LA Times' blog called Justin Bieber's new record "the year's most beautifully sung recording." Bieber's well-trained, sure, but that sentence is still absolutely hilarious. If you can still see this after the geologic cataclysms caused by every dead musician in the world rolling — nay, revolving — in his or her grave, read on to find a list of people who might beg to differ.
1. Alabama Shakes – Boys and Girls
Lead singer Brittany Howard's old-school, soulful belt puts a spring in my step. Justin Bieber's voice does not.
2. Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself
You don't listen to Andrew Bird for his voice, sure, but how about for an example of someone using his voice well? Bird is the master of channeling feelings through his sound — don't think for a second that he doesn't think through every mumble and every soaring rally.
3. Regina Spektor – What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
Spektor's latest album shows off her voice less than I'd like — mostly, the tone of the thing just makes me really, really sad — but Spektor STILL sounds better and more interesting than Bieber.
4. Sigur Ros – Valtari
Sometimes we forget someone's actually singing — it just sounds like a lot of really nice instruments sounding really nice together.
5. Usher – Looking 4 Myself
Usher's got some serious ex-choirboy pipes behind those abs. Bieber has years — nay, LIGHT-years — to go before he even approaches what his mentor can do. Have you heard the beginning of "Climax"?</a>
source at some college blog
@mods -- clearly a lol. at the source there's a photo of usher captioned "not justin bieber"
