Ofcourse the macho guys on this site won't include Wendy Carlos which I think is rather unfair but whatever.
I would definitely say Laurie Anderson.
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Wendy O. Williams, of the Plasmatics.
She was out there all right
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
Tamia
Collete Magny
Savina Yiannatou
laurie anderson & diamanda galas wholeheartedly seconded. no mention of björk?
good ol' anne clark:
suzanne freitag & claudia brücken (propaganda):
camille:
tasmin archer (fantastic songwriter and vocalist, wonder what happened to her):
martina topley-bird (of MASSiVE ATTACK et al.)
beth gibbons:
Will no one but me mention Jane Siberry?
Greek folk singer Mariza Koch:
And the godmother of offbeat female singers everywhere, Peruvian diva Yma Sumac:
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Scuze me for sounding stupid (and Dutch) : but what exactly ARE left field women??
Based on the names mentioned so far Anja Garbarek should propably on this list too.
Her last album seems ages ago. anyone know what she is up to nowadays?
Women, singers in this instance, who have original, fringe, unusual styles, voices and material and who are slighty nuts in a good way
So Kylie, Madonna, Dionne, Beyonce, Aretha, Gloria, Olivia etc. don't fit on this list.
That said, looking at some of the names coming up on the thread it is clear that what I consider "left field" is very different to what others consider "left field" but that is fine, that is what music is all about. We can only base any term e.g. left field on our own listening experience and musical tastes.
Anja G. is/was great, but as you point out - she seems to be inactive now. I know that she lives in London with hubby and kid (and that hubby is apparently a close friend of Steven W. and works in a recording studio of some kind). Presumably she works in real estate, with interior design or in IT?
Left field women; gals of all ages whose somewhat radical or "out" approach to musical craft displays a subversive sense of the sexual.
Check that Elisabeth Granneman clip.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Ah, you beat me to Yma Sumac!
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
Katzenjammer
Gianna Naninni
And of course some mentioned earlier, like
Wendy Carlos
Laurie Anderson
Anne Clark
And how about:
Suzanne Cianni?
Ha! I know a guy who used to be the boyfriend of the tall one here - the one named Turid. The band is partially from Kragerø, a tiny holiday resort were I've spent my summer vacations for more than 15 years now. She's a nice person; used to work at the local pub, Jensemann. Always played great music there and was very kind when portioning the vodka shots. I never spoke to her after she became a "star" though.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
^ Katzemjammer is awesome. I wish they'd come to North America
Absolutely.....A beautiful and talented women, love here voice.
Here, she is totally naked on stage in her protest against the awful, sexist, right wing, UK rag "The Daily Mail"
Her "The Dresden Dolls" are also brilliant.
This is one of my top 5 music videos of all time
The very reclusive Karin Dreijer, who rarely shows a full uncovered, unpainted face in public
Here as Fever Ray:
Here as The Knife:
And who could forget Grace Jones' weirder moments.
No mention of Unwoman and her minimalist cello?
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
Sheila Chandra: Speaking in Tongues III
Sasha Rakhman interpreting Yma Sumac's Goomba Boomba
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