Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me (RIP blogs)

February 23

http://pitchfork.com/news/37562-joanna-newsom-album-confirmed/

Strange name for a Joanna Newsom album

this should be a fun thread

I won't have one, thanks.

I'm fully expecting that there will be about three of us will enjoy this record.

*who

Will this album be filled with pixie dust, unicorns, and magic?

misread ^^ as "puke dust, unicorns, and magic" and didn't even blink

It would be cool if the harmonica was the main instrument on this one

it's a capella

are you being serious

no

http://16.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ktzexcFYyC1qa95b5o1_500.jpg

ya hoos, serious

well shit on my nuts and call me sally

Is there any beatboxing?

well shit on my nuts and call me sally

^^^ This was actually the disc's working title, before they settled on Have One On Me.

Let's cut to the chase - Is Rahzel featured, and will there be throat singing?

Lil Wayne guests on a verse in the closer.

I always forget she's so polarizing. :P

Ah, I like her okay. Her voice is kind of grating, tho.

It's gotten *a lot* better, though. Esp. live. She should use a bit more reverb on her vocals. Also "Only Skin" is an amazing song sung by anyone tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVx_kVtFI9E

As Turangalila said, "polarizing":

I couldn't stand 5 minutes of her voice, much less a whole concert!

absolutely fucking phenominal. some of her stuff i can't listen to such as "peach plum pear". "sprout and bean" is how I got turned on to her. but this is my new faviorite

Also: poor spelling.

ya hoos, serious

― velko, Tuesday, January 12, 2010 11:18 PM Bookmark

Ha, was this deliberate?

Well, and listen to this one...
I'm pretty sure it'll be on the new album and it's just so heartbreaking and kind of In My Life-ish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL0T1yUYkbs

; )

I think I'm going to force myself to wait until the new album comes out before I listen to any of the new songs . . . I may have heard a clip a long time ago, but I don't remember. This is probably the album I want to hear more than any other this year.

way too many posts on this already guys

not a Joanna Newsom fan?

ill have one on her ME

i spent the length of an awful fever with ys blasting on loop and it was an experience as deeply moving and psychedelic as anything any chemicals ever induced in me

^^ i don't usually say this kind of shit

Seeing her play a week from today...

trust me, it's just as good as when you're not on shit! if you don't want to sit through the whole thing, just try "Emily."

Pa pointed out to me, for the hundredth time tonight
The way the ladle leads to a dirt-red bullet of light
Squint skyward and listen
Loving him, we move within his borders
Just asterisms in the stars' set order

also: "hydrocephalitic listlessness"

ban hoosteen

http://i47.tinypic.com/2zhljle.gif

HI DERE

I didn't have the heart to start this one

I will also anticipate this record

Has it been confirmed that this will be a 3 disc set and more down-to-earth than Ys?

No but I sincerely hope there's strings in it :(

I kind of think she could make a better record minus the Van Dyke Parks string arrangements. I'd like to hear something a bit more focused.

I just hope that horrible live band she was playing with back in '08 aren't a part of this record, god they were grating.

I am fucking stoked for this.

Cannot wait.

Literally anticipating this quite eagerly.

I was pretty sure I'd hate this, but hearing that it's a capella means I'll reserve my judgement. I generally find her stuff cloying, annoying, like nails on a chalkboard, however.

i think she's fantastic. very very excited to hear a new one...

first time i saw her was SXSW a few years back, before the first album was out, and she played next door to a Lookout Records Showcase, and the venue she played had such dreadful acoustics that the sound of 3-chord-punk and conversations at the bar were louder, even right up to the stage, than her harp and singing. but she just played on with such tenacity and good spirits...

Her live performance of "Sawdust & Diamonds" solo on the harp was a brilliant thing. Also she's never been "precious" and never remotely close to "twee": Ys is as far away from twee and "fairydust and pixies" as you could possibly come. She's a great writer, nevermind the music, which luckily is as good (at least on Ys -- I've seen lately it's become popular to like 'Milk-Eyed' better, but I think Ys is leaps and bounds better.

Laurie Nyro isn't twee.

I saw her after Ys, and although I respect her songwriting and orchestration....it was just boring to listen to a whole concert of 10-minute songs. Plus, lately she does this really grating SQUEAK with her voice at the beginning of each new line.

Hooray for this sort of thing.

so excited for this but also glad that the hardcore will still be there clinging to cat-voice metaphors

im looking forward to this but yall should give up on trying to convince other people to like her

and the other half of yall should stop posting in threads about artists who u dont like

Sweet.

Seeing her in March with a 7 piece band (strings?)... really hope this is good.

hearing that it's a capella

Wait, what?

It's not a capella. Someone made a joke upthread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q_mHFfOMWE

ah, durrr.

yeah i know..

It's actually spoken-word.

Which particular word?

Antidisestablishmentarianism

Sorry, I sneezed.

^ Joke of the week.

Arsenal.

backing band on the new record is vampire weekend

Yeah, it's not a capella. I was just kidding with someone yesterday.

Can't bloody wait for this. Still kicking myself for missing the YS Manchester show not a few hundred yards from me.

Oh and for anyone who wants a mash-up of Peach Plum Pear and Someone Great by Lcd (not many of you i don't doubt) it's here:
http://www.myspace.com/jickajick

Always have wanted a Snoop/Joanna combo "Bitchez and Balloons."

Very excited. I liked the stuff she did with the band, and thought the EP was great, so I'm hoping it's more stuff like that. I find the Van Dyke Parks arrangements on Ys the album's only weak link in a way; often quite distracting and sometimes even out of time. The EP has a much better sense of a bunch of musicians playing together in the same room.

if it's not a capella can it be instrumental pls

Always have wanted a Snoop/Joanna combo "Bitchez and Balloons."

There's a reggaeton remix of "Bridges and Balloons."

man, i really tried to watch those clips posted above and i just can't do it. made it about two minutes in for both of them. some things really are an acquired taste!

http://thedecibeltolls.com/Images/blogginsangry.jpg

wait, is that me or you?

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2008/gallery/indielove/andy_samberg.jpg

Moore Brothers are guesting on this, and I am probably the only one excited about that.

I was about to say, no one made an easy "the album is produced by the lonely island" type joke or such.

wait, is that me or you?

It ain't me!

Aaanyway. Why is that "sweet, Es(a)me!" song so gorge?
sigh :(

i liked milk eyed mender fine but ys was pretty boring imo

Well then.

http://towerofsleep.tumblr.com/post/334726662/breaking-news

Makes sense, tbh. All the new songs are long.

THREE discs you're kidding.

http://towerofsleep.tumblr.com/post/335537423/one-sentence-review-of-joanna-newsoms-have-one-on-me

this is her Boys For Pele. kinda.

http://everythingdies.tumblr.com/post/336065768/one-sentence-review-of-joanna-newsoms-have-one-on-me

Why is everyone so excited about Paul Newman's wife?

