Ordinary Angels

“I know some dizzy, easy heights
Don’t stop your life at the lights
Don’t be smart, be a beginner
Don’t be wrong, even when its right.”
from “Ordinary Angels”
- Frente!, “Marvin the Album”, 1994.

Yes, I’m 14 years late to discover this album, but well its better late than never. I bought this album this afternoon because I heard this song on the radio yesterday on the way home.

I really like this album. It’s a little quirky, pretty well-produced and the lyrics are beautifully honest. Listening to the album, I imagine sitting at a patio at the Australian countryside on a spring morning, having some freshly cooked bacon, eggs and pancakes. And Angie Hart’s vocals has a very unassuming quality about it. At times, she sounds crisp and clean and other times, unpolished and rough around the edges. I like it when singers sing like this.

Perhaps I have a weakness for female singers who write and perform their own music. I think women capture a particular sensitivity when they pen their lyrics; something that male artistes can’t seem to get across too well. To me at least.

Some of my favorite female artistes:
(all links open in iTunes so you can sample some songs)
Sheryl Crow
Rachael Yamagata
Annie Lennox
Eva Cassidy
Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders
Suzanne Vega
Edie Brickell
Sarah McLachlan

So tell me, which female artiste do you dig?