Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time

Rolling Stone just released their top 100 Greatest Singers of All Time; a list compiled by "industry insiders" such as Bruce Springsteen and Alicia Keys. They asked them to list their favorite singers from the rock era (which kind of contradicts "of All Time" in my opinion), but here is their list - who would you add/remove?:

1 Aretha Franklin
2 Ray Charles
3 Elvis Presley
4 Sam Cooke
5 John Lennon
6 Marvin Gaye
7 Bob Dylan
8 Otis Redding
9 Stevie Wonder
10 James Brown
11 Paul McCartney
12 Little Richard
13 Roy Orbison
14 Al Green
15 Robert Plant
16 Mick Jagger
17 Tina Turner
18 Freddie Mercury
19 Bob Marley
20 Smokey Robinson
21 Johnny Cash
22 Etta James
23 David Bowie
24 Van Morrison
25 Michael Jackson
26 Jackie Wilson
27 Hank Williams
28 Janis Joplin
29 Nina Simone
30 Prince
31 Howlin' Wolf
32 Bono
33 Steve Winwood
34 Whitney Houston
35 Dusty Springfield
36 Bruce Springsteen
37 Neil Young
38 Elton John
39 Jeff Buckley
40 Curtis Mayfield
41 Chuck Berry
42 Joni Mitchell
43 George Jones
44 Bobby "Blue" Bland
45 Kurt Cobain
46 Patsy Cline
47 Jim Morrison
48 Buddy Holly
49 Donny Hathaway
50 Bonnie Raitt
51 Gladys Knight
52 Brian Wilson
53 Muddy Waters
54 Luther Vandross
55 Paul Rodgers
56 Mavis Staples
57 Eric Burdon
58 Christina Aguilera
59 Rod Stewart
60 Björk
61 Roger Daltrey
62 Lou Reed
63 Dion
64 Axl Rose
65 David Ruffin
66 Thom Yorke
67 Jerry Lee Lewis
68 Wilson Pickett
69 Ronnie Spector
70 Gregg Allman
71 Toots Hibbert
72 John Fogerty
73 Dolly Parton
74 James Taylor
75 Iggy Pop
76 Steve Perry
77 Merle Haggard
78 Sly Stone
79 Mariah Carey
80 Frankie Valli
81 John Lee Hooker
82 Tom Waits
83 Patti Smith
84 Darlene Love
85 Sam Moore
86 Art Garfunkel
87 Don Henley
88 Willie Nelson
89 Solomon Burke
90 The Everly Brothers
91 Levon Helm
92 Morrissey
93 Annie Lennox
94 Karen Carpenter
95 Patti LaBelle
96 B.B. King
97 Joe Cocker
98 Stevie Nicks
99 Steven Tyler
100 Mary J. Blige

You can view the list with links to snippets about each singer here (they even have a playlist for each artist with a couple songs powered by Rhapsody): http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/24161972/page/103.

It raises the question of what makes a singer good? Pitch? Control? Range? Finesse? I'm more of the traditional school of thought that says pitch, control and range are more important than finesse; or in other words, substance over style - when it comes to vocals. I agree that Freddie Mercury is one of the greatest vocalists ever, but Bob Dylan? I think he's a great musician but I wouldn't have pegged him as "top ten greatest singers of all time". Some other noteable, curious ommissions: Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, Brad Delp, Pat Benatar, Diana Ross, Billy Joel, Sting...

My Top 10 Greatest Singers of All Time would be:

1. Brad Delp (of Boston)
2. Freddie Mercury
3. Stevie Wonder
4. The Beach Boys
5. Frank Sinatra
6. Don Henley (of The Eagles)
7. Frankie Valli
8. Michael Jackson
9. Elton John
10. Aretha Franklin

And some newbies: Sara Bareilles, Tom Chaplin (of Keane) and Anthony Kiedis (of Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Free Music: REI Sampler

REI is offering a free music sampler filled with music relating to winter sports. The songs can be downloaded here. It includes tracks by ten artists, a few of whom I'd heard (Persephone's Bees, Eagles of Death Metal) but more I hadn't heard of.

Half the fun of the sampler is the creative presentation. I had fun waiting for the site to load (how often does that happen?) and then found myself entranced by the gently falling snow while I sampled each track. For each track, you can read information about the band/artist, watch the music video, download wallpapers, and listen to a thirty second sample (and if you decide you like it, download the track).

I haven't listened to all the songs all the way through yet, but the ones that initially peaked my interest are "Fallen Snow (Redux)" by Au Revoir Simone, "Colorado" by The Rentals (another "the" band!), and "Bar Clearing Good Times," and instrumental track by Saxon Shore.

Music Makes Hearts Happy

If you are a music lover, you probably already know that listening to music you love makes you feel happy, but a new study presented at this week's meeting of the American Heart Association proves that listening to joyful music can dilate your blood vessels and make it easier for blood to flow through them. NPR's Talk of the Nation host Ira Flatow interviewed Dr. Miller of the University of Maryland Medical Center about the study on yesterday's "Science Friday" broadcast. You can listen to the audio here.