Saw her play last night.

A LOT of new stuff, a few piano based numbers in the middle and <gasp> almost an outbreak of 'ROCK' was threatened until she quickly returned to the harp. Really enjoyed the long *cough* prog rock-lite *cough* arrangements and Kate Bush, I mean Joanna, sounded great.

And yes, she looked extremely teh hotness.

THREE discs you're kidding.

― piscesx, Sunday, January 17, 2010

____________________________________

this is her Boys For Pele. kinda.

― piscesx, Sunday, January 17, 2010

this is her Titanic

how were the tunes though lord byron? did you come out whistling the new ones?

'In California' (I guess it's called) is still in my head, but I'm no whistler I'm afraid...

A pretty good recording from the Sydney gig last week has gone up on D!MEAD0Z3N with around 6 new songs, band sounds great too, strings, brass, minimal drums.

http://pitchfork.com/news/37690-new-joanna-newsom-song/

Well, now we can reveal a little more about Have One on Me. For one thing, it's a triple album. You read that right: Have One on Me will take up three CDs and three LPs. Ambitious!

my album of the year already, and i haven't heard a note

http://www.dragcity.com/products/have-one-on-me

http://www.dragcity.com/system/album_products/images/1620/large.jpg?1264473665
actually terrible album cover of 2010?

Yeah that's awful.

I don't mind it, but it makes it look like it's on DFA or something.

maybe she's into punk now--good for her

the song on the drag city site is really really good

It's very pretty though kind of minor & interlude-ish compared to the other tracks :P

25 bones for a triple LP ain't bad!

I skipped Ys, proggier doesn't mean better for me, but I think she's a pretty fucking excellent lyricist & that first album had some very solid jams on it

chances of me ever making it through a triple album that's not on Dust-to-Digital or Deutsche Grammophon are like 1000-1 tho tbh

lyrics are even better on ys than her earlier stuff imo. snagging the not van dyke parks'd live arrangements of the songs is pretty crucial too i think. but if u cant handle 13-minute harp epics u should stop running with the big dogs and get on the porch.

http://images.ola.com/auctions/7807/vmay-355207-1.jpg

if people were to ask me what single album I would advise them to listen to before they die, it's Ys. period.

porch looks pretty nice tbh

xp lol you really want to advise all ppl to listen to an album that 75% of them are going to hate?

fortunately, no one asked you, kshighway ;)

Ys is great, people are nuts

but if u cant handle 13-minute harp epics u should stop running with the big dogs and get on the porch.

yeah if I'm listening to 13-minute epic songs in a rock/pop mode they better have a shredding solo and some wicked distortion or I want my money back, that is just how I break it down to an extent

I also hate Gabriel-era Genesis so even tho my hat is genuinely & sincerely off to Ms. Newsome's lyrical chops any day I gotta take a pass on any 13-minute epic songs until/unless they involve a Rat pedal & some corpsepaint

how about couplets about rats, is that cool?

yeah

Ys >>> MeM

Ys is more showtuney Americana than prog.

75% is my conservative estimate btw

its fine if u want to stay on the porch bro

u will still have to endure the wrath of my mocking t-shirt/fake license plate

i mean even that albums fans have to admit it has all the ingredients to be extremely polarizing?

also it's called Ys

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

i love porches. wish i had a porch.

Me too.

planning on sitting on my porch this spring, listening to joanna newsom. or maybe Genesis, not sure.

lol

and playing cafe world, baby.

xpost

Mr. Que: :-)

call all destroyer: it's definitely polarizing, and, sure, a lot of people will hate it. still, my recommendation stands. one record before you die: Ys.

It's the record I'd play someone before I killed them, definitely.

Ys is more showtuney Americana than prog.

ok this is where I get pretty haterific. been listening to showtunes for the last hour-plus. to which showtunes would you compare the stuff on Ys?

still, my recommendation stands. one record before you die: Ys.

please don't say things like this about any record unless Bernard Purdie plays drums on it - thanks

xpost lol Alex

dying here

lolssss

oh, nothing sounds like Ys, John. Really. Nothing. I just meant more in the sense of general signifiers - the songs being written in movements, the Cole Porterish starts and stops, the orchestration, the exalted sense of drama.

This pic was attached to the ID3 tag of the song that's streaming:

http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss360/zachdallas/newsom-81-tag.jpg

gorge

gorge

http://www.georgiaartists.org/gorge/gorge1.jpg

oh, nothing sounds like Ys, John. Really. Nothing.

this sounds like a challenge for my good friend Mr. Que

jorge

http://marcys.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/jorge.jpg

The arrangements/instrumentation on Joanna Newsom albums are usually pretty decent, if not impressive. The vocals and lyrics are always horrible.

KING LEAR:
To thee and thine hereditary ever
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom;
No less in space, validity, and pleasure,(85)
Than that conferred on Goneril. Now, our joy,
Although the last, not least; to whose young love
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
Strive to be interest; what can you say to draw
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.(90)

JOANNA:
Nothing, my lord.

KING LEAR:
Nothing!

JOANNA THE GORGE:
Nothing.

KING LEAR:
Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.

I CANT BELIEVE I'M DATING THE DUDE FROM SNL:
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave(95)
My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty
According to my bond; nor more nor less.

oh, nothing sounds like Ys, John. Really. Nothing.

gahhhhh it sounds like a woman singing and playing a harp with some orchestra edits added in later. it sounds like something you can imagine yourself.

LOL

i get that her voice isnt everyones thing but she is a terrific lyricist curtis!! i mean not even just in substance--shes got an amazing grasp of scansion & rhythm. i think the main reason i like her is the lyrics.

I meant compositionally and didn't mean to imply that some woman singing with an orchestra & a harp is unusual in itself

Recommend me more songs like Only Skin plz

"Misty Mountain Hop"

Remove Bookmark from this Thread

huge lol jeff

sorry jeff

sorry ~~everyone~~

But walk a little faster
And don't look backwards
Your feast is to the East, which lies a little past the pasture

When the blackbirds hear tea whistling, they rise and clap
And their applause caws the kettle black
And we can't have none of that!

^^^ this kinda shit makes me cringe, esp when I hear it sung. Although lol @ "and we can't have none of that!"

