The sublime vocalists you have heard..

[Hollis]

Maybe sublime is slighty too strong.. but you know the score..

I've just come back from a Pattie Smith gig.. so.. in no particular order..

Pattie Smith
Bruce Springsteen
Marc Almond
Hugh Cornwall.

Frankly, everyone else just can't sing compared to these guys.. even Robert Plant..

 

[Sunspots]

Quintessentially 'sublime':

Billy Mackenzie, Yma Sumac, Scott Walker, Nina Simone, Elizabeth Fraser.

 

[Flashman]

Antony? Tbh I've only heard the If it be Your Will Cohen cover but it was lovely.

 

[Bazza]

JILL SCOTT!! (I love her)

 

[Spion]

Loads of people can sing, but not very many of them are interesting.

 

[jjlewenzo]

There's a guy call Jimmy Scott. Pretty old now, he's a jazz singer. He has Kallmann's syndrome which means his voice never broke. He has this amazing soprano voice. Saw him at Ronnie Scotts a few years ago. Sublime indeed!

 

[Kanda]

Minnie Ripperton

 

[jjlewenzo]

Minnie Ripperton

I am mostly listening to Minnie Ripperton at the moment - We should start up a revival movement for her absolutly killer tunes

 

[Superape]

Liz Fraser (Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil)
Scott Walker

 

[Kanda]

Edie Brickel

 

[Guineveretoo]

Cheryl Struder singing the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte with the orchestra of St Martin in the Fields.

Seriously, that's sublime!

 

[Bazza]

Horace Andy.

 

[killer b]

katherine jenkins was ace on emmerdale last night...

elsewhere, boy george has a great voice... i agree about marc almond, although i don't think he's very good technically, the boy gets so much other stuff into his voice. and i reckon alison krauss has a beautiful voice...

 

[Spandex]

Andy Fairley

A vocalist more than a singer, although you could say he was more a poet set to music than a vocalist. He had a brief musical career with the On-U Soundsystem in the late 80s/early 90s, working with Dub Syndicate, Keith Leblanc and Gary Clail, before seeming to disapear again (anyone know what happened to him?).

His delivery was that of a stoned shakesperian actor reading beat poetry that was often bizarre, frequently angry and political, but always interesting to listen to.

"Your head will become a crazy bulbous punchbag of sound"

 

[zenie]

JILL SCOTT!! (I love her)

Yeh her song 'he loves me' sends shivers down my spine

Paul McCartney
Ella Fitzgerald
Jewel

 

[May Kasahara]

Gillian Welch and Nina Nastasia are both sublime IMO; both manage to convey the purest emotion in everything they do, without any trickery, showboating, or anything other than just straightforward singing.

 

[gabi]

Thom Yorke's pretty impressive live...

as is, and i know ill get slated for this, but Matt Bellamy from muse has a healthy set of lungs behind that wall of noise coming from his guitar..

 

[Dubversion]

Andy Fairley

A vocalist more than a singer, although you could say he was more a poet set to music than a vocalist. He had a brief musical career with the On-U Soundsystem in the late 80s/early 90s, working with Dub Syndicate, Keith Leblanc and Gary Clail, before seeming to disapear again (anyone know what happened to him?).

His delivery was that of a stoned shakesperian actor reading beat poetry that was often bizarre, frequently angry and political, but always interesting to listen to.

"Your head will become a crazy bulbous punchbag of sound"

i have his System Vertigo album, can't say i play it much but it was good.

he died in the late 90s i think.

 

[Kanda]

Bono is pretty good, isn't he Dub?

 

[Superape]

I'll probably get rocks thrown at me, but I'll add Elvis.

Amazing range & power.

 

[Bazza]

Yeh her song 'he loves me' sends shivers down my spine

Loads of her songs do that for me. The way she sings about her men!!

That's it, the CD is going on now.

 

[Spandex]

he died in the late 90s i think.

 

[May Kasahara]

There's a guy call Jimmy Scott. Pretty old now, he's a jazz singer. He has Kallmann's syndrome which means his voice never broke. He has this amazing soprano voice. Saw him at Ronnie Scotts a few years ago. Sublime indeed!

Oooh thanks, you've just reminded me to stick some Jimmy Scott on my wish list. I've only heard the song on the Fire Walk With Me soundtrack, which is utterly mesmerising - definitely need more!

I am well jealous that you saw him live.

 

[Bazza]

Shame on us for leaving out Dusty Springfield.

 

[DeadManWalking]

i have his System Vertigo album, can't say i play it much but it was good.

he died in the late 90s i think.

I've got that same LP, also he did a track on Pay it all back 4 which merged into a twinkle brothers tune I used to always play out.

 

[DeadManWalking]

Love the woman from the Cowboy Junkies voice

 

[longdog]

Sinead O'Connor
Delores O'Rierdon
Marc Almond
Maggie Rielly
Andy Bell

 

[Wookey]

Alison Moyet, (and I like what she's doing now as Antony and the Johnsons)
Nina Simone
Barbra Streisand
Stevie Wonder
Farinelli (castrate, late recordings that didn't really capture his voice but still awesome)
Skin (Skunk Anansie)

Loads more, you end up being quite cliched when you do this because there's a fair bit of consensus about which vocalists truly stand out. Elvis, for example, most people would acknowledge had an astounding voice.

 

[Bazza]

Jeff Buckley had a good voice.

I'd also say that Lemar has an astounding voice. Just a shame he puts it to such songs.

 

[Iam]

Jeff Buckley was a warbler, purveyor of vocal histrionics. Always, always oversang everything.

Some MCs:

Inspectah Deck (Wu-Tang)
Ethic (Debaser)
One Be Lo (Binary Star/Subterraneous)
Vital (AML)
Brother Ali (Rhymesayers)