The other day, Mulan and I were having a chat about female singers with distinctive voices. Whitney Houston's name came up; so did Sade Adu's, as did Tracy Chapman's. The discussion got me thinking about other female singers with voices which were so distinctive that you could spot them in a hundred-person choir. It's not as easy as it sounds, because most people trying to make a career of singing tend to model their voices on successful singers' voices rather than doing their own thing. But two...

This is an occasional series of blog posts I'll be making on music that I enjoy.

'Stranger In Moscow' is a song by Michael Jackson from his 'HIStory' album, which was released in 1995. The song itself was released as a single, again in 1995.

Most people will be aware that Jackson released the album at a time when he was feeling beleaguered by negative reports about him in the press: no less than six songs on the album ("Scream", "Money", "They Don't Care About Us",...

In the thread I opened giving a tour of the 'acid jazz' genre, I referred to the Brand New Heavies cover of the Maria Muldaur song 'Midnight At The Oasis', which I enjoy very much. That got me thinking about other covers that I also like:

1. Incognito's cover of Stevie Wonder's 'Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing'. With lots of horns and an infectious beat, what's not to like?

2. Coolio's version of another Stevie Wonder song, 'Pastime Paradise'. This was released as 'Gangsta's Paradise'...

One sunny warm weekend many years ago, I was at a loose end as to what to do. I didn't feel like relaxing at home - so I jumped on my bicycle and rode out to the nearby countryside, fuelled by some great tracks from my personal stereo.

Now this is something I do from time to time, but this time the experience was especially enjoyable. Why? I don't know. Perhaps it was the fresh country air. Perhaps it was the natural beauty of the countryside expressed in trees, fields and flowers....