Blog

Jazz/Blues_like

Esbjörn Svensson Trio
Erik Truffaz
Vital Information
The Bad Plus
Aziza Mustafa Zadeh
The Blues Brothers
Tord Gustavsen Trio
Marcus Miller
Ron Carter
Steps Ahead
Spyro Gyra
Horacio 'El Negro' Hernandez
Mike Stern
Lee Konitz
Spring String Quartet
Chicago Underground Quartet
Wax Poetic


Rock/Metal_like

Faith No More
Dream Theater
Pain of Salvation
Opeth
Fates Warning
Queensrÿche
Metallica
Megadeth
Testament
Kreator
Quo Vadis
Joe Satriani
Blind Guardian
Helloween
Deep Purple
Dio
Hughes Turner Project
Blackmore's Night
Whitesnake
Guns N' Roses
Sebastian Bach (with Steve DiGiorgio)
Circle II Circle
Kevin Moore
God Is an Astronaut
Evergrey
Enchant
Vanden Plas
Cynic
Down
Orphaned Land
Therion
Doro
L.A. Guns
Mezarkabul
Kurban
Nekropsi


Pop/Others_like

Madonna
Röyksopp
Kraftwerk
Sting
Travis
Garbage
Elthon John
Brazzaville
Gevende
Anjelika Akbar
Vassilis Saleas
Burhan Öçal & The Trakya All Stars
Hüsnü Şenlendirici

(Should have posted this here sooner)

At work, we’ve been doing Desert Island Discs and this week is my turn. I’ll be buggered if I’m writing all this lot up and not turning it into a blog post.

I win. No seriously, I win this game because I have had a theme tune written for me. Well, technically it was written for my blog, oh okay, it was inspired by the name of my blog. What? This isn’t a contest and I can’t win? Oh. Sorry.


According to my mother my first musical experience was dancing (or being danced, as I was baby at the time) round the room to T Rex. Was I too young to be influenced by this? Or did it somehow generate an interest in dinosaurs rather than glam rock? Lucky escape.


Adam and the Ants– Stand and Deliver
I was torn between a classic Ants track or something from his later albums. In the end memories of Saturday morning’s spent watching this video on Multi-Coloured Swap Shop won the day (but if you’ve only heard his old material check out the 1995 album “Wonderful”).


Drill Queen – Born Depressed
Justin is an information architect with whom I worked on several projects; he also played guitar for Drill Queen.


Traveling Wilburys – Tweeter and the Monkey Man
Just about the only bits of vinyl from my dad’s music collection that I copied to tape, and one of the few bands that Lettice and I both love. It looks like the record label have been at YouTube so we’re lucky to find this animation:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2cb4t_tweeter-and-the-monkey-man_creation

Moxy Früvous - My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors
Moxy Früvous were a cool, funny, somewhat cheesey Canadian band who I was introduced to via two friends at university. If you saw the groaning bookshelves in our flat you’d know why this song always makes me smile.


Cerys Matthews – Oxygen
I can’t sing. I really can’t sing. Neither can my brother, though as churchgoer he makes up with gusto for what he lacks in aptitude. Clearly we got our singing genes from the English or Swedish parts of our family not the Welsh.


Pulp – Mis-Shapes
The end of the summer of 1995. On the news it’s Blur vs Oasis. But, before Blair, there was a much better third way.


Aziza Mustafa Zadeh – Ay Dilber
Stiff Little Fingers – Tin Soldiers
Hands up who wanted (or even expected) to hear some Azerbaijani Jazz today? Well, you’re out of luck as I can’t find it anywhere on the web. So have some classic punk instead.


Tanita Tikaram – And I Think Of You
The reason I’m here. Sort of. I created my first home page in 1995 (personal home pages, remember them? Like Facebook profiles but you had to do all the work yourself) and wanted to do a bit more. So looking around the nascent web for the various artists I liked I spotted that Tanita didn’t have any fan pages dedicated to her. The resulting site helped to get me my first job at a web design agency.


Book
Assuming I’m going to be here for a while then I want something fairly long. An old favourite or something I’ve never gotten around to? I think I’ll go for the latter and take Peter Ackroyd’s London: The Biography to remind myself of home.

