For varying definitons of "upset" and "piano"
November 21, 2014 11:30 AM Subscribe
My favorite musical genre boils down to "upset women with pianos." Where can I find more of it?
Things I like: impassioned singing that's artful/stylized rather than shouty; female voices; experimentation and unusual subjects; pianos and synths. I tend to like artists that get compared to Tori Amos and Kate Bush, though by some messed-up vagary of taste, neither of them have ever done much for me.
Examples of stuff that hits the sweet spot, from its roughest to its smoothest extreme:
Kristeen Young, The Depression Contest
Amanda Palmer, Astronaut
Regina Spektor, Us
Vienna Teng, Never Look Away
I know about, but am looking for something hookier and more excitable than:
Saint Vincent
My Brightest Diamond
Grimes
I know about, but am looking for something less unreachably experimental than:
Diamanda Galas
I know about, but am looking for something less shouty/punk/guitar-driven than:
Screaming Females
The Slits
I know about, but am looking for something less poppy than:
Icona Pop
Charli XCX
I know about and already like, but am looking for something less sleek and cool than:
CHVRCHES
Portishead
I also know about and already like, without picky little caveats:
Florence and the Machine
Marina and the Diamonds
The more ballad-y reaches of Lady Gaga (e.g. "Dope")
Things I like: impassioned singing that's artful/stylized rather than shouty; female voices; experimentation and unusual subjects; pianos and synths. I tend to like artists that get compared to Tori Amos and Kate Bush, though by some messed-up vagary of taste, neither of them have ever done much for me.
Examples of stuff that hits the sweet spot, from its roughest to its smoothest extreme:
Kristeen Young, The Depression Contest
Amanda Palmer, Astronaut
Regina Spektor, Us
Vienna Teng, Never Look Away
I know about, but am looking for something hookier and more excitable than:
Saint Vincent
My Brightest Diamond
Grimes
I know about, but am looking for something less unreachably experimental than:
Diamanda Galas
I know about, but am looking for something less shouty/punk/guitar-driven than:
Screaming Females
The Slits
I know about, but am looking for something less poppy than:
Icona Pop
Charli XCX
I know about and already like, but am looking for something less sleek and cool than:
CHVRCHES
Portishead
I also know about and already like, without picky little caveats:
Florence and the Machine
Marina and the Diamonds
The more ballad-y reaches of Lady Gaga (e.g. "Dope")
Best answer: Rachael Yamagata? Doesn't do it for me, but I know a lot of other Vienna Teng fans who also like her.
posted by dorque at 11:43 AM on November 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by dorque at 11:43 AM on November 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Maybe too poppy, but Kate Nash?
posted by murphy slaw at 11:43 AM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by murphy slaw at 11:43 AM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Maybe the piano-y songs of Lisa Germano? Maybe not excitable enough.
posted by Coatlicue at 11:44 AM on November 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Coatlicue at 11:44 AM on November 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I agree with Cosine; Sarah Slean is who I was going to recommend. I went through a period in the early '00s when I only listened to her album "Blue Parade" and her self-titled EP.
Tracks I'd recommend off the top of my head: Playing Cards With Judas, Me & Jerome, Twin Moon.
Also, I'm going to throw Ani DiFranco out there. Your description reminds me of some of her more anguished turn-of-this-century stuff: Rock, Paper Scissors; Marrow; Providence.
posted by purpleclover at 11:49 AM on November 21, 2014
Tracks I'd recommend off the top of my head: Playing Cards With Judas, Me & Jerome, Twin Moon.
Also, I'm going to throw Ani DiFranco out there. Your description reminds me of some of her more anguished turn-of-this-century stuff: Rock, Paper Scissors; Marrow; Providence.
posted by purpleclover at 11:49 AM on November 21, 2014
Best answer: You've probably heard Fiona Apple, but if you didn't like her in the past and haven't heard the new album, I feel there's some very worthwhile stuff on it!
posted by hollyholly at 11:54 AM on November 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by hollyholly at 11:54 AM on November 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
Wait, wait, wait, what about Fiona Apple?
posted by purpleclover at 11:56 AM on November 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by purpleclover at 11:56 AM on November 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you, everybody so far! I can't wait to check all of this stuff out. Purpleclover, I'm not a huge Ani DiFranco fan, but you named the two songs of hers that I love, so I'm definitely going to look up the third.
