ILXers Get Out Your Polls And I'll Put On Some Joni Mitchell Voting and Nominations #26 (Voting Deadline: September 28)

Don Juan and Mingus - these are marvellous records, but I'm not sure what I can make of them in a tracks poll. It's like making two lakes eligible alongside a bunch of parks in a 'favourite places to hang out' poll.

They did get me reflecting on how far she travelled in ten years though - these are genuinely nothing whatsoever like her first records. People like Paul Simon or Neil Young, you can always hear where they've come from - with Joni I can't hear that at all.

Listening to Shine again, it occurs that one thing she's always been great at is *metre* (I think that's the right word anyway, what I mean is her fitting her words to the music & melody). Again Paul Simon comes to mind, but when he kicks loose you're always aware that he's half-talking, whereas with Joni it sounds more/less natural (take your pick). I think it explains some of the strange places she ends up in harmonically too, in that sometimes the right thing to do is extend the line way beyond where simple repetition would take it, with unexpected results.

Man, I do not understand the Pastorius hate.

And today, of all days (25th anniversary of his death).

Re-listening to Hejira last night, it also seems unfair to pin the "blame" for any dislike of the way it sounds on JP anyway. A more logical culprit, if one must be found, is Joni's (often double-tracked), flanged-to-death rhythm guitar - which is all over nearly every song. I kinda dig it myself but can see why others might find it a blessed relief when "Blue Hotel Room" arrives and finally changes the tone of the record.

Will vote for "Coyote" no doubt. Maybe nothing else though.

That might be my #1 reason for loving Hejira!

Let me make one final pitch on behalf of "Come In From The Cold". I said this two years ago on another thread and stand by it:

"I thought "Come In From The Cold" was too reliant on its chorus at first, but it's one of those tunes that seems (oddly) less tuneful the more you listen to it, and more exploratory and just... Is there a single word to describe that sense you get from some songs where subtle reiterations and shifts build on themselves to create a sense of... not intensity, but rather of sweep, like watching a person's face change through timelapse photography (actually this is almost the subject matter of the song so maybe that's not so odd). It's got that same sense of a sweep through a person's life and emotional landscape that makes "Amelia" and "Hejira" and "Song For Sharon" and "Refuge of the Roads" - this kind of thing feels perhaps uniquely Joni to me."

And further, I just think the subject matter of the song, and the way Joni deals with it, though it starts off seeming simplistic, becomes increasingly moving through increased exposure. The framing of the desire for companionship, for artistic achievement, for public recognition, for physical satiation, for moral superiority, for the arresting the onset of old age... all as a manifestation of the same desire to be accepted and nurtured; Joni not resiling from these desires but realising that by not seeing them from what they are she ultimately denied herself happiness.

I can't think of a song more penetrating in its sympathetic piercing of the artist's own illusions.

I always forget how serious and stern and at times spooky the middle section of Ladies of the Canyon is ("Willy" through "The Priest").

A friend of mine rates this as one of her favourite albums ever (and certainly her favourite Joni album), which I've never gotten, but I can sorta see the mindset which elevates this in all its wispy earnestness.

Yes I mentioned that run upthread, it really is superb.

"Come In From the Cold" is fantastic - great post, Tim. Night Ride Home stands tall for me, partly because I came to it so late - I was really, really wary of exploring past the 70s with Joni. Still haven't tried Turbulent Indigo even though I know I'd probably like it.

I would be forever grateful if somebody happened upon the TV studio performance of Joni playing "Passion Play", I saw it once (where?) and it was sooo beautiful.
aero, I wouldn't recommend Turbulent Indigo to anybody, it's actually kinda bad! But I would recommend Travelogue and Both Sides Now to everyone, if you haven't heard them yet

Can I just

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKdGkaaSp7I

I drew a line in the sand and voted. I had to; it was driving me mad.

pre-70s: 1
70s: 17
post-70s: 2

whoa @ at that version of 'hejira'

damn i need to get a ballot in

Some final pre-voting thoughts:

I've been listening to 'Ladies of the Canyon' and 'Don Juan's Reckless Daughter' a lot, to see if there was anything from either that I wanted to vote for. These albums are on either side of her golden run i.e. the albums I listen to regularly. I must have gotten into folk in a big way b/w first hearing 'Ladies' (some 16 years ago, hmm) and now, b/c the formality of the album that used to pass me by seems really compelling now. I remember at the time liking 'Clouds' more b/c it sounded more like Blue somehow, maybe it's just that with some exceptions Joni sings so much more seriously on 'Ladies' than feels like 'her' to me (I remember thinking 'Morning Morgantown' didn't even sound like her). This really appeals to me now, though perhaps as much as a genre exercise as anything - esp. the zenith triptych of seriousness on "The Arrangement", "Rainy Night House" and "The Priest". Still, even those tunes and "Conversation" I don't love as much as some of the tunes I can't fit on my ballot from later albums, so...