Luxury Item
A brewing kit. Let’s see which of the fruit on the island makes the best booze.

TOP 15 MUSICIANS FROM CAUCASIAN COUNTRIES

1. System of a Down - Armenia - Alternative Metal
2. Aram Khachaturian - Armenia - Classical
3. Michel Legrand -Armenia - Jazz
4. Charles Aznavour - Armenia - Chanson
5. Djivan Gasparyan - Armenia - World Music
6. Katie Melua - Georgia - Vocal Jazz
7. Ruhi Su - Armenia - Folk
8. Aziza Mustafa Zadeh - Azerbaijan - Vocal Jazz
9. Udi Hrant - Armenia - Classical
10. Maria Laforet - Armenia - Folk Pop
11. Kemani Tatyos Efendi - Armenia - Classical
12. Elisabeth Leonskaja - Georgia - Classical
13. Hamlet Gonashvili - Georgia - Folk
14. Giya Kancheli - Georgia - Classical
15. Vagif Mustafazadeh - Azerbaijan - Jazz

klasik , caz ya da punk. ya da indie. deneysel. içinde biraz folklorik müzik oldu mu leziz oluyor şahsi kanaatimce. asırların birikimi midir , nedir sırrı bilmiyorum.. ama vazgeçilmez bi tadı var. ve her ülkenin dilinde olmalı söylenen. çünkü her melodiye yakışan bi dil de var aynı zamanda. bu çeşitliliğin hiç bitmemesini ister , bi kaç isim vermeye geçerim..

balkanlardan ilk akla gelir Goran Bregovic, Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra , bol şamatalı grup Gogol Bordello .. ama bir de ben de geç keşfettim ki Béla Bartók var mesela, bu adama bi
kulak verin. ömrünü harcamış ,yıllarını. en azından
Romanian Folk Dances tiz dinlene. Zülfü Livaneli'nin de bazı bestelerinde bartok tan esinlendiğini hissediyorum desem kendisine iftira etmek gibi olmaz sanırım :) benim hissiyatımdır bu sadece..

yeri gelmişken zülfü yü de ayrı severiz.. onun da yeri var aslında burada.

bir de Beirut ve son zamanlarda tanıştığım Fanfare Ciocărlia. Aslında duvara karşı filminde duyduğum bi grupmuş , ben araştırmamıştım. rastgele buldum yeniden. Iag Bari yi duyunca zıpladım. sevgim arttı :)

önce balkanlarla başladı benimki. neden bizim ezgileri alıp da klasik müzikle ya da cazla filan bişiler deneyen yok yahuu derken. hoop Aziza Mustafa Zadeh çıktı karşıma.

sonracım derken günlerden bugün..rusya dan Zulya ablamız, avustrulyalı çocuklar Children of the Underground ile bi albümle çıktı karşıma ki dinlenesi olmuş.

daha çok var , ama işlerim de var. içimden bunları böle derlemek ve tembellik etmek geldi. lakin bu kadar şimdilik..


başka isimleri ekleyenler olursa tadından yenmez diyor, mektubuma burda son veriyorumm..