I do like Fiona Apple, yes! I don't know how I forgot her. Have not heard the new one yet and will have to get on that immediately.
posted by thesmallmachine at 11:57 AM on November 21, 2014
I do like Fiona Apple, yes! I don't know how I forgot her. Have not heard the new one yet and will have to get on that immediately.
posted by thesmallmachine at 11:57 AM on November 21, 2014
If it's going to be Ani then it has to be Living in Clip, it is a masterpiece, the best live album I know (I generally hate live albums). Her studio work leaves me feeling little, Living in Clip moves me to tears.
posted by Cosine at 12:00 PM on November 21, 2014
posted by Cosine at 12:00 PM on November 21, 2014
Feist has never been and will never be upset (she's great tho)
posted by Cosine at 12:01 PM on November 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Cosine at 12:01 PM on November 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Seconding Neko Case, and also maybe Charlotte Martin.
posted by therewithal at 12:11 PM on November 21, 2014
posted by therewithal at 12:11 PM on November 21, 2014
Best answer: Can guitars count sometimes because hello Martha Wainwright. And the mid-later PJ Harvey, natch.
Marnie Stern??? (More aggro than you want, but she's SO AMAZING.)
In variants you might check out new wave band Slow Children, and maybe pop/weirdo band Kenickie? You might get into some solo Eleanor Friedberger too.
You might get into the Mary Halvorson Quintent. (See if you like Andy Stott too? He works with Alison Skidmore.)
Maybe the solo Beth Gibbons record for the more moody moments.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 12:28 PM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Marnie Stern??? (More aggro than you want, but she's SO AMAZING.)
In variants you might check out new wave band Slow Children, and maybe pop/weirdo band Kenickie? You might get into some solo Eleanor Friedberger too.
You might get into the Mary Halvorson Quintent. (See if you like Andy Stott too? He works with Alison Skidmore.)
Maybe the solo Beth Gibbons record for the more moody moments.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 12:28 PM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Thought of some more: Emm Gryner, Michelle Cross, Sharon Van Etten.
On preview, agree that some PJ Harvey might fit.
posted by therewithal at 12:35 PM on November 21, 2014
On preview, agree that some PJ Harvey might fit.
posted by therewithal at 12:35 PM on November 21, 2014
Yes, Fiona Apple is THE upset woman with a piano. Her lyrics are astonishingly Virgoan and so literary ( and therefore again very Virgoan). She's very Virgoan with a sun, moon and mercury in Virgo. I do not know of anyone who describes so well how difficult life can be for a Virgo. It's marvelous.
It's funny how often I hear songs with hints of Kate Bush in them (a very good thing) but none come to mind off the top of my head aside from the fact that some Joanna Newsom sounds very Kate Bushy but then she's already been mentioned.
posted by Blitz at 12:40 PM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
It's funny how often I hear songs with hints of Kate Bush in them (a very good thing) but none come to mind off the top of my head aside from the fact that some Joanna Newsom sounds very Kate Bushy but then she's already been mentioned.
posted by Blitz at 12:40 PM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Nthing PJ Harvey, especially her albums Is This Desire? and White Chalk. White Chalk instantly leaped to mind the moment I read your question.
Emilie Autumn could be up your alley, too.
posted by cosmicbeast at 12:51 PM on November 21, 2014
Emilie Autumn could be up your alley, too.
posted by cosmicbeast at 12:51 PM on November 21, 2014
On preview, agree that some PJ Harvey might fit.
Indeed, White Chalk was a whole record of being upset with a piano, basically. (God, 7 years ago already?)
'I freed myself from my family/I freed myself from work/I freed myself, I freed myself/And remained alone'.
posted by robself at 12:52 PM on November 21, 2014
Indeed, White Chalk was a whole record of being upset with a piano, basically. (God, 7 years ago already?)
'I freed myself from my family/I freed myself from work/I freed myself, I freed myself/And remained alone'.
posted by robself at 12:52 PM on November 21, 2014
Best answer: Jane Lui is a possibility, perhaps? Also, thank you for finding a name for my favorite musical genre.
posted by pemberkins at 12:53 PM on November 21, 2014
posted by pemberkins at 12:53 PM on November 21, 2014
On the synthy side of things (and highly stylized vocals), I strongly recommend Austra. Feel It Break is one of my favorite albums of the past 10 years.
posted by otolith at 1:04 PM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by otolith at 1:04 PM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Patty Griffin springs to mind, but she might be a bit mellow for you.
posted by Solomon at 1:05 PM on November 21, 2014
posted by Solomon at 1:05 PM on November 21, 2014
My daughter mixes in a lot of Lana Del Rey with Regina Spektor and Marina&theDiamonds on her playlists, e.g. Fucked My Way to the Top, Ultraviolence.
posted by drlith at 1:08 PM on November 21, 2014
posted by drlith at 1:08 PM on November 21, 2014
Best answer: There's something in the Boston/Camberville water. I know four Massachusetts locals who are AMAZING at this. I'll probably remember some I missed after posting this.