I do kind of want to hear a JN cover of "stand by me"

so DARLIN DARLIN

Remove Self from this Porch

*runs with the big dogs*

yeah sorry curt i dont even know what about those lines makes u cringe

http://dogtime.com/system/gallery_pictures/202/large/Labrador-Retriever-dog-4-picture.jpg

(supposed) tracklist I've seen floating around:

Disc One:
1 - Easy 06:04
2 - Have One On Me 11:02
3 - '81 03:51
4 - Good Intentions Paving Company 07:02
5 - No Provenance 06:25
6 - Baby Birch 09:30

Disc Two:
1 - On A Good Day 01:48
2 - You And Me, Bess 07:12
3 - In California 08:41
4 - Jackrabbits 04:23
5 - Go Long 08:02
6 - Occident 05:31

Disc Three:
1 - Soft As Chalk 06:29
2 - Esme 07:56
3 - Autumn 08:01
4 - Ribbon Bows 06:10
5 - Kingfisher 09:11
6 - Does Not Suffice 06:44

2 - Have One On Me 11:02
6 - Baby Birch 09:30
5 - Kingfisher 09:11
3 - Autumn 08:01
3 - In California 08:41
5 - Go Long 08:02

if I just delete these ones before listening I'll be good to go tbh

I like her lyrics a lot, too, even though I am defiantly Someone Who Doesn't Care About Lyrics. The thorniness of the language, and the rhythmic way it tumbles out, is a big part of what makes her interesting to me; I admire the dense lyrics of Joni Mitchell or Stephen Sondheim for the same reason.

wait it's really three discs?

"yeah sorry curt i dont even know what about those lines makes u cringe"

Wow are you sure you've left the porch? Or your basement?

xp really and truly according to Drag City.

there's also a bonus disc, one 72-minute song entitled "Dragonriders of Pern Suite"

hahah

So presumably "81" is the early-release mp3 not because it's the standout track as much as it's the shortest thing on there?

Wow are you sure you've left the porch? Or your basement?

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Tuesday, January 26, 2010 4:21 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i mean... no? i could probably guess but why is the onus on me to articulate why curtis doesnt like something?

max don't try to shirk your responsibility

Your feast is to the East, which lies a little past the pasture

See, I'm a straight-up sucker for internal rhyme and alliteration and all that. Could be nonsense for all I care.

anyway like i said, lyrical 'content' aside the reall attraction for me is, like jaymc says, the scansion, the sound, the rhythm & so forth

I don't like it because the words sound bad in my ears

there really arent that many non-rap lyricists who pay as much attention to the sound of words as newsom does

but Curt1s how do they feel in your SOUL

maybe u should stick to instrumentals then stephens

Does Joanna Newsom release instrumental discs?

joanna newsom is soul-ambient

I can't wait to mash those with Gucci vocals!

there really arent that many non-rap lyricists who pay as much attention to the sound of words as newsom does

I think actually if there's beef to be had w/Newsom as a lyricist it's exactly that she errs too far on the side of words-as-sound. even say Ghostface, there's a guy whose feel for the sounds of words is huge wizard level - but he doesn't let that get in the way of his narrative, of the flow. whereas "your feast is to the east" - naw, jack. "past the pasture" ok that's quality play, but "your feast is to the east" is just like "you only said that to hear how it sounds" and there needs to be a little more payoff if you're busting out the feast to the east imo

OTOH maybe you're into Ammons & them dudes, if so, different strokes for different Ur-elves from the forests of Sliavh-Ghelong

I don't object to the lyrics so much as her voice.

oh--you have to listen to the whole song to get the "feast is to the east" bit i think

i mean it fits into the narrative

which, by the way, is about a monkey and a bear

so, that would be

Disc One: 43:54
Disc Two: 35:37
Disc Three: 44:31

124:02

ILM in mocking Joanna Newsom and the people who enjoy her music shocker!

Also, I never claimed that Ys is the greatest record of all time, I just said it's my personal favorite. That's it.

what if her feast really was to the east that day

124:02

not even if it cures my rheumatism, thanks

anyway yeah my "critical commitments" (aka "my favorite professors in college") tend toward the "its all surfaces, man" school, so im ok with pretty-sounding words placed in juxtaposition. i still like cam'ron.

your best buy is to the west, guy

what if her feast really was to the east that day

lol'd so fucking hard at this.

its not newsoms feast that is to the east

it is the bears feast

Those rhymes I like least.

They stink like old yeast.

Does the bear eat the monkey at the end?

Alex that doesn't rhyme

they fall in love or some shit iirc'st

was it her east, or the bear's east?

no, the bear takes off her skin and leaves the monkey

oh so it's a sex metaphor

http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/feast_2_sloppy_seconds_poster.jpg

(l-r: joanna newsom, bear)

3-CD soundtrack

xp LOL

Where is the monkey in the poster though?

ILM in mocking Joanna Newsom and the people who enjoy her music shocker!

you're right, this thread was better when people posted stuff like "album of the year and I haven't even heard it yet."

i like that inflammatory writ song off her 1st album which is 50% "yo this is a song abt a song btw" and 50% "clever wording"

cliffs notes--the monkey and the bear escape from the farm and travel together. the monkey makes the bear dance and sing for people in order so that they can make money to live on their own. the monkey keeps telling the bear that he loves her and its all for her benefit, that eventually they will get somewhere pleasant and happy. but the monkey is also jealous. he hears a rumor that the bear is bathing alone every night in caves near the sea. he goes to spy on her and gleefully plans on confronting her about bathing in a dirty place. but the its too late--the bear has left her skin behind and is swimming out to sea.

xpost

how dare i express subjective hyperbolic excitement for the follow-up to my favorite record

ksh--protip--youre not going to win this fight

uh there is like zero mention of any feast in that synopsis

yo guys exciting news I just got off the phone with a publicist, turns out joanna n. got a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs, spread the news

The best way to approach these things, kshingway, is to expect artists to shit on you.

I think this thread was better when it was just kshighway threatening to take Y's to old folks home and forcing people on their deathbeds to listen to it.

max: appreciated

"somewhere pleasant and happy" = "the feast in the east"

it's not an actual feast? :(

thinking of salo atm

Where are the sloppy seconds?

sigh

I think this thread was better when it was just kshighway threatening to take Y's to old folks home and forcing people on their deathbeds to listen to it

Oh so he joined a death panel, eh.

The feast is to the east? What about the vessel with the pestle?

i like the idea of Ys being on the soundsystem on death row

also "words that rhyme" is not the same as "clever wordplay"

the term "wordplay" should never have been allowed outside the confines of the academy tbh

http://images.clipartof.com/small/12106-Clay-Sculpture-Of-Two-Dogs-Howling-Clipart-Picture.jpg

^ max and kshighway

yeah, u have to keep an eye on it or itll run out in front of traffic
xp

http://impressive.net/people/gerald/2007/04/11/10-23-25-sm.jpg

^ max and kshighway

Chased by a bear. x-post

can I just, as a public service to kshighway, suggest listening to Owen Pallett / Final Fantasy, if he has not already? depending on what precisely you like about Ys, you might really enjoy his new one. thank you for your attention.