çüzzz

Aziza Mustafa Zadeh
Holiday Blessings

ARTIST / GRADE
!!! +++++
16 Horsepower +++
808 State +++
A Long Winter ++
A Perfect Circle +++
Aerial M +++
Aerodrom ++
Afion* +++++
Air +++++
Alec Empire4 +++
Alice in Chains
Amadou & Miriam4 +++
Allman Brothers Band ++
Ambulette +++
Amon Tobin4 +++
Amy Winehouse4 +++
Analena ++
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead +++
Animal Collective4 +++++
Animals ++++
Animatori +++++
Antony and the Johnsons ++++
Aphex Twin +++
Aphrodite ++
Architecture in Helsinki +++++
Arctic Monkeys +++
Aretha Franklin +++++
Asian Dub Foundation* +++
Asobi Seksu4 +++
At the Drive-In ++++
Ataxia +++
Atheist Rap +++
Athlete +++
Atomsko Sklonište +
Au Pairs****
Au Revoir Simone +++++
Audioslave ++
Ayo +++
Aziza Mustafa Zadeh ++++
Azra +++
Baby Mammoth +++
Bad Brains +++
Bajaga +++
Banco de Gaia** ++++
Band of Horses4 +++
Barry White -
Bat for Lashes*** +++++
Beady Belle +++
Beatallica ++
Bebé na Volé** +++
Beck +++++
Beirut +++++
Belfast Food ++
Bell Orchestre ++
Belle and Sebastian ++++
Big Black ++
Bijelo Dugme ++
Billy Idol ++++
Birthday Party ++++
Bjork +++++
Black Mountain4 +++
Bloc Party ++++
Blonde Redhead ++++
Blondie +++++
Bloodhound Gang4 ++
Blues Brothers ++
Bo4 +++
Boards of Canada +++
Bob Dylan ++++
Bob Marley +++
Bonnie “Prince” Billy4 +++
Bonobo +++
Boris4 ++
Bregma +++
Brian Eno4 +++
British Sea Power4 +++
Broadcast ++++
Broken Social Scene ++++
Buldožer ++++
Burst +
Bush +++
Calexico +++
Can +++++
Canned Heat +++++
Cannibal Corpse +++
Cansei de Ser Sexy +++++
Captain Beefheart +++++
Caribou4 ++++
Cat Power +++++
Cezar +
Chang Ffos +++
Chantal Goya4 ++++
Cloud Cult +++
Coal Chamber +++
CocoRosie +++++
Cocteau Twins ++++
Cog ++
Creedence Clearwater Revival +++
Crni Petar +
Crosby Stills Nash and Young ++++
Current 93*** +++
Dado Topić +++
Dakota Dakota +++
Dalek I Love You4 ++++
Dalia +++
Damon & Naomi4 ++
Darko Rundek +++++
David Bowie +++++
David Pajo ++
Davorin i Bogovići +
Dead Kennedys ++++
Deadboy and the Elephantmen ++
Death Disco ++++
Death From Above 1979 +++
Death in Vegas +++
Debeli Precjednik ++
Deep Purple +++
Del Arno Band
Denali +++
Denis & Denis +++++
Desert Sessions ++++
Devendra Banhart +++++
Devo +++++
DeVotchKa +++++
Dino Dvornik +++
Dinosaur Jr. +++
Dire Straits +++
Disciplin A Kitschme +
Disciplina kičme ++++
DJ Shadow ++++
djeca
Dntel ++++
Do Make Say Think +++
Dolores O’Riordan +++
Domaća filmska muzika -
Don Caballero ++++
Downset ++
Drago Mlinarec ++
Drive Like Jehu ++
Drugi način +++
Dunja Knebl* +++++
ĐAVOLI ++++
Đorđe Balašević ++++
Đubrivo +++
Earth4 ++
Echo and the Bunnymen ++++
Edith Piaf4 ++++
Einstürzende Neubauten4 +++
EKV +++++
Electrelane ++++
Electic Gypsyland4 ++++
Električni Orgazam ++++
Elvis J. Kurtović ++
Elvis Perkins4 ++
Elvis Presley +++
Elvis Stanić Group +++
Emir and the Frozen camels* +
En Face -
Enon +++
Entrance ++++
Eric Clapton +++
Esma Redžepova4 +++
Eric Satie ++++
Eurytmics -
Ex Models4 +++
Explosions in the Sky +++
Faith No More ++++
Fanfare Ciocarlia*** ++++
Faust4 +++
Fear Factory +
Feist +++++
Fila Brazilia +++
Film +++
Flying Canyon*** +++
Frank Zappa +++++
From Monument to Masses ++
Frou Frou +++++
Fu Manchu ++
Fugazi +++++
Gang of Four ++++
Gatuzo4 +++
Giant Squid ++
Gile
Gilles Peterson** +++
gloft** +++
Glucifer ++
Gnarls Barkley ++