Jaggery! Almost all their music is streaming on their website. Here are two videos: Oh, Scorpio and Sea of Sideways.
A little smoother but no less intense: Molly Zenobia (warning, this site has embedded audio) Here's a live performance of Copperplate.
The accomplished and adorable Mary Bichner/Box 5 Here's Throw Stones and a live cover of Radiohead's 2+2=5
Reigning badass Lainey Schooltree Here's a live version of Let's Dance.
I can't favorite this question hard enough.
posted by prewar lemonade at 1:40 PM on November 21, 2014
Jaggery! Almost all their music is streaming on their website. Here are two videos: Oh, Scorpio and Sea of Sideways.
A little smoother but no less intense: Molly Zenobia (warning, this site has embedded audio) Here's a live performance of Copperplate.
The accomplished and adorable Mary Bichner/Box 5 Here's Throw Stones and a live cover of Radiohead's 2+2=5
Reigning badass Lainey Schooltree Here's a live version of Let's Dance.
I can't favorite this question hard enough.
posted by prewar lemonade at 1:40 PM on November 21, 2014
Also, while I can't stand her personally, I would be remiss not to note that Amanda Palmer really nails this genre. See old Dresden Dolls' song Half Jack.
posted by prewar lemonade at 2:04 PM on November 21, 2014
posted by prewar lemonade at 2:04 PM on November 21, 2014
Laura Nyro sort of invented this genre.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:08 PM on November 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:08 PM on November 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
Whoops, you already mentioned Amanda Palmer in your question. But I forgot the absolutely outstanding slow-burn wonder that is Xenia Rubinos (not from MA, that I know of.) Here's Cherry Tree, Help and Hair Receding.
She's more than a bit Joanna Newsome-y but if you can work with that, Heather Christian and the Arbornauts are also worth a listen.
posted by prewar lemonade at 2:49 PM on November 21, 2014
She's more than a bit Joanna Newsome-y but if you can work with that, Heather Christian and the Arbornauts are also worth a listen.
posted by prewar lemonade at 2:49 PM on November 21, 2014
You probably already know her, and this may be older music than you're looking for, but it seems a shame not to mention Nina Simone.
posted by bfields at 2:28 PM on November 22, 2014
posted by bfields at 2:28 PM on November 22, 2014
I don't think this exactly gets what you're going for, but a smoother, folkier cousin to what you are looking for might be Anais Mitchell, who publishes on Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe label:
1984
Changer
Your Fonder Heart
posted by onlyconnect at 11:18 PM on November 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
1984
Changer
Your Fonder Heart
posted by onlyconnect at 11:18 PM on November 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
I really like The Tiny's first album, Close Enough, especially this song. (I'm not so fond of their later albums — too much synth and not enough cello.)
do you know Owen Pallett? he's suspiciously not a lady but I feel he would fit here anyway.
I love Arlt so much. or rather, je les aime beaucoup, for reasons that will become readily apparent once you follow the link.
posted by spindle at 9:18 PM on November 23, 2014
do you know Owen Pallett? he's suspiciously not a lady but I feel he would fit here anyway.
I love Arlt so much. or rather, je les aime beaucoup, for reasons that will become readily apparent once you follow the link.
posted by spindle at 9:18 PM on November 23, 2014
Given your description I could not believe you proceeded to eliminate Tori Amos... have you really, really listened to Little Earthquakes? If not, please reconsider.
Not mentioned yet: Christina Perri.
posted by Crazycatlady at 5:45 PM on November 25, 2014
Not mentioned yet: Christina Perri.
posted by Crazycatlady at 5:45 PM on November 25, 2014
Response by poster: I have! I've known Little Earthquakes well for more than a decade, and I've always admired it and never warmed to it. I agree that it seems impossible, but If I understood how taste worked, I'd probably be a lot richer than I am.
posted by thesmallmachine at 7:19 PM on November 26, 2014
posted by thesmallmachine at 7:19 PM on November 26, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Rash at 11:35 AM on November 21, 2014