Terry Callier After releasing albums in the late'60s and'70s to little notice, this Chicago singer-songwriter became a computer programmer. In the meantime, albums like Occasional Rain and I Just Can't Help Myself became prized for their unique conflux of folk, jazz, and R&B. His fans - like Beth Orton - are the new breed of folk artist, and Callier has returned to performing as a cult hero.
Sandy Denny Traditional Celtic music often has a spiritual feel. Fiddles send spools of sound into the air. Hand drums tap their way into frenzy. And singers find ways to have their voices hover in the air while surrounding the listener's heart. On her own, and as the lead vocalist for Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny pretty much perfected this approach. There's drama in her voice, and it's best suited to a melancholy that ultimately built a graceful and ethereal canon featuring such jewels as "Fotheringay" to "Farewell, Farewell." She died from a brain hemorrhage in the spring of 1978, a jolting end to a gentle musician.
Everything But the Girl Everything But the Girl (Tracy Thorne and Ben Watt) are always forging their own path. When jangle-pop ruled England in the 80s, they turned to tender harmonies and acoustic guitars. When dance took off in the 90s, Thorne cooed with Massive Attack, and Watt was DJ'd as Deep Dish. There's mystery inside their tunes, and the gorgeous tone that Watt gave their utterly captivating stuff on 1996's Walking Wounded was sculpted to show just how soulful the mix of man and machine can truly be.
Leila Björk's keyboardist retired to her North London bedroom in 1998 to make the astonishing Like Weather. On this lo-fi and gorgeous debut, the Iranian-born Leila and her guest vocalists anticipated the sun-kissed lounge of Zero 7 and the schizophrenic rhythms of Autechre. Leila resisted the urge to become a coffee-table fixture, and 2000's Courtesy of Choice contained a similarly charming take on the ugly beauty equation.