^^^ should've someone expressed this via a funny jpg

(somehow)

http://www.searchviews.com/wp-content/themes/clean-copy-full-3-column-1/images/the_more_you_know2.jpg

Is that thing under the fence supposed to be a bear? It looks like some sort of badger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyBn8kGCsg8

my main problem with Ys, by the way, is that a lot of the arrangement seemed really ornamental and distant (as opposed to integral and necessary), which I think is why so many people prefer hearing small-group live recordings -- it'd probably have been a better record if she'd recorded it that way.

also "words that rhyme" is not the same as "clever wordplay"

― plaxico (I know, right?), Tuesday, January 26, 2010 9:48 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark

and the little white dove
made with love, made with love:
made with glue, and a glove, and some pliers

xpost

nabisco: Thanks for the Pallett recommendation! (I really love your P4k review of it too.) I just went to Amazon Mp3 and bought it, and I'm looking forward to listening to it later.

Saw her once a couple of years ago at the Royal Albert Hall, Roy Harper was the support act and he did all 4 (long) songs from Stormcock. JN later on referred to it as one of her favourite albums, and suddenly Ys made a lot more sense.

i think she is the least jordan-friendly artist maybe ever

yeah, she said you're a douche

Have One On Me Unless You're That A-hole Jordan

i told her to stfu that your a nice guy btw

thx bro

Douche is the least rhymable word in the english language I think, she would not have used that word.

jordan's a douche, like lyndon larouche

works 4 me tbh

that mr. que is such a douche/he should learn how to fermez his bouche

jordan i heard tony allen is guesting on the new one

Okay, you all know this is a regular horse of mine, but: that dove bit is at best a play on two already similar senses of the phrase "made with," no?

The reason this is a regular horse of mine is that I would really hate it if we reached some point where using any kind of basic poetic or rhetorical technique in your lyrics -- even a really simple and straightforward one like that -- suddenly became an occasion for "oo, aren't you clever" and "how pretentious / 'twee' is that," etc., because I'm pretty sure we don't collectively want lyricists to feel like they should speak with unadorned, monosyllabic directness to avoid seeming too uppity about it.

I realize Newsom is not a great person to ride this particular horse for, because yes, she really pushes and foregrounds the use of poetic language and very planned/crafted phrasing. But, you know, still. It's not like she's exactly symptomatic of a giant glut of that sort of thing, right?

Spelunking rhymes with clunking.

quoted re: the suggestion (i think - couldn't actually tell which side plaxico was coming down on) that she was just long words and rhymes, you know - was just pulling some example of a technique. i maybe don't belong here because if i've got a horse it's selective quoting to prove or disprove quality of a lyricist; i think just about anyone's going to write something which fits one of the profiles of basic or pretentious lyricism (be it 'be my, be my baby, be my little baby' or 'i don't believe in an interventionist god' or whatever). maybe this precludes lyrical discussion altogether.

I would really hate it if we reached some point where using any kind of basic poetic or rhetorical technique in your lyrics -- even a really simple and straightforward one like that -- suddenly became an occasion for "oo, aren't you clever" and "how pretentious / 'twee' is that," etc.

nabisco I don't know how to break this to you

this is why we cant have nice things

that dove bit is at best a play on two already similar senses of the phrase "made with," no?

from erik davis profile in arthur:
The easy rhyme of dove and love reflects the hackneyed ease of the cliché, which she then promptly takes apart. The word glove is a splice of glue and love, held together, as it were, with pliers and glue. This wordplay is not just surface but sense: it reflects the provisional and patched-together quality that exists beneath our idealizations of love, as well as what Newsom calls the “the Frankenstein phenomenon” that emerges when that love actually creates a living being.

last part of that quoted through laziness rather than to impress the romantic mysticism of her words btw

oh, my fault, schlump, I thought you meant it the other way!

yeah J0hn, I know the horse I'm riding is a little bit dead, but still -- bummer that it's so much easier to go "LOL what are you trying," as if the attempt is a bad thing in itself, than to take a stand on how it's working

xpost - haha I took issue with various things about that Davis piece at the time

thanks god my detailed analysis of "emily" has been lost to the sands of the sandbox

bummer that it's so much easier to go "LOL what are you trying," as if the attempt is a bad thing in itself, than to take a stand on how it's working

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvFvPKPqCRg

dont really like that erik davis bit :(

I mean I agree with you, but I'm a doof who reads poetry. the battle, if there was one, is kind of lost. when the terminology of poetic craft does manage to leak into general use at all, gotta just celebrate that people are trying to engage at some level; no gain in trying to explain "it's not wordplay just because you pronounced a word wrong to make it fit your meter" (my own all-time Quixote topic).

max did you read the rest of the piece about how there's never been music like this, I mean you'd think it was loveless or some other unprecedented masterpiece of incrediblosity

i guess my attitude to lyrics isn't really nuanced or engaged really, its just a case of phrases jumping out and resonating or seeming awesome or something that grabs my attention, so when the lyrics don't have any effect on me already, any explanation abt why its clever (unless it really reframes the lyric for me, or points out something that I hadn't twigged) is unlikely to have much effect on me

dont really like that erik davis bit :(
It reads better in the original French.

also, in Newsom's defense, I'm pretty sure my favorite bit of Ys involves a variation on the whole "horse walks into a bar, bartender says 'why the long face?'" joke

xpost - haha, J0hn, I'm not worried about terminology, more about some dystopian near future where well-educated people with good vocabularies are like "oh no a singer loved by middlebrow audiences used a big word or pun, this is critical and potentially disastrous"

I don't get the criticism of the orchestration on Ys seeming ornamental or "surface" at all. I could see saying that for something consistently ~*floaty*~ like... Vespertine. But in Ys, there's a strong sense of congruency in what she's singing and the sounds of the orchestra (e.g., in Only Skin when she sings "we felt the spray of the waves..." the orchestra totally sounds like waves crashing against each other). They're always moving, changing according to some internal plot and I think this adds a lot to the songs harmonically.

It doesn't strike me as mere John Williams-style "oooh, random manipulative swell of strings here" at all and I think the songs wouldn't be half as beautiful and engaging without them.

i don't see anyone making fun of her lyrics for using big words or puns or slant rhymes, they're making fun of her because the lyrics sound kind of silly, or you know

I don't like it because the words sound bad in my ears

i mean, do you really need more than that? some people just don't like her lyrics. does that diminish your enjoyment of her?

no but it diminishes my enjoyment of reading peoples posts

in Only Skin when she sings "we felt the spray of the waves..." the orchestra totally sounds like waves crashing against each other

the kind of thing you're describing is actually what I mean about ornamentation and distance -- sometimes it's like she's playing and the arrangements are a marionette show off to the side of her, acting things out. which was not always a bad thing for me! but occasionally I didn't like that relationship between them, I guess, even if imagining the missing marionette show was fun.

after seeing the 6-piece band the record comes across a bit overblown to me, for listening I would definitely go for the live recordings of that tour before the studio LP. I think V.D.P. went a little overboard, and the arrangements seemed intrusive to me after the live experience.

