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.
― ksh, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 02:45 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― joep, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 02:53 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Evan, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 02:55 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― ksh, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 03:03 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― ecuador_with_a_c, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 04:29 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― Emily's Cheese, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 08:21 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Sam Weller, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 10:34 (fourteen years ago) link
She has another new track up on http://www.dragcity.com/
― Evan, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 18:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Piano and drums!
― Evan, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 18:09 (fourteen years ago) link
wow, based on those 2 songs previewed on drag city i might buy this
― velko, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 18:17 (fourteen years ago) link
She sounds like shes conciously trying not to sing as over the top as he has previously. Maybe shes as bored with freak-folk quirks as most of us are.
― Evan, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 18:31 (fourteen years ago) link
she has*
http://pitchfork.com/news/37767-another-new-joanna-newsom-song/
― ksh, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 18:42 (fourteen years ago) link
Ah, Evan already posted the link. Cool! (I'm not going to listen to any of these until I get the full record.)
― ksh, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 18:43 (fourteen years ago) link
She didn't sound over the top on Ys and I doubt she was ever reaching for any 'freak folk' voice. These songs are a little different and I like both a lot.
― abcfsk, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 18:45 (fourteen years ago) link
She was a bit over the top, as everything was on that album (I really like it by the way!). And those vocal quirks have been associated with freak-folk, and so has she. I like her, so please don't feel defensive.
― Evan, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 18:56 (fourteen years ago) link
Okay, really really loving "Good Intentions Paving Company".
― you gone float up with it (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 19:23 (fourteen years ago) link
I do believe this song has signalled the coming of the messiah.
― FC Tom Tomsk Club (Merdeyeux), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 21:40 (fourteen years ago) link
by which I mean, it's pretty great.
She sounded great in concert last night. It was really great hearing her voice surrounded by quite a few different instruments and great to see her jump on the piano a couple of times.
― micarl, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 21:45 (fourteen years ago) link
the leaked songs are my least favorite of what I've heard from the new stuff tbh
jim o'rourke produced this, right?
― Salvador Dali Parton (Turangalila), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 21:58 (fourteen years ago) link
He did? Again? Oh man.
― ksh, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 21:58 (fourteen years ago) link
He only mixed Ys. :)
― Salvador Dali Parton (Turangalila), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:04 (fourteen years ago) link
would ppl who are repping hard for jn's harp chops please list four or five of their other favorite harpists, please
― Lee Dorrian Gray (J0hn D.), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:05 (fourteen years ago) link
(sorry)
my favorite harpists are Ann Hobson-Pilot and Elizabeth Remy
― PIES! PIES! PIES! PIES! PIES! (HI DERE), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:06 (fourteen years ago) link
alice coltrane
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:06 (fourteen years ago) link
Little Walter
― that sex version of "blue thunder." (Mr. Que), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:06 (fourteen years ago) link
oops I meant Elisabeth Remy Johnson
gotta get it right if I'm gonna pimp friends
― PIES! PIES! PIES! PIES! PIES! (HI DERE), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:07 (fourteen years ago) link
that chick from owt
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:07 (fourteen years ago) link
http://tejiendoelmundo.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/harpo_marx.jpg
― brews before HOOS (s1ocki), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:08 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.elisabethremy.com/grandjany.mp3
^^^ ftr, also runs marathons
― PIES! PIES! PIES! PIES! PIES! (HI DERE), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:08 (fourteen years ago) link
― Lee Dorrian Gray (J0hn D.), Tuesday, February 2, 2010 5:05 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
think youre misreading some people? i dont think anyone is repping 4 her chops.
― max, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:09 (fourteen years ago) link
This is what I said upthread:
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.
I'm with max.
― kshighway (ksh), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:10 (fourteen years ago) link
ksh highway what do you think of sonny boy williamson's harp playing
― that sex version of "blue thunder." (Mr. Que), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:11 (fourteen years ago) link
man, i'm impressed by anyone who can play a harmonica. i've tried. shit's hard.
― kshighway (ksh), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:12 (fourteen years ago) link
(i used Wikipedia, btw.)
― kshighway (ksh), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:13 (fourteen years ago) link
:-)
zeena parkins, totally blanked on her name for a second there
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:13 (fourteen years ago) link
Rhodri Davies, Xavier de Maistre, Alice Coltrane, Nicanor Zabaleta
― Salvador Dali Parton (Turangalila), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:13 (fourteen years ago) link
i've heard her harp playing described as very idiosyncratic and sorta self-taught? it's all plinky plink plink to me.
― velko, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:14 (fourteen years ago) link
not sure that anyone was repping that hard for the chops? Besides Evan's "extremely technically proficient", which isn't the most mindblowing of praise. (eesh many xposts, learn to type quickly.)
This song, I realise, kinda reminds me of Song Cycle, a kind of miniature excursion into the relatively-unmined-by-modern-pop-music side of the American vernacular.
― FC Tom Tomsk Club (Merdeyeux), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:15 (fourteen years ago) link
no, her playing is equally influenced by trad classical training and african kora music
xp
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:16 (fourteen years ago) link
― velko, Tuesday, February 2, 2010 11:14 PM (1 minute ago)
she's classicaly trainwd
― abcfsk, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:16 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, like i said, i'm not sure i could tell the diff (i was probably remembering someone describing her vocals lol)
― velko, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:17 (fourteen years ago) link
"classically trained" is kind of like "went to college"
I'm sure she's fine but yeah it was even's "extremely technically proficient" line I was thinkin abt
― Lee Dorrian Gray (J0hn D.), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:19 (fourteen years ago) link
lol @ the JN opinion police
― Salvador Dali Parton (Turangalila), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:21 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FuYpme0Cm4
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:23 (fourteen years ago) link
I saw her on the YS tour, she played some pretty intricate stuff for 1+ hour and I didn't hear an off note so I'd put her in the beyond proficient category
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:24 (fourteen years ago) link
talks a bit about her harp playing herehttp://www.chickfactor.com/current/cf16_joannanewsom.shtml
― velko, Tuesday, 2 February 2010 22:25 (fourteen years ago) link