated, inventive singer


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Sophie Hunger


Music that comes alive


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Sophie Zelmani


Extraordinarily prolific, talented and publicity shy


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Susanna Hoffs


The driving force of The Bangles


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Susanne Sundfør


Very clear voice, melodic, dramatic, you'll be needing 'Ten Love Songs' at the minimum


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The Cardigans


Talent with a touch of darkness


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Within Temptation


Other albums can be a little heavy but this operatic evening shows Sharon's voice up well


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Check back from time to time as this list is updated.

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