Feel a bit out of depth here talking about her lyrics but I certainly like them and think her phrases are often very well paced in the compositions.

argh paced = placed

nabisco, I get what you're saying, though maybe your analogy would work better if that relationship were consistently obvious throughout the album (which it really isn't). Another problem is it reduces the orchestral part entirely to your assumed function that it should (or even intends) to fulfill in the music.

But I don't know, I'm a sucker for moments of musical "impressionism" of that sort.

Another problem is it reduces the orchestral part entirely to your assumed function that it should (or even intends) to fulfill in the music.

this is where jn's biggest boosters start sounding like cult members fyi. "this part doesn't sound like it really works" "oh you're just bringing your own set of assumptions to the table, it works fine as long as you assume that what you're hearing is completely awesome"

im pretty sure thats how you are supposed to argue stuff

"brokencyde is awful" "yes but they mean to sound like that"

now ur getting it!

Seriously John? I'm not even questioning his reaction to the music at all, I'm talking about why I think the analogy doesn't entirely work, not why the music is "awesome" or why he should love the album. Commenting in this thread IS also fine if you happen to like the album and don't feel the need to be *~witty~* about your distaste for it.

just so we're clear i wasn't being sarcastic

Pretty sure J0hn wasn't either.

'sawdust and diamonds' is the only song to make me laugh *out loud* (at the 'long face' bit nabisco mentions) aswell as well up with tears on the first listen. just never experienced anything like that range of extereme emotions in the first listen of a song ever before. them's some damn good lyrics that can do that imho.

this should be a fun thread

― what u think i steen for to push a crawfish? (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, January 12, 2010 11:11 PM (2 weeks ago)

I'm fully expecting that there will be about three of us will enjoy this record.

― kshighway (ksh), Tuesday, January 12, 2010 11:14 PM (2 weeks ago)

well yeah T I mean your position seems to be that critique of the record amounts to not understanding the record's aesthetic goals. this imo is a not a workable response - it basically means "your critique cannot be valid under any circumstances." since the goals of the artist aren't to the best of my knowledge stated explicitly anywhere, but are (here) inferred by yourself, it's fair to say "look, this sounds like an attempt at x, and it's not entirely successful," and that that's a more likely scenario than "this sounds like x, but in fact it is attempting something entirely different and cannot be critiqued as though it were attempting to achieve the aesthetics described as x, and any critique of it under the criteria contained in x is therefore invalid" - I mean - Psychocandy is a cavernous recreation of the Phil Spector aesthetic from one angle, but a sloppy mess from another, and both descriptions are valid.

I am not saying that at all, John. Maybe I didn't express myself clearly. He can dislike the album all he wants and I thought his description was actually awesome. I only said that equating the orchestra to marionettes DOES assume intentions/functions that---like you said---aren't very clear to begin with and make the ANALOGY work less.

marionettes . . .

There's a light in the wings
Hits this system of strings
From the side while they swing;
See the wires, the wires, the wires

so uh is it possible to hear good live recordings of ys without the damn orchestra?

yes, look for the 1st Unitarian show in Philly

thank u sleeve

2006-11-16

also: ys street band ep

if you want to hear the band instead of the orchestra

does andy samberg guest on this?

I only said that equating the orchestra to marionettes DOES assume intentions/functions that---like you said---aren't very clear to begin with and make the ANALOGY work less.

well, but I'd say short of some very clear recording decisions - stuff you'd hear at every pass - "orchestra" in itself codes with certain functions musically; it's not lazy or unkind to assume these functions as an aesthetic intent. it's not unfair to say than an orchestra's role in relation to a pop vocal sits within a certain grouping of aesthetic expectations (generally: support and counterpoint; one could go much, much deeper into this), and that unless those expectations are pretty clearly being refuted/interrogated, the absence of such functions is more likely to be a missing of the mark than a recontextualization/remimagining of the role of the orchestra.

disc 2, track 1: I'm On a Horse (feat. T-Pain & Andy Samberg)

xpost cool story, bro. but sorry, how does that contradict anything I said?

I only said that equating the orchestra to marionettes DOES assume intentions/functions that---like you said---aren't very clear to begin with

right: I am saying that there are aesthetic intentions contained in the use of an orchestra that it's fair to infer, absent some telegraphic function (the main ones I can imagine would be unusual instrumentation or recording techniques - filters, distortion - that call attention to themselves & to what they're doing)

is that clearer?

yes

I wish l0u1s jagg3r were around to give a detailed play-by-play analysis of Have One On Me when it comes out

Well so for the record I like Ys a lot! And as far the whole "ornamental" and "distanced" thing I'm talking about with the orchestration ... I'm not saying that's inherently a bad thing; I'm sure someone could make a record that did that in a way I thought was great. But on this record it does strike me as kind of a drawback. Which is why I was suggesting that maybe lots of people felt that way, and maybe that's why there's a ton of love for the live shows and recordings with a smaller group -- because one thing the live presentation definitely did was cut away this distanced/ornamental quality I'm talking about.

So, yeah. It seems like a pointed aesthetic decision and one that has some cool things about it, but there are parts of that record where I'm not sure it's the best choice. (Part of it might just be a recording thing, where the soundstage Newsom's on and the one the orchestra's on aren't meshing quite right.)

new joanna newsom music video leaked

New material an improvement imo

i dig the rapping

can I just, as a public service to kshighway, suggest listening to Owen Pallett / Final Fantasy, if he has not already? depending on what precisely you like about Ys, you might really enjoy his new one. thank you for your attention.

― oɔsıqɐu (nabisco), Tuesday, 26 January 2010 21:52 (Yesterday) Bookmark

did we talk about that record on here yet? i want to talk about that record i think

Uh-oh:

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/01/joanna_newsom_three_times.html

Great news, fans of harps and indie rock: Indie-rock harpist Joanna Newsom is releasing a freaking triple album. It’s called Have One on Me and it’s out February 23 on Drag City. We’ve also gotten the first official song, “'81,” and it’s exactly as somber and pretty and overbearingly twee as you’d expect.

Indie-rock harpist

i meant it used the "t" word, but yeah.

huh, there I was listening to it and thinking that she had excised the remotest remnant of t*** from her music.

Until she stops singing there will always be the twee label applied to her. Whether you think it's a correct application is another thing.

