Three unique voices deserve a closer listen

I wanted to write about a few songwriters who can be a bit of an acquired taste. These composers each have some very unique traits that can seem a bit strange a first listen, but that get more interesting and fascinating with every listen.

Anais Mitchell is a young woman from Vermont whose almost childlike voice could seem a bit strange at first listen, but half way through the song, you're suddenly and completely inside this intimate, vivid world she's created. The Brightness is a testament to the passion, breadth, and raw talent of this composer. It's easy to fall in love with a song like Shenandoah, with its timeless melody and delivery. But I really don't think I could pick a favorite from this album - every song is such a rare and unique jewel. From the old-school folk sound of Song of the Magi to the organic open-tuned groove of Hobo's Lullaby, to the spare piano/vocal Of a Friday Night, this is just a fantastic album. I prefer it to Hymns for the Exiled, which was a great album too. I just think that The Brightness adds greater breadth to Mitchell's already impressive ability to establish a real organic groove. There's great soul and a love of rhythm here.

Regina Spektor is a "Bronx girl by way of Moscow" who's really been getting a lot of attention over the last few years, and whose talent is worth every bit of it. She has a very unique singing style. Mitchell's voice is unique in its nature, while Spektor's voice is unique in its delivery. Her voice is very flexible, and she manages to project a lot of soul into what could only be described as a sort of quirky cadence. That her quirky delivery enhances the songs is the real beauty of Regina's talent - in a lesser songwriter her strange affectations could be a "fringe" badge. She manages to so convince us with her singing, that her delivery becomes like icing on a lovely cake. Her earliest stuff - and perhaps it still is, I don't really know - was apparently recorded in her home setup, with her playing all the parts. That gives me hope in a way. Not for success, I don't really think that's likely, but in hearing just how great a groove can be accomplished with homegrown equipment and one-man-band tracks. The solid sounds she is getting are inspiring. I need to go deeper into the woodshed! She has a new album out, far, but I've only heard a couple songs from it, so I can't judge the entire album, but Laughing With and Eet are really strong compositions. Spektor's songs tend to have odd, cryptic lyrics. There's a lot of really interesting lines in her songs, but sometimes I understand the "feel" of the song more than I really understand the meaning of the lyrics as a cohesive whole. I think that's because there is a cohesive whole, it's just somewhere beyond my grasping without perhaps many more listens.

My last entry into this particular category is Joanna Newsom. She sings and plays a full-sized orchestral harp. She's a remarkable player, and while her voice can seem quite odd at first, if you watch a video of her performing (like this) I think you might just fall under the spell of this strange, wonderful songwriter. She can really establish a deep pocket with just the harp and her voice. Really impressive! Likewise the lyrics unfold slowly over many listenings. What seems mystifying one day starts to gel into cohesion in a week, and becomes profoundly moving in a fortnight.

I would encourage anyone to watch this video all the way through, even if the singing doesn't grab you right away. There's some amazing instrumental bits in this performance. Newsom is a real virtuoso. It's strange but sort of fitting that Joanna Newsom, in this age of internet saturation, seems to be largely unconcerned with a sizable "official" presence on the web. It's not that songs or videos are hard to find, it's just that the official site is a bit bare. If you watch any interviews with this strange half-elf, you'll quickly see that her strange songs match her interesting personality perfectly, and that it's totally in character for her to be detached from even the medium that seemed once to be a detachment from traditional, more hierarchical media. If you develop a taste for Joanna Newsom's songs, you can't go wrong with The Milk-eyed Mender. It's a brilliantly executed recording: intimate, gorgeously toned playing complimenting a passionate voice. Her melodies are some of the most original I've ever heard. I'd love to see her perform live, the live videos I've watched were all very impressive.

I'll end with a favorite performance, from the same venue as the first video I showed here, this time a fantastic version of Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie: