Fabulous Friday: Karen O

Here's Howard:

The way a singer holds a microphone has always fascinated me. Some crooners hold it intimately by only the tips of their fingers, curling the extra cord around their other hand over and over. Rock singers often hold it clenched in a tight fist. Lemmy from Motorhead famously sang into a mic bent down above his head on a too tall mic stand. Roger Daltrey liked to swing the mic from the cord high above the crowd's head before snapping it back to his hand right when he needed to sing again.

The first time I saw Karen O with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs she did something with the mic I had never seen before. She held the cord about a foot from the mic and just dangled it above her head, singing and screaming into it from underneath. It seemed so rock and roll and deviant. They were an amazing band, just her on vox with two guys, one on drums and one on keys/guitar. Minimal, dark bluesy and infectious.

I never would've expected that she would end up as a big musical force in the film world, working repeatedly with Spike Jonze. Her song for Her was even nominated for an Oscar. She has a unique singing style, hushed and sultry with moments of power and even a coquettish, Helen Kane squeak sneaking out here and there. She is a wholly singular modern phenomenon, we are all lucky to have her here with us.