God Is an Astronaut
Goldfrapp4 ++++
Goldie Lookin Chain +++++
Gong +++++
Goran Bare ++++
Gori uši Winnetou ++
Goribor4 +++++
Gorillaz +++
Grand Archives4 ++
Grateful Dead +++++
Grč ++
Green Day ++
Grinderman +++++
Grupa 220 +++
Guided by Voices +++
Guns’N’Roses +++
Gustafi ++++
Gužva u 16-ercu +++
Hair +++++
Half Japanese ++++
Hali Gali Halid ++
Handsome Furs4 +++
Happy Mondays** +++
Haustor +++++
High Places4 ++++
Hipi* ++++
Hladno Pivo ++
Howling Bells +++++
Ibrica Jusić +++
Idoli +++++
Iggy Pop +++++
Igra Staklenih Perli ++++
I’m Not There Sountrack4 +++
Incubus ++++
Indexi ++++
Interpol ++++
INXS ++++
inje4 +++
Iron & Wine ++++
Isis
Isobel Campbell4 +++++
ITD Band +++
Jach’a Uru +
Jakob
Jamie T ++++
Jana Hunter* ++++
Jandek4 +++
JANE’S ADDICTION +++++
Jarboli +++
Jay Munli4 +++
Jefferson Airplane +++++
Jesus Lizard +++
Jethro Tull +++
Jimi Hendrix +++++
Jinx +++++
Joanna Newsom4 +++++
Joe Lally +++
John Coltrane ++++
John Frusciante ++
John Power4 ++
Johnny Cash ++++
Josipa Lisac +++++
Joy Division +++
June Of ‘44 ++++
Jura Stublić +++
Justice*** ++
Kaki King4 +++
Karen O ++++
Kasabian4 +++
Katie Melua +++++
Kawasakii 3p ++
King Crimson ++++
Kiril Džajkovski +++
Kitchens & Bathrooms ++
Kittie +++
klanje ljudi* ++
Klaxons**** +++++
Kocani Orkestar*** ++++
Kojoti +++++
Korn +++
KRSh +++
KUD Idijoti +++
kukuriku street ++++
Labaratorija Zvuka +++
Lačni Franc +++
Lado ++++
Laka4 ++++
Laki Pingvini ++
Lali Puna +++
Lamb ++++
Lanterna ++
Laufer ++++
Laura Marling4 +++
Laurie Anderson4 +++
Lazlo Bane4 +++
LCD Soundsystem** ++++
Le Tigre4 +++++
Leave Me Alone4 +
Leb i Sol +++
Led Zeppelin +++++
Leonard Cohen ++++
Les Savy Fav ++++
Let 3 +++++
Letu štuke +++
Lidija Bajuk +++++
lidya lunch4 +++
Lightning Dust4 +++++
Lira Vega*** +++
little radojica +++
Livio Morosin band
loš primjer ++++
Lou Reed ++++
Loveliescrushing4 +++
Low +++
Luis
Lunar
Lvmen ++++
M83 +++
Machine Head +++
Magnum +
Majke +++++
makazoruki4 +++
Mala antologija hrvatskog rocka +
mance ++++
Mandalay ++++
Manu Chao +++
Marah4 ++++
Mariee Sioux4 +++
Marylin Manson ++
Marissa Nadler4 +++
Mark Hollis4 ++++
Mark Lanegan +++++
Massive Attack ++++
Mastodon +
Mazzy Star4 ++++
Meanwhile, Back In Comunist Russia +
Melvins ++
Mercury Rev4 +++
Meri Trošelj4 ++
Metessi +
Microfilm ++++
Mika Male4 +++
Minea +++++
Minor Threat +++++
Misfits +
Miss Kittin4 ++++
Mision of Burma ++
Mizar ++
Modest Mouse +++++
Mogwai +++
Moloko* ++
Morcheeba +++++
Motus
Movietone
Mr. Bungle ++++
Mravi** +++
Mrtvi Kanal ++
Mudvayne ++++
Mugison4 +++
múm +++++
Murderdolls +
My Bloody Valentine ++
My Brightest Diamond4 +++
My Morning Jacket +++
Napalm Death ++++
Natalie Dizdar ++++
Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head4 +++++
Neco Case4 +++
Neno Belan +++++
Neutral Milk Hotel ++++
New York Dolls ++++
New Young Pony Club4 +++++
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds +++++
Nick Drake +++++
Nico ++++
Nightmares on Wax ++++
Nirvana +++++
Nola ++++
NoMeansNo +++
Norah Jones +++++
Oasis +
Obojeni program ++
Okkervil River*** ++++
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & Damo Suzuki +++
Osmi Putnik +
Paket Aranžman +++++
Panda Bear4 ++++
Pankrti +++
Pantera +++
Papa M +++
Paraf +++++
Partibrejkers ++
pasi ++
Patrola +++
Patti Smith ++++
Paul Simon +++
Pavement ++++
Pearl Jam +++
Pekinška patka +++
