Laura Barton, who I think I have yet to disagree with, writes in today's Guardian about how note perfect warbling of the type we hear on X Factor and Mariah and Whitney records rarely actually conveys any emotion at all despite the vocal histrionics. It is all about false emotion and this is what makes X Factor an essentially pointless exercise.

Emotion in music rarely goes hand in hand with note perfect singing. This got me thinking about some of the vocal performances that always stick in my mind but wouldn't get the singer past the audition stage in the X Factor:

If you have never heard Mark Eitzel's 'Songs of Love' album, you are missing something truly special. A recording of a gig at London's Borderline in 1991, when Mark sang some songs accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, the album is pure emotion from start to finish. Listen to him singing 'Western Sky' close to tears and at one point having to stop himself mid-song to compose himself

"Please be happy baby
and please don't cry
Even though the parade has passed us by
you can still see it shining
shining in a Western sky"

Its an incredible performance.

I also love the way Craig Finn sings 'Cattle and the Creeping things', particularly this verse

"she's got a cross around her neck that she ripped off from a schoolgirl in the subway on a visit to the city
she likes how it looks on her chest with three open buttons
she likes the part where one brother kills the other
she has to wonder if the the world ever will recover
because cain and abel seem to still be causing trouble."

I don't know why I love the way he sings this song so much. He sings it the same way he sings all the Hold Steady songs, as kind of a shouty war correspondent reporting from the front line. Its just when I hear him sing that verse, I always want to hear it again straight away.

I also love hearing 'What a Life' by Juliana Hatfield because I really like the way she coughs right at the start of the song.

Anyway, I think Laura is right. There are lots of funny and strange reasons why you might like certain vocals or even just the way someone sings a certain syllable. But they very rarely have anything to do with hearing a pitch perfect singing note. Unless you are Simon Cowell.