I think her singing style is inherently twee.

hope Only Skin makes it to the Juno 2 soundtrack

:P

hope Only Skin makes it to the Juno 2 soundtrack

This sentence should not exist.

clap your hands if you believe

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/41/DragonslayerPoster.jpg/397px-DragonslayerPoster.jpg
ny mag says the new song is about dragonslayer

xpost

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/02_01/JunoFOX0802_468x396.jpg

ny mag says the new song is about dragonslayer

Well, love IS a mystery.

i haven't heard it yet, but i'm fairly certain the song is about 1981

Mr Que your obsession with Joanna is endearing btw

Que, you looking forward to hearing it?

maybe i've already heard it ;)

single of the year imo

so I was listening to the sydney opera house show and can't really listen to her sing "you makin' love" over and over without thinking about a naked + sweaty adam sandberg now

i think its "andy samberg"

a naked and sweaty adam sandler

http://api.ning.com/files/uDK8StaExILcT*8RN0pzIXQffsUxCF4jjokRaMpcc1A_/adam_sandler.jpg

http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-photos/andy-samberg-2006-mtv-movie-awards-arrivals-upRntu.jpg

hey so seriously, i mentioned it above, but I hope this gets the Moore Brothers (who contribute some guest vocals to this record) some much deserved hype! they are awesome.

step one: cut a hole in the harp

i lol'd

Oh! I Always Get Those Two Mixed Up!

i always get boxes and harps messed up, too

must make for a fucked up xmas at yr house

Mr. Que with his new gift:

http://aura.gaia.com/photos/31/304623/large/HarpGyre.jpg

"you got me a harp?"
"no your present is inside the harp"

yeah if you've never tried to unwrap a harp, you've never lived

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb209/baltimoresun05/harp.jpg

http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/beer/images/harp-230.jpg

http://www.drawger.com/atomic/shows/harp%20box.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Blanchon-idlm2006.jpg

did you know bill callahan is writing a nasty breakup album called sing! harpist

rumor has it that bill callahan is the monkey, and joanna newsom is the bear

bill callahan is the bear in the bumper car

heard the callahan record is called Darps of Hevotion

"i haven't heard it yet, but i'm fairly certain the song is about 1981"

THE YEAR DRAGONSLAYER CAME OUT!

high five

http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/bear/1600x1200/High_Five-1600x1200.jpg

Alex in SF do you like JN?

first you stole their land, now you steal their bandwidth

xp

xp I like Dragonslayer.

I'm pretty indifferent to JN though.

http://ooster.ru/covers/ost_23/Dragonslayer-1981-soundtrack-alex-north.png

dragons lay her

That album cover is way better than Have One On Me's.

I like the Have One On Me cover. it is functional.

I think the album cover's kinda dumb :I

tells you who the album is by, what the album is called

Doesn't have weird pixallated Dragonslayer font and logo though.

she doesn't have the best track record when it comes to album covers

do I need to remind everyone

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/j/joanna-newsom/album-ys.jpg

So glad I got to see that album cover before I die.

alex, is that the last thing people get to see before you murder them

Maybe if you buy it on itunes you get an automatic download of the iBeer app:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3MfQIswl3k

"alex, is that the last thing people get to see before you murder them"

Unless they are vision impaired, it sure is.

what is the symbolism of the sickle and butterfly???

so if you play them this album and then butcher their ear canals ppl r allowed to live after this y/n?

Well see there is this song about a butterfly and a bear who farms and the butterfly and the bear go on a magical adventure to the west (which is the best) and then in the end the bear eats a unicorn.

sounds like quite a feast!

lol

Well see there is this song about a butterfly and a bear who farms and the butterfly and the bear go on a magical adventure to the west (which is the best) and then in the end the bear eats a unicorn.

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Wednesday, January 27, 2010 1:05 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

arent you a big sci fi fan?

oh snap

thank you for this thread

ey bernard how've you been

nah i mean i dig sci fi and elaborate harp-driven allegorical songs i just dont see why one is more ridiculous than the other

and newsom is way hotter than sam delaney imo

the puppy and the plum
making jam for fun
all day o'er the fields
of gold feeling moldy boldly
going where no man
has gone before

no, not me,
I'm an island of such great complexity

a chapter without a verse conversely
rhytmicly rhyming long and terse
and you
in the kitchen
clarifying butter
in a churn, yearning burning
like an urn

dude from smog
middle school playing pogs
slammer mc hammer
o ye
harken
some stupid shit

Far away from the beginning
The shroud is made of linen
The yearling took the purse
The goth kid has a hearse

toast without preserves
apricot aliquots, marmalade slathered
empty cots
swaying like
a white pony

http://i45.tinypic.com/sm4qw8.jpg

*chorus*
neiiiiiiiiiiiiigh neigh

yeah I swag hard
yeah I swag long
my swag so right, man, you got me all wrong

http://www.papermag.com/modules/archive/uploaded_images/2548_i3_newsom03.jpg

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9337/u1075754ii3.jpg

I am disturbed by how suddenly Newsom photography has gone from "you have elf ears" to "please turn around and bend slightly forward."

Also I'm always really interested in perceptions of her voice, because some people obviously find it really childish/precious/"twee," whereas others find it kind of creepy and old-crone! Personally I tend more toward the latter of those two -- there is a creak in her voice that she's always using, and it can be faintly unsettling and blaring; it reminds me far more of an old woman than any sort of child (though I'll admit that our picturesque visions of the two things, when it comes to woodsy imaginative harp music, have a lot in common)

the bumper and the bear

attractive woman in having attractive pictures taken shocker.

her arm looks creepy and dislocated in that picture.

"arent you a big sci fi fan?"

What this has to do with anything is beyond me?

I am disturbed by how suddenly Newsom photography has gone from "you have elf ears" to "please turn around and bend slightly forward."

she's following the established career path

http://blog.photoshelter.com/image/cat_pitts.jpg
http://blog.newsok.com/staticblog/files/2008/04/catpower4.jpg

nothin bro

http://i45.tinypic.com/2ni6zr4.jpg

just sayin... he who is not into books about spacemen should throw the first stone at the musician writing songs about bears and monkeys

hoy hoy I am referring less to "attractive pictures" and more about some point where people started fixating heavily on her having a shapely ass

Dat ass indeed

it is a thing of beauty tho

"just sayin... he who is not into books about spacemen should throw the first stone at the musician writing songs about bears and monkeys"

So basically you don't know what you are talking about it. Got it.

hoy hoy I am referring less to "attractive pictures" and more about some point where people started fixating heavily on her having a shapely ass

this is due to the fact she went from queen of evony entry to haute couture in the space of a year

nabisco i think you're otm about the old lady voice

i kinda think it sounds like a kid's impression of an old lady.

lisa simpson with a lovely upper register

alex u are pretty butthurt eh

thought this was all a good fun joeks time

SF stands 4 SyFy

max you are misunderstood

i guess i am the monkey, in this situation, and alex in sf is the bear

Is that last photo Luna?

ilx is the bumper car and adam sandberg is cutting a hole in a harp

lolllll just noticed the harp in that hotel pic

"i guess i am the monkey, in this situation, and alex in sf is the bear"

I can't wait to strip the skin off your body with my sickle.

;-)

Thankfully you've already heard Ys so I won't have to play it while I'm doing this.

everyone just take it Ysy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH-La_rLA_A

Ys is probably one of the few records in my collection I'll be still listening to as a Senior Citizen. Only Skin is probably the best song of the last 50 000 years.

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/artist/Joanna+Newsom/5917

shhh our cult is secret tin cub!

:-x.

