Tough call. I think the expression of emotion is at the core of good art (Coltrane, punk, Pollock, Beethoven, you name it), so what we're really disliking - and I agree wholeheartedly about the singers you mentioned - is the particular idiom. I was saying just the other day that I have a limited appetite for the singer/songwriter genre, and I think that's what it boils down to. And yes, for me, moreso female singer/songwriters. There's nothing as nauseating as hearing Sarah Mclaughlin lauded for writing material ostensibly so "close to the bone", when to me it sounds like yuppy romantic drivel. Thank GOD she seems to have stopped producing hits.

I think the reason we bristle is what we're hearing, or not hearing more accurately, is true and real expression, so we're not buying it. Doesn't necessarily apply to all females s/s's - I connect better with PJ Harvey, though I don't always love her music - but there are few exceptions. And the ones that we like tend to be tougher, and more male in their expression.

As an aside, the same can't be said for jazz singers, interestingly, where the melancholy milieu works brilliantly for me.

I do keep dabbling in female s/s's, with only modest success - downloaded some Laura Veirs tunes in the early new year after she was well reviewed, which are squarely in the "not bad" category, and have recently discovered and quite enjoy Julie Doiron's music (she of Eric's Trip), which has been around for years. Any exceptions for the rest of you?