Did anybody watch Jools Holland tonight?

[Dmoney]

i aint heard the recorded version, but live on jools that song was just some pseudo-kate bush warbling by someone in some wacky clothes which came off as a poorly executed and utterly boring extension of dozen other similar artists. Even the backing bored looked bored to tears.

having an unusual singing voice does not make you as good as Kate Bush. This is the lesson.

[Afghan Dave]

I've never heard of Marina and the Diamonds till this thread, so I've looked at the myspace and currently have the first track, I'm Not A Robot on. I think it's an absolute belter :lol: Really, crackin' tune.

I'm going to download an album.

That's one very dry sense of humour you've got there....  :lol:

Or

You are a mentalist.  :?

[nfe]

I'm entirely serious. Though the second track on myspace wasn't at all as good.

Oh, and her voice is no more effected than the oodles of UK vocalists who insist on kidding on they're Americans whenever they sing.

[Dmoney]

haha, yeah I have to agree with that!
Our old vocalist sang in his native wirral.
Mainland europeans couldn't understand him at all, but its better than him being jarg american

[dave_mc]

i don't mind marina and the diamonds, though as philly says, the affected singing style (at least, I hope it's affected!) is annoying.

I forgot about the show, though, i'll watch it on friday i guess. or iplayer.

Oh, and her voice is no more effected than the oodles of UK vocalists who insist on kidding on they're Americans whenever they sing.

affected, not effected (is effected even a word? "lathered in effects", i guess). at least, I assume that's what philly means (it's what I mean, anyway).

[nfe]

Typo, it's what I meant too, as is surely obvious by the context.

[Philly Q]

Oh, and her voice is no more effected than the oodles of UK vocalists who insist on kidding on they're Americans whenever they sing.

affected, not effected (is effected even a word? "lathered in effects", i guess). at least, I assume that's what philly means (it's what I mean, anyway).

Yeah, I meant affected in the sense of "affectation".   nfe has a good point about people singing with American accents, but that's been going on for the whole history of popular music.   We've now got this whole slew of female vocalists (Winehouse, Pixie Lott, Paloma Faith, Duffy, Florence, Diana Vickers, this Marina bird etc etc.....) who sing in these strange whiney-little-girl voices or with accents that don't exist anywhere in the known world.  I don't hate them, but there are too many of them.

[nfe]

It's not really putting on an accent though is it, it's putting on a voice. You can still hear their own accents for the most part.

What they're doing isn't at all new either, let's be honest, it's just that a lot of people have rediscovered singers from 40+ years ago and are copying it and folk are in turn copying them, whereas folks have been putting on yank accents throughout.

I think putting on a voice for musical reasons is fine and dandy (thoygh som folks are always going to hate it, obviously), but forcing an accent drives me up the wall and reeks of insincerity.

[dave_mc]

Typo, it's what I meant too, as is surely obvious by the context.

touché. I didn't even notice the american thing at the end. :oops:

I'll take american accents over really obvious english ones for rock and pop, i hate those accents that people like arctic monkeys use (to clarify, I don't mean the accent, I mean when it comes through in the singing- that's an affectation too, your accent shouldn't really come through when you're singing anyway (apart from obvious things where they're pronounced differently, like rhotic versus non-rhotic etc.)). Plus, it depends on where you're from in the UK. I read a review about biffy clyro in the guardian (worst music coverage ever), and it complained about the "mid-atlantic" accent it was sung in. now, last time I checked, biffy clyro are from scotland, and their singing sounds to me like a scottish accent. :?

oh, and paloma faith is awesome.

EDIT: ironically enough, the bit that annoys me about marina is the more affected english accent, like the bit in hollywood "ak-tyoo-lee my name's marina"

[Philly Q]

They're all the spiritual descendants of Eartha Kitt.

[nfe]

Plus, it depends on where you're from in the UK. I read a review about biffy clyro in the guardian (worst music coverage ever), and it complained about the "mid-atlantic" accent it was sung in. now, last time I checked, biffy clyro are from scotland, and their singing sounds to me like a scottish accent. :?

Depends on what album you're listening to. I loathe Biffy Clyro, for various reasons, but a friend of mine is probably their biggest fan (had a front page spread in her local paper for managing to spend £10k in the space of a year on them :lol:) so I've heard all their albums repeatedly, and there's an overt mid-atlantic thing happening at times, and a very exagerrated, twee Ayrshire accent at others.

[Ted 'N' Leo]

Just checked out Marina on spotify...............................

Didn't even get through the full song, oh dear. Not my thing at all I'm afraid.

[Johnny Mac]

Some of these girl signers mentioned here are not really in the same ball park as this Marina girl, she is a bit too weird, probably just for the sake of it over actual content. We've had weird female vocalists in the past, Polly Styrene, from X-Ray Specs, the Bowowow singer Annabella Lwin ect Or is it us lot getting old and this bird is cool to her generation? I still think she's rubbish. What about those Gypsys? No one's mentioned them, at least they had some energy.

Dave, I can't see how its ok to sing in a false American accent is acceptable and singing in a UK regional accent isn't but you being the constant pedant, I can't say I'm surprised.

I think it sounds good having regional accents. Look at the punk scene, I can't imagine Dead Citys by The Exploited would sound very convincing if Wattie Buchan sang it in the style of Bobby Darin.

[Afghan Dave]

Some of these girl signers mentioned here are not really in the same ball park as this Marina girl,

I'm sure the deaf would really enjoy Marina, she is rather hot.  :lol:

[dave_mc]

Depends on what album you're listening to. I loathe Biffy Clyro, for various reasons, but a friend of mine is probably their biggest fan (had a front page spread in her local paper for managing to spend £10k in the space of a year on them :lol:) so I've heard all their albums repeatedly, and there's an overt mid-atlantic thing happening at times, and a very exagerrated, twee Ayrshire accent at others.

i'm just going by the songs I've heard, I'm not really a fan at all. :?

Dave, I can't see how its ok to sing in a false American accent is acceptable and singing in a UK regional accent isn't but you being the constant pedant, I can't say I'm surprised.

I think it sounds good having regional accents. Look at the punk scene, I can't imagine Dead Citys by The Exploited would sound very convincing if Wattie Buchan sang it in the style of Bobby Darin.

I didn't mean that at all. I just meant if we have to listen to put-on accents, I prefer the american ones, as they seem to work for rock. The rock I listen to, anyway. EDIT: surely if I'd meant what you thought I did, that was the opposite of pedantry? and your pointing it out was pedantic? :lol: