groups whose musical direction I can totally get behind, but whose style of vocals really puts me off

Screechy? Not hearing it tbh.

if only he'd followed his true destiny and become the tax attorney the world needed

Tuomas do you like action bronson ?

Never listened to him, sorry.

I do like Q-Tip though, so it's not like I feel high-voiced men can't become good rappers. But something about how Ghostface uses his voice is just grating.

Hot Chip a good call.

My immediate thought is Sugarcubes at the height of Einar's interjections.

Oh, probably Cake, too, although I haven't listened to much of their stuff specifically because of that. Dude's. Halt-ing. Cay-dence.

OHHHH. Hold Steady.

Pentatonix

Einar is the best part of the Sugarcubes, sorry Old Lunch

stunned at Tuomas' Ghostface antipathy too, specifically the assumption that everyone equally hears the same gratingness, rather than being "hey for some reason out of all the Wu MCs he just doesn't click for me *shrug*"

for me he's by far the standout Wu rapper, with more character and emotion and clarity and versatility to his voice than any other. but if people like Meth best for his charisma, or Rae for his half-involved, half-aloof sneering delivery, or Bobby for sounding most like a chew-safe rapper toy with a string in his back, I enjoy a prompt to pay attention to that rapper or characteristic next time I'm listening to a Clan recording.

yeah I loved Einar on the real too, he was just the Flavor Flav of the Sugarcubes

Ouch, guys. This really hurts.

fucked up
robert gilligan

love Hot Chip too, but the longer they go on, the more I wish they'd divide the vocals up a lot. (But: though Goddard and Grosvenor are both better singers with tones that suit the post-second-album stuff better, they don't have as distinct a character in their singing as Alexis does.)

A worse example of the same phenomenon is when Architecture In Helsinki went from being fragile, delicate indie to upbeat dance, and stopped having a bunch of vocalists divvying up parts and the main guy whispering reedily here and there, to main guy yelping like an aged cat with kidney stones in the middle and on top of everything all the time

Talk Talk

Ohhh, speaking of bands that split up the vocals: Rilo Kiley whenever Jenny Lewis isn't on mic.

Given that the Sugarcubes were the party band alter egos of Kukl, I think Einar was taking his cues from Fred Schneider. Who I have issues with, too.

excited to have my moment of being the one person to understand where tuomas is coming from. I like ghostface but he definitely has a shrillness to him

rappers are kind of an outlier in that their vocal style and delivery are linked, though? idk, I guess if ghost... ghosted for someone else, we could judge the lyrics independently of voice

I can get behind almost any voice if I like the music enough (see Cardiacs, Christian Vander, Ruins, metal in general tho I have learned to appreciate a lot of the vocals there). It's far more common that good voices are wasted on mediocre music.

Ruins!! I love Ruins

HEALTH is a good example of this. Love the music, can't stand the vocals. I still listen to them from time to time, but Death Magic would have possibly been my favorite album from last year if it were all instrumental.

practically every rock group from 90s onward

haha didnt even see tracer hand's post!

Oh, probably Cake, too, although I haven't listened to much of their stuff specifically because of that. Dude's. Halt-ing. Cay-dence.

Ahhh yeah, all-right, hoooooo

basically everybody who's come along wanting to sing mournful sad-guy indie in the years since will oldham picked up a microphone

i do like will oldham tho

The National
Fucked Up
Deafheaven
Radiohead
Xiu Xiu

There's a new band/new album (Omni - Deluxe) that had me thinking this exact thing yesterday. I love the album but don't really like the vocals and couldn't remember the last time I felt that way. Typically, good vocals are a requirement for enjoyment of music.

Hot Chip, AIH, "whisker vocal" bands -- agreed. Couldn't ever get into Will Oldham because I hate that style of singing. Feels so contrived. But other "contrived" vocals are fine (punk, metal, whatever) - just not the lonely sad wilderness whittling-in-a-union-suit fellas.

Most good metal bands.

― Three Word Username, Tuesday, July 19, 2016 4:53 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^^otfm^^^^

also Radiohead, Deerhoof

Someone always has to mention Deerhoof. I don't think there's a more fitting vocalist for them really, I mean what's the alternative?

no vocals?

there really should be more instrumental rock bands. There are not nearly enough good singers and lyricists for all these bands.

The Smiths

"there really should be more instrumental rock bands."

the mention of Lambchop above. put on one of their CDs the other day and the music sounded great and then the singing started...

this is a lot of atmospheric indie bands for me. and yet i love Low, so, i dunno, it's just a preference thing.

Einsturzende Neubauten.

With HEALTH I took the vocals to be an exercise in contrast with the backing, much like early Cranes. The overall effect reminds me of some more propulsive Wire tracks with Colin Newman at the vocals.

I can't think of a single example of this

I guess RHCP are a bad band made fucking unforgivably abominable by their vocalist

I definitely get this a bit but I don't think I've had it that badly since late '90s/early '00s where there was a load of great electronic acts with awful vocals (I'm not talking about "indie-friendly electrodribble", this was a bit before that, and tbh I didn't hate all of that stuff).