'Don Juan' I didn't/couldn't get at 14, now I feel like I get it but it still doesn't do enough for me relative to her earlier records (except for "The Silky Veils of Ardor"). In a funny way 'Hejira' feels jazzier and more adventurous (musically) to me now than it did when I was 14 and it was my favourite album in the universe and it just seemed really intuitive, and by contrast the more overt experiments of 'Don Juan' lose some of the sense of achievement they might attain otherwise - like, Joni had already internalised this strange, sinuous, otherworldly fashion of songwriting, but then on Don Juan it's like she's trying to relearn what she's supposed to sound like with only the written adjectives 'strange', 'sinuous' and 'otherworldly' as a guide.

It's still a pretty good album though, and great at times.

I've listened to her first 10 albums now, all of which I like to varying degrees. I'll have to listen some more before I can make a tracks ballot.

I bought Don Juan's in April, prepared to accept it as an Unheralded Masterpiece. So it surprised me when I found nothing awful but little that imprinted itself (unlike, say, Mingus' "The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey").

Yeah there's nothing offputting about it, it's just that once you get past the surface most of the songs seem undeveloped.

Whereas "The Wolf That Lives In Lindsey" is insane.

They are underdeveloped, but there are a couple that really hooked me. 'Talk To Me' I like, it's got a nice groove and I can even overlook the horrible heptalk at the end. What's that all about, anyway, just her getting deep into the jazz? And appearing in blackface on the sleeve too, it's kind of an unusual move.

I loooove "God must be a boogie man", both 1979 and 2001 versions. I don't know why but I always get "Which would it be? / Mingus one or two or three?" in my head all the time. Except for the bawling choir of jerks on the chorus it would be a top 10 Joni track.

That bawling choir of jerks is what almost made this top 20 for me! Although I can see how others may find them an irritant.

bawling choir of jerks

I love this phrase

Voting deadline tomorrow! Get your ballots in!

What do you guys think of "Paprika Plains"?

Is it weird if I find Summer Lawns a little boring?

In other weirdness, I think I like For the Roses more than Court and Spark.

I love it, was the first track that really stuck out on DJRD. It didn't quite make my ballot though (xpost).

Voted! Usual last minute agonies (why do no marks like The Cure get 40 track ballots and all the greats get only grumble grumble etc etc?)

Lindsey and the choir of jerks high on my ballot. Paprika Plains just made the cut.

can we postpone the deadline to sunday? i can't vote before, i have to work!

Fine with me!

Tbh, I haven't even gotten my spreadsheet to work. I may end up aggregating the scores manually idk.

It's Sunday now?

done and sent! thanks for doing this mordy

let's say that ballots are due friday but if they trickle in before too late on Sunday (when I plan to aggregate them) I'll include them

Friday! Can't wait to get joni'ed out tomorrow putting together a ballot.

another bump to remind people that ballots are due today!

I'd listened to my sister's copy a couple of times before but it's finally sinking in just how devastating Blue is.

I might even rank this over Hejira. Maybe ...

My poll is feeling very canon-y but what can you do.

I've little idea what the canon is here, so it should be a fun rundown

Isn't the canon all about Blue first and then Court and Spark?

Either that or I have listened to so much pre-Don Juan Joni that I think the whole damn thing is the canon.

I mean, I think "The Arrangement" is a historically critical musical achievement so getting down from a shortlist of 50 to 20 is going to be difficult.

If it's Taxi #1, Woodstock #2 and the rest nowhere, I'll be underwhelmed

It's really tough narrowing down the tracks on Summer Lawns - lots of great mini-hooks in almost every track and a very consistent sound throughout.

Oooooh finally did my listen-through this past week, made my ballot and boy did my memory foam underestimate the immensity of Hejira giant corpse.

1968-1971: 6
1972-1976: 7
1977-1991: 5
1992-present: 2

Three (!) albums-I-love got shut-out on the tracks list.

boy did my memory foam underestimate the immensity of Hejira giant corpse.

Wait, what did you mean by this?

Not trying to be a dick, just interested.

I mean Hejira is unspeakably unstoppably good and "hmm! what Dog eat dog song could I vote for?" quickly became "Why can't I vote for all the Hejira songs"

submitted!

It's really tough narrowing down the tracks on Summer Lawns - lots of great mini-hooks in almost every track and a very consistent sound throughout.
― skip, Friday, September 28, 2012 2:41 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's all about In France... and Edith... for me