Just as music you love can help your heart health, listening to music you hate can make your blood vessels constrict. Dr. Miller also says that for "happy" music to have these positive effects on your health, it's important not to over expose. He recommends listening to a variety of music you enjoy or putting a two week break between listening to the same music, so that you don't become de-sensitized. So, if you're feeling stressed, do your heart a favor and go put on that album you love, right now.

Ingrid Michaelson at the Wonder Ballroom

Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of seeing the lovely Ingrid Michaelson perform at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland. I had seen Ingrid once before in Spokane, when she opened for Joshua Radin. She was great then, so I had little doubt that I would be impressed by her again. When I saw her in Spokane, she was accompanied only by Allie Moss, who plays guitar and back-up vocals, and it was great to see her in Portland with a full band. It added some variety and a much fuller sound to the show.

Ingrid is definitely worth seeing live, as she is not only a great musician, but a great performer, playfully interacting with the audience and band. In addition to playing her popular songs from Girls & Boys and Be OK, Ingrid covered Radiohead's "Creep" and did a very cute rendition of "Mele Kalikimaka" in honor of the holidays. (Which reminds me, she and Sara Bareilles recorded a Christmas song for the Hotel Cafe's Christmas album called "Winter Song." You can buy it on iTunes--I just did, and it's really beautiful. I know it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, but this isn't the kind of Christmas song you'll get sick of hearing. There is a video of them recording the song on youtube). I was particularly impressed by the show closing song, a yet unreleased song called "Everybody" (at least I think that's what it was called), which will hopefully find it's way onto her next album.

The show was opened by two British men who were both very enjoyable in very different ways--David Ford and Newton Faulkner. David Ford (whose video I'll post below) sounds like a man who has had a lot of bad breakups (or at least one really bad one). His songs are mournful and angry and beautiful, and I like them a lot. He reminds me a bit of David Gray or James Blunt, and I don't think it's just because they're all British. The unique thing about Ford is that he uses a looping technique to record and replay various instruments and vocals. It is pretty amazing to watch him run around the stage as a one-man band. I'm not exactly sure how to explain it well (Andrew Bird does the same thing, if you've ever seen him live), so here's a video that shows exactly what he does:



Cool, huh? Ford ended his set with a beautiful number called, "Song for the Road" about being homesick and missing his wife in England when he's on tour. If anyone can help me out here, I'd really appreciate it--I know I've heard this song before somewhere, but for the life of me, can't figure out where. I've googled it, but I can't seem to find any answers. Maybe it's from a soundtrack? A commercial? I don't know, but here it is:



Oh, and I mentioned Newton Faulkner, who was also really impressive, but since this post is already unbearably long, I'll write more about him later.

perhaps the most subjective list I've made...

No, definitely the most subjective list I've made. I scrolled through my iTunes library in cover flow and chose my favorite album covers. Some are minimalist, some are thematic; all have good composition and colors; I'm not a fan of obscure abstract art or photos of bands standing in front of buildings (see below).

But I am a fan of creative cover art that intrigues and embodies the essence of the album. These 10 are my favorites (and they're also good albums) - stay tuned for my least favorite next week - you can also click on the images for a larger version:

Ten More "The" Bands

I like all of Kyle's "the" bands, and I didn't know if I'd be able to find ten more that I love. Turns out that I like a lot of "the" bands. Here's ten more to check out.

1. The Shins - So Says I
2. The Rocket Summer - TV Family
3. The Wreckers - Hard to Love You
4. The Dandy Warhols - We Used to be Friends
5. The Decemberists - July, July!
6. The Eagles - Hotel California
7. The Weepies - Takes So Long
8. The Format - Time Bomb
9. The Frames - Falling Slowly
10. The Pale (Pacific) - Gravity Gets Things Done

of course everyone knows John Mayer...

When my wife and I saw John Mayer at the Gorge a few summer's back, I told everyone I was only going to see Ben Folds open - which was partly the truth, the other part is: I think John Mayer is a phenomenal songwriter and guitarist and I'm particularly fond of his most recent studio release Continuum. Nevertheless, Ben Folds said it best when he introduced John saying, "I knew John when he was still just a chump ass". He probably still is, but I try not to judge musicians on their personalities.

Anyway, this is all to say if the only John Mayer you've heard is "Your Body is a Wonderland" or "Bigger Than My Body" or even "Waiting on the World to Change" - basically anything they play on the radio - you're missing out big time. You might not believe me when I say I think John Mayer has more in common with Norah Jones than Britney Spears; and I think he's more jazz and blues than pop. Have a listen to these tracks, one from each studio album:







Then there's the John Mayer Trio (John, bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan) whose album Try! is just awesome. Recommended tracks are: "Wait Until Tomorrow", "Gravity" and Ray Charles cover "I Got a Woman".