(Although actually now I'm thinking about it I think it really depended on yr definition, there was a lot of that stuff that I did abhor.)

A.R. Kane - the vocals are so poor, I found the records unendurable.

everything go crazy now

I guess RHCP are a bad band made fucking unforgivably abominable by their vocalist

RHCP could be good if it wasn't for Kiedis. The guy is an absolute fucking nightmare. (Though, in counter to the quote that's always brought up as a joke at RHCP's expense, Nick Cave is a fucking awful singer, too, and I'd probably like the Bad Seeds a lot more if, say, Blixa had been the vocalist.)

http://imgur.com/a/wLInt

http://imgur.com/a/wLInt

Beastie Boys

I wouldn't say I can totally get behind their musical direction, but Gentle Giant.

rappers are kind of an outlier in that their vocal style and delivery are linked, though?

Wait what?

I'd never heard of them before this thread but she has a very good voice.

a band that is some sort of test of your fortitude:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3KSpeiRPTc

speaking of which, i would totally own every Family album if they'd had another singer. but for fans he's the star of the show. i do love the music.

Skylar Spence

The Associates

Hood

― MaresNest, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 10:28 (six months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I can't agree with this at all, the sort of subdued and vulnerable nature of the guy's voice fits the music perfectly imo. Reminds me of the time a friend overheard me listening to Bark Psychosis and asked "why can't this guy really sing?" I don't think pelting it out would really benefit anything.

I don't mind either David Surkamp or Rob Chapman that much.
Don't like Jon Anderson much, he sounded a bit better on the early 00ies remasters, but still don't like him much.

Roger Chapman is awesome but I imagine he's fingernails down a blackboard for a lot of people.

i love gentle giant vocals. preferences are weird. i can imagine GG voice would drive some people buggy. just that stridency and straining at times.

Yes, I really don't like their main singer, ugly but not Roger Chapman-like compellingly ugly.

Also the other guy who sounds like Peter Hammill, aged 7 and a half.

Hood

― MaresNest, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 10:28 (six months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I can't agree with this at all, the sort of subdued and vulnerable nature of the guy's voice fits the music perfectly imo. Reminds me of the time a friend overheard me listening to Bark Psychosis and asked "why can't this guy really sing?" I don't think pelting it out would really benefit anything.

― WRONG TWELVE FUCK WITH (ultros ultros-ghali), Wednesday, June 21, 2017 2:42 PM (thirty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ultros Ultros ultra otm. Think it fits the music absolutely perfectly. I cannot envision any other voice to go with that specific whistful, mnelancholy, rural yet pastoral vibe, yet at times with real force lashing out, too.

(best band ever tbh)

i kinda dig that they would basically try and sound like EVERY prog band on one track. the original mashup artists.

x-post

although their first album came out in 1970 so they get some OG status.

there should really be a label devoted to putting out instrumental versions of classic prog albums. #milliondollaridea

are we talking about Gentle Giant? which singer sounds like PH? they all kind of sound alike to me.

Well there was three brothers in the band, that explains the similarity in the vocals. The keyboard player sang also in a sort of high, flutey, plummy voice.

... which sounds to me like a pre-pubescent PH.

My aversion to the vocal style in Bent Knee is obviously irrational. Perhaps I was looking for encouragement to keep trying. Maybe CBT would help.

3 Inches of Blood. the band is inspired. the vocalist sounds like a parody of a metal vocalist.

METAL definitely. The music is usually technically amazing and has some interesting things going on but I fucking hate gutural or screaming voices which is like 90% of all metal.

Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Billy Corgan, Joanna Newsom and others mentioned upthread make no sense to me. I know they have grating voices but it's really part of the appeal. Per example Waits' almost barking drunk hobo voice adds a very genuine touch to his lyrics about... well barking drunk hobos.

I fucking hate Tom Waits.

At last we agree on something.

i have beefheart for waits-style urges, the doors or bauhaus for cave-style urges, geddy lee for uhhhhhh corgan-style urges, and....i don't know if i have newsom urges. i guess i have folk and flutes for that.

get it, cave-style urges. bauhaus. i'm a riot.

tom waits has an incredible voice, y'all are high

i tried for years to care about birthday party/nick cave, i really did. because i'm supposed to love him. i mean he's a part of my gen-x era underground dna or whatever. but i only really like the song "the mercy seat". and "shivers". and blixa. and i only really like "shivers" when that woman sings it on the dogs in space soundtrack.

the jethro tull records i've heard have so much awesomeness on them, but ian anderson's singing totally fucks up the vibe for me most of the time, i'm truly sorry.

stand up, though, wow, what an album

This is The Cure all the way for me.

Black Country, New Road

before I even opened the thread I knew

The Beau Brummels
Lambchop

I'm bound and determined to keep listening to Emitt Rhodes's s/t until I get over this hump. It's so clearly my kind of thing, but the vocals just aren't landing right in the mix, for my ears.