Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me (RIP blogs)

brb listening to the awesomely orchestrated new Nina Nastasia album

in theory i am willing to seriously stan for this album but in practice ehh

[hatersgonnahate.gif]

Exactly.

still think this record is awesome though

actually i don't know, 'lovingly crafted, impeccably orchestrated' is kind of the thing -- like it's not a record where people are going to suddenly arrive at the opinion that she is amazing, from this record -- it's still a really, really, really good record

also i think it's her most generous-to-the-listener thing ever, despite being three discs long and the tracks averaging eight minutes

Also 0w3n, weren't you the one who was going on about how Ys should have been arranged by LOLWolfgang RihmLOL?

i like how Turangalila & I were hyping this record more than almost any other ilxors, then it comes out and T. doesn't like it & I've barely listened to anything beyond "'81."

that being said, I definitely should listen to it more.

can't imagine liking it more than Ys though, tbh

I definitely should listen to it more

it will change your life.

it's already changed mine.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3559/3309360335_bf48990a0f_m.jpg

i kind of just want to listen to Cobalt and Baroness instead these days tbh

I stand by the notion that Rihm would make a great pop arranger.
I'm not ready to go to bat for this record, p.s.
I just wanted to point out that Newsom's generosity with this record kind of makes criticizing it a bit of a moot point.

Sorry, not "criticizing it is a moot point", I don't mean that, but if you've got a bone to pick with this record I hope that you'd nevertheless show it the respect it deserves.
Even Wire put her on the cover and interviewed her over twelve pages before mentioning that it "left them unmoved".

(That was Ys, not this album.)

I'm teasing you about Rihm, though that does make me wonder

1) How is this ephemeral pink fart closer to Rihm than Ys

2) How is this more immune to criticism than Ys

Also, "generosity" towards whom, and how, and what? The fact that it has intricate arrangements and that it's a long ass album doesn't automagically make it an Awesome Piece Of Art That One Must Be Reverential About.

As you can see upthread, I was genuinely open to loving this and adored a lot of the live incarnations of these songs. How is it so hard to understand that I find this album not only mediocre but actively bad, notwithstanding the time and effort and love that went into it?

yeah when musicians release triple albums I don't usually assume it's out of "generosity"

An EP would have been generous, to be frank

sad thing is, i don't even feel compelled to listen to this anymore than i did the day it came out

*any more

I love me a 35 minute record, I can only think of one 60+ album who's length I would defend (Tindersticks first one).
But when people start picking and choosing tracks from this triple album and saying "now THIS six song album is a masterpiece!"... well, then, she's created a masterpiece plus some songs you don't care for.
To me, anyway, an abundance of material + analog recording + overhaul of her vocal technique + new stylistic directions + pages and pages of lyrics + meticulous mixing work + a large cast of paid musicians - a record industry that would typically support such a statement = a damn generous musician.

OK

My own personal listening preference for this record by the by is at 45 rpm, you should try it, Baby Birch does real well

Haha, yes, that probably would help, esp. with that song.

an abundance of material + analog recording + overhaul of her vocal technique + new stylistic directions + pages and pages of lyrics + meticulous mixing work + a large cast of paid musicians - a record industry that would typically support such a statement = a damn generous musician.

this is how I feel about Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness obv

I don't begrudge anyone's negative feelings towards this record, but I've been seriously loving it, and have listened to many of the tracks over an over.

I do think it is a bit of a slog to try to go from beginning to end, but mostly I just listen to it on the iPod set to shuffle and skip over the few tracks that I don't like.

Some of the longer songs didn't really click with me until I had listened to them enough that I was familiar with them and now they have so many moments for me that I anticipate eagerly every time.

As much as I like her other 2 albums, I think this is definitely her best work.

btw we currently have a record industry that would typically support such a statement if the person making that statement happens to be joanna newsom

This is quite a record. Holy moley.

Here are some of my favorite moments:

You and Me, Bess - beautiful chord progression, love the trombone when it plays along with her wordless melodies at the beginning and during the choruses.

In California - "I don't belong to anyone / My heart is heavy as an oil drum" - great, sweet melody. "Some nights I just never go to sleep at all... etc." - such a sad passage. Dramatic timapanis!

Soft As Chalk - The sassy piano playing toward the end of this song really makes it for me.

Autumn - When the drums come in half way through, very dramatic - Neal Morgan does a fantastic job throughout this album.

Does Not Suffice - The wordless singing near the end always makes me very misty eyed.

Good Intentions Paving Company - Probably the single best track she's made. I would love to hear more like this. I wonder if she could do groovy songs with this, but using the harp.

I also think she hasn't gotten fair credit for her singing on this album. A lot of what I read basically makes it sound like she just toned it all down and that's it. Really though, she is doing so much with her voice - well beyond what most singers in the "indie" realm could manage. I would say that it is not just an improvement over previous albums, but just flat out excellent singing using so many different tricks and tools, covering a huge range, having amazing dyanamic control, and on and on. I can't say enough good things about the vocal performances here.

Even "Occident"?

Occident is great too, I love the low piano notes between the verses, and the little half-step slurs she throws in that give the piano part a slight bluesiness. "The universe is getting loose" - nice one!

I mean the voice.

The universe is diarrheic, I agree.

Sure, I like her singing in that song.

I guess if you like her singing in general, I'm not really sure what on that track stands out as particularly bad.

OH OK

This album is Serious Business®

she's created a masterpiece plus some songs you don't care for.
Not even, though. The songs were changed and rewritten and were basically different songs on the album. e.g., "Baby Birch" was stretched out into unbearable lethargic floatiness with the most tacked on non sequitur "resolution"). If they weren't completely changed, the recorded versions of a couple of the songs I found transcendent sounded deliberately watered down, anemic; like all the air was sucked out of the room when she recorded them ("Esame", title track).

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l1ctydbp761qzcmhxo1_250.jpg

et tu, Turangalila?

oui

fuckin unicorns, how do they work?

idk

I'm stuck on the idea that Joanna killed a unicorn to make this record, apparently.

LOL

Maybe the subsequent mediocrity was punishment for killing such an innocent creature. :(

she slaughtered a whole herd, actually.

How dare she?