Pere Ubu +++++
Peter Bjorn and John** ++++
Piano Magic*** +++
Piloti +++
Pink Floyd +++++
Pips, Chips & Videoclips ++
Pixies4 ++++
PJ Harvey*** ++++
Placebo ++
Plava Trava Zaborava +
polja lavande +
Porcupine Tree
Portishead +++++
Poslednja igra leptira ++
Preety Girls Make Graves ++++
Pro Pain ++
Psihomodo Pop ++
Public Image Ltd. +++++
Pulp Fiction +++++
Pun Kufer ++++
Queens of the Stone Age ++++
R.E.M. +++++
RADOJKA ŠVERKO4 ++++
Rage Against the Machine +++++
Rambo Amadeus ++++
Rammstein +
Ramones ++++
Red Hot Chilli Peppers +++
Red Sparowes
Riblja čorba +++
Richie Hawtin +++
Ride ++
Royskopp +++
Roisin Murphy* +++++
Rothko4 +++
Roxy Music4 +++
Röyksopp4 +++
Russian Circles
Sandra Dabo4 +++++
Screaming Trees +++++
Sepultura ++++
Sick of It All ++++
Simian Mobile Disco4 +++++
Simon & Garfunkel +++++
Siouxie4 ++++
Six Feet Under +++
Slayer ++++
Sleater-Kinney ++++
Slint ++++
Slipknot ++++
Smashing Pumpkins +++
Solomon Burke +++++
Songkillers +
Sonic Youth +++++
Soulfly ++
Soundgarden +
Sparta
Spoon4 +++++
St. Vincent4 +++
STAMPEDO +++++
Static-X +++
Stealy Dan*** ++
Stereo MC’s*** ++++
StereoTrip +
Stijene +++
Sting +++
Sufjan Stevens ++++
Superjoint Ritual ++
Supersystem4 ++++
Svadbas +++++
Syd Barrett +++++
System of a Down ++
Šarlo Akrobata +++++
Šo! Mazgoon +++
Tajči +++++
Talking Heads +++++
Tapes ‘N Tapes4 ++++
Taraf de Haidouks4 ++++
Television +++++
Teta Liza I Lado4 ++++
tena novak +++++
The Alan Parsons Project +++
The Album Leaf +
The Aliens +++
The Arcade Fire +++++
The Bambi Molesters +++
The Band4 ++
The Beatles ++++
The Byrds4 +++
The Chameleons4 +++
The Clash +++
The Comsat Angels4 +++
The Cooper Temple Clause ++
The Cranberries ++
The Cure +++++
The Decembetists ++++
The Doors +++++
The Dresden Dolls4 ++++
The Fucking Am4 +++
The Fucking Champs4 +++
The Go! Team*** ++++
The Hives +++
The Hold Steady ++++
The Jam ++++
The Kinks4 +++++
The Knife +++++
The Mamas & The Papas +++++
The Mars Volta +++
The National*** ++++
The New Pornographers ++
The Outsiders4 +++
The Pear Eyes* ++
The Pogues ++++
The Police ++++
The Postal Service ++
The Prodigy +++++
The Promise Ring ++
The Rapture4 +++
The Red Roosters +
The Replacements
The Rolling Stones ++++
The Shaggs +++++
The Shins ++++
The Smiths +++++
The Stooges +++++
The Tea Party +
The Tiger Lillies
The United States of America4 +++++
The White Stripes +++++
The Wrens
Therapy? -
Thievery Corporation ++++
This Will Destroy You ++
Thurston Moore4 +++
Time ++++
tiny wipers4 ++++
Tom Waits ++++
Toma Bebić +++
Tool +++
Tori Amos4 +++
Tortoise ++
Tosca*** +++++
Tracy Chapman ++++
Trans Am ++++
Tricky ++++
TV on the Radio ++++
Two Gallants4 +++
UK Decay +++++
Urlich Schnauss4 ++
Un Genou4 ++
Unicorn X +
Units4 ++++
UNKLE** +++
Unwound -
Urban +++++
Urusei Yatsura4 ++++
Už Jsme Doma
Vallee +++++
Van Dyke Parks4 +++++
Van Morrison +++++
Vatreni Poljubac
Velvet Underground +++++
Vetiver* ++++
Virvel +++++
Vitalic
Vještice +
Vlada Divljan & Old Stars Band +++++
Vlada & Gile ++++
Vlatko Stefanovski +++
We Followed Tigers +
Weezer
Why stakla ++
Wolf Parade ++++
Woodstock +++++
Woven Hand ++++
Xela4 ++
X-Legged Sally +++
Yann Tiersen4 +++++
Yeah Yeah Yeahs +++++
Yo La Tengo4 +++
YU balade +
YU Grupa +
Yu Ret. Rock
Zabranjeno Pušenje ++
Zadruga ++++
Zero 7 ++++
Zvijezde
Zvuk osamdesetih +
Žana +++
Živo Blato +++

