Chat Pile's Raygun Busch Highlights 10 Albums for Essential Vocal Performances

Our Vocalist Week keeps belting it out with a special edition of Crate Digging. For this installment, Chat Pile’s Raygun Busch names 10 albums he thinks feature amazing vocal performances. Check out all of his picks below, and revisit our list of the 100 Greatest Vocalists of All Time .

One of the unsung (pun intended) subcategories of vocal styles is the nebulous, hard-to-define world of talk-singing. Not quite spoken word, but also not quite adhering to some grand melody, it’s a mode that takes a special gumption to pull off. You don’t necessarily need a golden set of pipes, but you do need heaps of presence, an inherent musicality, and a strong personality. Chat Pile frontman Raygun Busch has all three in spades.

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Like other favorite figures who dabble in talk-singing — Lou Reed, Mark E. Smith, Craig Finn, Florence Shaw, and many, many others — his sometimes conversational tone is only one aspect of what makes Busch’s performances on great records like God’s Country and Cool World so enthralling. His signature style also mixes in woozy singing and sludgy shrieks, always leading with the natural timbre and accent of his voice.

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The end result is as unique and exciting as Chat Pile’s noisy music, and we wanted to know what mix of influences combined to spit out Mr. Raygun Busch. So, we asked him to pick a few records that might be found in his vocal DNA.

The results were more varied and interesting than we could have guessed, ranging from classic soul to alternative country to motherfucking Meat Loaf. Above all, though, one thing became clear — whoever Busch picked, they sound like no one else but themselves.

“People don’t want to sound like a hick, you know? At some point in my twenties, I made the decision to [embrace my dialect],” he tells Consequence , explaining how he took influence from folks who lean into the idiosyncrasies and regionality of their voices. “I can either continue to try to sound like I am from wherever, or I can just lean into it. It’s gonna feel a lot better for me personally, mentally, if I can just lean into my dialect and stuff. It’s not gonna change who I am. If somebody wants to be a shitty prick to me, so what? Listen to the words I’m saying.”

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You heard the man — listen to the words he’s saying. You can do that by checking out all 10 of his picks (plus a few bonus honorable mentions) below. You can also revisit our CoSign interview with the full band .

Then, keep up with the rest of Vocalist Week here .

Clarence Carter — Best of Clarence Carter

I think Clarence Carter has the best voice a man ever recorded. That album, Best of Clarence Carter , it’s from ’74 or something and collects from his first four albums. So it’s got “Patches.” It’s got “Snatching It Back” on it. It’s got “Slip Away.” That one is just like no bad songs. That’s just something that everybody should have, in my opinion. His voice has crazy power.

I don’t feel like I have a very soulful voice, you know? But, I do love soulful voices. I covet a soulful voice.

Stream The Best of Clarence Carter on Apple Music , Qobuz , or Amazon Music | Buy on Vinyl/CD

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_Originally reported by [Consequence](https://consequence.net/2026/05/chat-pile-raygun-busch-crate-digging-interview-10-albums-with-amazing-vocals/)._