Yumi Stynes
Max TV Music Presenter
Yumi Stynes is a television presenter for an Australian television channel shown on Max. She is known for her sense of humour and meticulously researched interviews. Recent interview subjects include Australian musician Bob Evans, British comedian Steve Coogan, violin sensation Andre Rieu, US TV host and comedian Joel McHale, directors JJ Abrams and Adam Elliot, "it" comedian Russell Brand and actors Nick Frost, Paul Walker and Keanu Reeves. She has also presented for other channels including Foxtel's Select, ABC as part of 'Sleek Geeks', and SBS for the IF Awards.
Yumi's top female songs of all time:
10. Dirty Jeans
Magic Dirt
Geelong band Magic Dirt have been around since I was pre-teen and I still love them. It was terribly sad earlier this year when they lost founding member and bass player Dean Turner when he died from a rare illness. They continue to play, however, and will be one of the headline acts at this year's Big Day Out. I love the singer Adalita and I love that this song now reminds me of Dean.
9. Breathe Me
Sia
Adelaide-born singer Sia is one of the breakthrough artists of the past 12 months. At 33 years old she was always going to be big, it was just a matter of when and how. As a gifted songwriter she's written for Christina Aguilera's forthcoming album, but it's when singing her own work that she can really make your hair stand up on end. This isn't from her (highly recommended) album 'Some People Have Real Problems' - but a precursor. The song was used in the climactic closing scenes of the series '6 Feet Under' and is unforgettable.
8. Hyperballad
Bjork
Bjork, along with Lauryn Hill is one of those singers whose voice can make you believe it when people say, "God is singing through you." Only with Bjork, her God is mega-psychedelic! 'Hyperballad' is impossible to do in karaoke, unless it is your ambition to give yourself a nosebleed and make all the neighbourhood dogs howl! When this came out on her album 'Post' (1995), people's ideas of what a singer could do had to shift to take into account Bjork's incredible talents.
7. Time After Time
Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper has an astonishing album called 'She's So Unusual' which came out in 1983 and every single song is a winner. I interviewed her last year and even though she's 55 years old she is cute and beautiful and exactly like she sounds on record. This is a classic duet with Rob Hyman from a band called The Hooters - he also co-wrote the song with Cyndi - but no one ever remembers that he was part of it because she just owns it.
6. Good Luck
Basement Jaxx feat. Lisa Kekaula
In my Top 10 I have been picking artists with exceptional bodies of work. Lisa Kekaula, even though she fronts a band called The Bellrays, is best known for singing this song with Basement Jaxx and her vocal is so powerful it's nearly blinding. I guess it's a revenge song but the way she sends it out it's like a therapy of bloodletting.
5. Please Don't Stop the Music
Rhianna
At just 21 years old, Barbados singer Rihanna is the consummate pop performer. She's edgy, sexy and looks as good as she sounds, and she knows how to pick a good song. There's a story about how songwriters and label honchos were going to give the song 'Umbrella' to a better-known singer but Rihanna could recognise its potential, fought for it, and turned it into a worldwide smash. 'Please Don't Stop the Music' is from the same album and is a timeless dancefloor filler! I love the middle-eight of this song - I think it's pure pop bliss, and in it you will hear a very familiar, very famous voice: Rihanna is one of the few artist licensed to use a Michael Jackson sample before he died.
4. Rainy Days and Mondays
Carpenters
I once heard Janis Joplin say that if Karen Carpenter could loosen up a bit she'd be a devastating soul singer. There's a danger poor old Karen may be lost to the next generation music lovers - her story is tragic enough to resonate (she died from anorexia-related heart failure aged 32) but her music is quiet and gently delivered and may be lost in the shrieking hubbub of all the other ladies, alive and dead, vying for our attention. There is something so magical and expressive in her tone, she has such a sadness and dignity that I think she outclasses most other singers.
3. She's A Bitch
Missy Elliot
From her 'Da Real World' (1999), Missy Elliot was still scaring people from outside the mainstream at this point in her career. This song sets up her life's work - making people laugh while addressing something she feels strongly about - in this case, the word "bitch". She takes it and puts her spin on it, flips it and reverses it.
2. Good Fortune
PJ Harvey
I picked this song because it's PJ Harvey during a triumphant, fierce and joyful time in her life and you can hear her power all over this track. It's from her Mercury Prize-winning record 'Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea' which she described as her 'pop' record. It sounds to me like a woman in her prime who's getting lots of sex, love and laughter. I like listening to this when I'm already feeling elated - it feels like life couldn't get any better.
1. Rock Show
Peaches
Canadian singer Merrill Nisker is better known as 'Peaches'. At the ripe of age of 34 she ditched her career as a school teacher and released 'The Teaches of Peaches' which completely shocked and blew people away and inspired a whole generation of female electro-clash vixens who no longer apologised for performing to backing tapes recorded in their bedroom studios! Not only is her music hilarious and danceable, it isn't afraid to show the ugly side of the female experience. SO FREAKIN GOOD.
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