I will try to take the bullets for all y'all by confessing that seeing Ys done live w/ orchestra made me quite literally feel like I was going to die, a lovely death of, u no, sublimity or some shit, something that's a few notches above any other, uh, 'experience of art' I've had. Most esp. the swelling strings in 'Emily'.

Also, I am 100% certain that this upcoming album is going to make the entire renaissance look like 1 big pile o shit.

LOL I love Joanna Newsom fans.

So much that you feel the need to spend the entire day in this thread adding nothing but snark. It really is love.

My snarky comments on this thread are the greatest wisecracks anyone has ever made on anything since the dawn o' time.

^100% not exaggerating at all.

plz wisecrack by my deathbed, alex

Have you heard Ys, Brad? Cuz I have to play it for you, before I smother you with a pillow otherwise.

wYscrack

Alex never stop bringing your magic to this thread

I didn't know what emotion was until I read some of Alex's Newsom zings, they were like learning to experience dawn for the first time

I still don't believe her voice, it all seems like an act. Will say as lame as the elfin persona was , can't say I love the new sexxxy--starring in MGMT and playing fashion parties one much more, although it's much more believable and "authentic"

Either way, still think she's putting on a voice

Seeing Ys live made me bored.

Either way, still think she's putting on a voice

xpost: doesn't Neil Young put on a voice, too? (not harshing on you personally, Emily's Cheese, just generally venting)

Virtually every singer is "putting on a voice".

There's some interview where Joanna said something like: "The institution of singing is inherently an affectation."

Yeah, Google tells me that's from Davis's Arthur Profile, which I've read too many times.

“When I listen back to those first EPs, I’m like, well, that voice does sound fucking crazy. There is no way around it. But I know exactly what space I was in. I was so sure that I didn’t know how to sing that I was just going balls out. I was like: I’m going to sing my heart out, as crazy as it sounds, and I’m not going to care because there’s no hope of sounding anything like what people consider beautiful. I sure as hell wasn’t affecting anything. I mean, the institution of singing is inherently an affectation!”

from: http://www.arthurmag.com/2006/12/23/nearer-the-heart-of-things-erik-davis-on-joanna-newsom-from-arthur-no-25winter-02006/

This will be her Nashville Skyline.

re: her voic
way too flowery

more like her self portrait

totally on board for her infidels in 2017 tho

more excited for her Christmas in the Heart, tbh

??

nashville skyline is about 13 mins a side

I mean, the institution of singing is inherently an affectation!

newsom OTM

unless you walk around all day singing things to ppl like you're in a big ole opera

I contend that choosing the name Emily's Cheese is bit of an affectation as well. Unless your parent's really named you that in which case, I am truly sorry.

Jumping in to this crazy thread to say that I think her voice sounds wonderful on "81". She has clearly worked on it a lot over the past few years. Compare this new song to any song on Milk-Eyed Mender and it is pretty much night and day.

Not sure I understand the whole idea of her putting on a voice. Beyond making an attempt to sound reasonably good, I don't get the impression that she is "playing a role" or trying to be something she is not. I think the "wackiness" that comes out of her various projects is really just the sound of her being true to herself. Whether you like that or not is a different question...

emil Ys cheese

deathbeds gettin brought up a lot on this thread jus sayin

unless you walk around all day singing things to ppl like you're in a big ole opera

I have always assumed Joanna Newsom does this on the regular

Safe assumption probably.

~*cleverness*~

438 messages and no one has heard the record yet

Oh that's not true at all. I'm sure someone at cloth-eared yokel at Drag City has listened to it by now.

In other news JD Salinger died without hearing Ys.

good thing they play Ys in heaven pretty much 24-7

That doesn't matter to JN fans though. It's gotta be heard while in the full flush of life or it don't count.

Would you know my name
If you heard Ys in heaven
Will it be the same
If you heard Ys heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know Ys don't belong
Here in heaven

guys i think at 443 posts you may be running out of jokes to make about joanna newsom, her music, and her fanbase

good innings though

(i actually like JoNew fine, just having a laff ... a+++ tears in heaven reference btw)

Can someone with more time on their hands take this scene from Manhunter and replace the Iron Butterfly with something from Ys? k thx bye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6cVuJiREPE

how much do harps cost?

xp

LOL

first genuinely funny post in this thread

btw the title track of this is a monster with a gorgeous bridge and a completely unexpected wordless coda

But now you've told us, so we will expect it.

:P

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4322945262_a5c3ecc41e.jpg

Can't decide if this is better or worse.

that song streaming on drag city sounds a lot like "army dreamers" by kate bush
her voice is much improved!

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/w/world-party/album-private-revolution.jpg

xpost Is that to do with the waltz rhythm she's playing on the harp?

probably, i mean they don't really sound that alike but army dreamers immediately came to mind within seconds of listening to it, also her voice and phrasing sounding a bit more like kate than before, at least in that song

Hatch, is that the real cover? Man, I'm a fucking iTunes dude, but I'm buying this shit on vinyl.

Oh shit, definitely the real cover: http://www.dragcity.com/products/have-one-on-me

TRIPLE LP TIME!

Does anyone know if Drag City ships download codes with their LPs?

Good question. The whole concept of free mp3s with a purchase of LP has made me very enthusiastic about buying vinyl. I think any record company that does this is on the right track.

Love the album cover. I had been scratching my head over the all black version because it seemed just too half-assed for her. This is much more what I'd expect. I like how she always seems to be one-upping herself.

Moodles OTM. The first "artwork" we saw was awful, but this is awesome. I don't even have a turntable, but I want to buy the vinyl just to have it. I'll almost definitely do so if there's a download code. Maybe I'll email Drag City and ask them.

450+ posts of jokes and no one has used the phrase "quit harping on her music" or something similar

for shame people

for shame

Great photo for the album cover but I'm still not to keen on the typographic choice.

Edwardian color-tinted postcard cover artwork? Success.

I don't know anything about fonts, but it reminds me of the font from Clockwork Orange movie posters.

But the picture is great.

that song streaming on drag city sounds a lot like "army dreamers" by kate bush

she is sounding a lot like kate bush lately. and it's not just her voice/phrasing, even her songwriting. it's kind of disappointing because whatever you think about her, until recently you could never say "she sounds just like [insert name]".

between that and picturing a naked + sweaty adam sanberg during her tender love ballads....

I agree that the new song sounds a bit like Kate Bush, but I think she's not a bad person to be compared to.

Strangely, prior to this song I had been reminded a bit of Kate Bush simply in the way it took both singers a couple albums to really grow into their voices. Kate's voice sounded very thin and child-like on her first album or two, but over time she gained a lot of depth and breathiness.

Joanna Newsom seems to be headed in the same direction, though unlike Kate Bush, she wasn't born with a golden voice. She's had to work a bit harder to get to a "good" singing voice.

Why has she been trying to look so damn sexy lately?

Why not?