*dodano 12. 8. 2007.
**dodano 23. 8. 2007.
***dodano 11.9.2007.
4 dodano 11.3.2008

To Be Continued

Выдающаяся басовая линия. Электронный бас (bass) — порхает, вертится, как бабочка — и его вся тяжесть и полнота (а используется крайне наполненный вариант басового звучания) только контрастнее показывает невероятную точность движений. Пассажи, слэп (slap)… блестяще.

Есть мощные экскаваторы, даже со сложным членением ковша, но… Когда-нибудь будут ещё более сильные экзоскелетоны, усиливающие органическую пластику движений человека. Когда-нибудь… А в этой пьесе — уже сегодня.

Под стать басу — импульсивное взрывное фортепьяно «Жака Люсье» (Jacques Loussier Trio)… Aziza Mustafa Zadeh конечно.

Басистов исполнителей на пластинке заявлено двое (а кто именно играет в данном треке — не совсем ясно) Stanley Clarke electric bass (может Кларк и именно эта электрика меня впечатлила?), и он же на acoustic bass (врядли подходит).
Или Kai Eckhardt De Camargo? И его 5-string bass…

The french playwright Marcel Archard once said that women like silent men because they think they're listening. Sometimes it pays to put witticisms aside and actually listen for once as there are a number of women out there making music that's worth being silent for, whether its for their art, their voice, or their themes.

At the time of writing my top fifty artists on last.fm only contains thirteen instances where a female, whether solo or fronting a band, is actually singing. So, to set things straight, there follows a list of the women who make music that I go silent to in order to listen.

My primary preference when it comes to women making music is when she accompanies herself on the piano. The obvious women that spring to mind here are Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and, of late, Regina Spektor. These three artists have kept me in quirky songs for sometime now and, while I feel Bush has lost it along the way with Aerial, there's no denying how influential she was back in the 1970s and 1980s.

Amos and Spektor, despite their musical similarities, work well as opposites. While the former has a considerable back catalogue of songs and musical experiments where the lyrics can be deeply personal and expressive, the latter's output tends towards a rawer style with fictional stories told over the compositions. Spektor, with recent album Begin to Hope has taken a bit of a new direction (i.e. traditional structure) and it seems to be bringing her more success. A good thing, of course.

But that trio aren't the only women tinkering with the ivories that I've developed an ear for. Others include sometimes band member of Antony and the Johnsons, Joan Wasser, under the name of Joan as Police Woman (not only can she play piano, but violin and guitar also). There's Fiona Apple and, touching on the burlesque there's Jill Tracy. A recent discovery for me, through last.fm, is polish singer, Gabriela Kulka, who reminds me of Kate Bush. Only a darker shade thereof.

Although contemporary classical music is a road I rarely tread, I've become quite interested in the exemplary piano work of Aziza Mustafa Zadeh. And it wouldn't be a trip into piano world without a passing mention of Greek-American experimentalist, Diamanda Galás. Scary woman. But ultimately worth a listen, despite probably being to the tastes of 0.0000000000001% of the piano listening population.

Sticking with girls and their own instruments there are those that, while not playing piano, play something typically unexpected. Joanna Newsom, for example, records with a harp. Isobel Campbell plays the cello.

My favourite female performer is Björk. Her music over the years is impressively varied and, since leaving KUKL and The Sugarcubes behind she has pushed her own musical boundaries along an interesting electronica route to last album proper, Medulla, a collection of vocal layerings with some contributions from Canadian throat singer, Tanya Tagaq and Mike Patton of countless bands, including Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, and Peeping Tom. Björk's next album, Volta, appears to be a move away from all out experimentalism and a move back to the mainstream.

Aside from Björk, iceland has also given us Emiliana Torrini, who after stints with early band, Spoon, and GusGus, she found a market with Love In The Time Of Science. Aside from performing her own work she has also written for others, notably Kylie Minogue. (Incidentally, I still think Kylie's best contribution to music is her duet with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back in 1996.)

Scandinavia, of course, hasn't just given us Björk and Torrini but other notable singers hitting my playlist from this area include the underrated Stina Nordenstam, Annie, Nina Persson of The Cardigans (first album, at least), Lene Marlin and Monica Zetterlund.

But why should Scandinavia have all the fun? Answer: it shouldn't. And so to France which has a history of some fantastic pop, be it Francoise Hardy in the 1960s or Alizee in recent years. I also like France Gall's 1965 eurovision winning song (for Luxembourg) but that's probably because I'm a fan of almost everything that Serge Gainsbourg ever made. That doesn't include his daughter, Charlotte Gainsourg, however, as I find her music perhaps too boring. But the recent output from her mother, Jane Birkin, especially Arabesques is worth a listen. French music has also been a big influence on American singer, April March, who has covered a number of French classics. My favourite French singer at the moment is Francoiz Breut - she may not write her songs (Dominique A writes a great deal of them) but she can interpret them well.

Sarah Nixey is another singer that didn't write her own lyrics while singing for Black Box Recorder. But her voice (ever so cold) as she sang Luke Haines' lyrics interpreted them perfectly. Other girls in bands worth mentioning are Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star, Alison Shaw of Cranes, Róisín Murphy of Moloko, and Jo Mango of, er, Jo Mango.

And girl groups don't all have to be as annoying as Spice Girls or as crap as Tampasm. Of course they don't. Be it the edgier rock of Babes in Toyland or Kittie, the quirky music hall nostalgia of The Ditty Bops or 1960s influenced The Pipettes or the electronica of Tatu, Chicks on Speed, and Cibo Matto. If it weren't for the fact there was a guy in the group I'd include the fantastic Cansei de Ser Sexy who if you haven't heard of them by now, you no doubt soon will.

Girls and guitars - what a combination! Ani DiFranco, Kiristen Hersh (of Throwing Muses, KT Tunstall, and PJ Harvey. Not to mention Eva Cassidy, Laura Veirs, Martha Wainwright, and Holly Golightly. They speak for themselves.

The list of women who make (or have made) good music just goes on and on. And on. Whether it be the soul /jazz of Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux and Amy Winehouse, the country styles of Gretchen Wilson and The Wreckers, the Latin groove of Bebel Gilberto, the trip hop of Portishead and Ruby, the pop of Nancy Sinatra and Utada Hikaru, the glossolalia of Enya, the arabic flavours of Natacha Atlas and Ekova, the weirdness of CocoRosie and Nina Hagen, the fok of Vashti Bunyan, Karine Polwart, and Kate Rusby. Truly the list goes on.