Shes trying to sell records I guess ;)

Great photo for the album cover but I'm still not to keen on the typographic choice.

The font works really well for me. The whole cover reminds me of something you would see from that era in the early/mid 70s when imagery and design from the 20s/30s made a comeback. See also The Sting, Bugsy Malone and this Stones tour poster...

http://www.postersnthings.com/posters/rolling_stones_euro_tour_70.jpg

BUSTED

classic poster imo

lol

ilu nabisco

Why has she been trying to look so damn sexy lately?

― Evan, Monday, February 1, 2010 10:57 PM (43 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Why not?

― Salvador Dali Parton (Turangalila), Monday, February 1, 2010 10:59 PM (40 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Shes trying to sell records I guess ;)

― Evan, Monday, February 1, 2010 11:03 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark

blarg

Hey, in the right light...

The way Newsom makes music seems — at best — very, very distantly related to the texture of your everyday life in the here-and-now part of the world. Harps, dancing bears, walnut-shell boats: I have never seen any of these things in a bodega.

it's unfair to splice this out of nabisco's longer graph, in which it's making a case that newsom's aesthetic and rhetoric are distinctly exotic and alien, and the piece goes on to defuse the idea that these things are overbearing. but i have problems with this idea generally. i don't think people consume in such a literal way, or only look for poetry in realms similar to their own - i feel like the connective point between j-new and annoying teenage fans is the emotion and conclusions she draws on her experience, even if monkeys and bears are stand-ins for girls and boys. the particulars in her lyrics are markedly unfamiliar but those things are interchangeable and don't affect our understanding of things.

i don't know if the opprobrium towards people listening to music outside of their immediate sphere - rich white kids listening to hip hop or whatever - even exists anymore, or is solely in my imagination, but i think the argument against that is that we don't relate to art according to its superficial variables but in its themes; we might not spend much time in the forest but can understand a midsummer night's dream or whatever. joanna newsom's waiting to be pigeonholed, and there are enough anomalous aspects to her music & persona for critics to wave a flag about, but it maybe irks me slightly when the charge of being precious and flighty is hung on something interchangeable.

xp
blarg

― schlump, Monday, February 1, 2010 11:43 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Hey, in the right light...

― Evan, Monday, February 1, 2010 11:51 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

was blarging at the idea that j new dared to bare flesh purely as a capitalist strategy fwiw

Haha oh I wasn't seriously suggesting that.

yeah, schlump, Max wrote some interesting things about that later! I was definitely skimming over the ways things like allegories are referring to the here-and-now. What's interesting to me is that her sorta "make-believe" aesthetic is actually the least affected option for a harp player with a voice like that -- playing stuff we perceive as more here-and-now might seem bizarre for her!

Interesting how that album cover, though, is a definite leap in contemporary here-and-now imagery for her.

I still think this is going to be my album of the year. Still haven't heard a note! Man, music is awesome.

So will there be an equivalent thread bitching about this album when it inevitably tops the Pitchfork and Pazz & Jop lists?

Can someone explain Joanna Newsom to me? I just don't get it.

see there's this bear and a monkey and the wizard of Ys.

Can someone explain Joanna Newsom to me? I just don't get it.

― joep, Monday, February 1, 2010 9:23 PM (2 minutes ago)

Just watch this!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=032nP0N-QRE

Note: You should be dying while you watch that.

Jesus that looks difficult.

There has to be more than technical skill. Do people lose their minds over her for any other reason than she plays the harp and is very cute? The voice is a bit strange and inaccessible for the mainstream, the songs are kind of obtuse and nontraditional... I'm not saying these are bad things but I am wondering if she is more of an aesthetic self-fulfilling choice for fans.

No one listens to her because she's the Yngwie Malmsteen of the harp -- she's isn't! There's no unnecessary display of technical prowess going on in any of her songs; they're all carefully, and painstakingly, composed pieces, and I personally don't hear anything "extraneous" in any of them. In addition to her precise and evocative lyrics, which are only Ren faire bullshit to people who either actively want to dislike her or don't know what close reading is, I love her because her music really is really idiosyncratic, but not in a way that grates, despite what others say. If you can find a way in to the songs that works for you, I think there's always a possibility that the world she's creating will open up to you in a way you might find really compelling and affecting.

Thanks man, no one has ever taken the time to explain any of this to me. Honestly I haven't listened extensively, so I plan to spend some time with the new one. But the most reasoning to listen I ever get from the trendsters is "she's amazing", with little to no elaboration or points.

She is extremely technically proficient, and I think that contributes to the fullness of melody you might hear otherwise in two talented dueling guitars. Point is that it isn't show-offery, the ambitious compositions serve the song and the melody, as apposed to most jam-bands that have it exactly opposite.

Hey man, no problem! If you decide to listen to her first LP, Milk-Eyed Mender, first, it's a good idea to keep in mind that it's far more of a scattered and erratically pleasurable affair than Ys. Some songs, like "Sadie," are really compelling mini-narratives backed by the harp, but there's also harpsichord ("Peach, Plumb, Pear") and piano(?) ("Three Little Babes"). It's kind of all over the place, but it has its own charm, and when it hits its stride (the aforementioned "Sadie," "Book of Right-On," and "Sprout and the Bean"), it's awesome. Ys, in my opinion, is great all the way through, so I can only recommend listening to it closely a few times through, then perhaps a few times with the lyric sheet in front of you, and then another time after reading Erik Davis's piece on Ys from Arthur Magazine (http://www.arthurmag.com/2006/12/23/nearer-the-heart-of-things-erik-davis-on-joanna-newsom-from-arthur-no-25winter-02006/). That's just one possible way of trying to approach her music, of course, but I think it could work. Still, some people won't like her stuff no matter how they listen to it, and that's fine too.

Holy f. I watched that Sawdust & Diamonds clip through to the end. I think a certain kind of artist has a kind of singular song that might not be a good jumping off point for a newcomer looking for their way in, but is a perfect summation of their aesthetic/what they're reaching for. Something like Voodoo Child (Slight Return) for Jimi Hendrix or Lover You Should've Come Over for Jeff Buckley. Those are probably bad examples for a lot of people here, but I do think she fits into a kind of capable rockist auteur thing. I mean, a lot of critical narrative hovers around "Well, they could barely [do x] but they overcome [] to interesting effect". What happens when they can execute whatever they want? So it's all back on concept? Not sure if I'm explaining this right. I'm just not articulate enough to, um, articulate what I'm getting at.

Her new look and celebrity stizz isn't vibing with me hard, that said I like her new song much more than anything on Ys so hmmmmmm

I've liked her since the Cair Paravel reference on MEM. Haven't listened to Ys more than a few times after an initial enjoyment of it. Her voice doesn't *SQUEAK* before every line on the new single like it does on Ys. That's good at least.

She has another new track up on http://www.dragcity.com/

Piano and drums!

wow, based on those 2 songs previewed on drag city i might buy this