Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me (RIP blogs)

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?

Joanna is a menace.

only one survived the attack

http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/unicorn.jpg

just fyi when i said 'generous to the listener' i didn't mean in terms of, like, quantity; i meant that instead of the tightly personal and in-need-of-unscrambling mode that most of ys is written in, there's a bunch of stuff here that the listener can immediately go 'oh i recognise situation x or emotion y'.

also similar things musically.

http://gawker.com/5526284/justin-and-i-were-just-joking--you-actually-want-me-to-give-you-that

Um...having never really dug Newsom before, this was my major entry point. It certainly lags at times, especially near the end, but Esme and Soft as Chalk are wonderful. In California is a thing of beauty.

Generous really is the right word for it.

I'm not sure what's caused the indifference from people who loved her going in, but persisting with the more unwieldy tracks is worth it in the long run.

http://gawker.com/5526284/justin-and-i-were-just-joking--you-actually-want-me-to-give-you-that

― ksh, Wednesday, April 28, 2010 10:09 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark

they make a cuet couple imo

indeed

http://pitchfork.com/news/38701-video-joanna-newsom-performs-81-on-later-with-jools-holland/

there's one of them invisible jukebox things w/ her in the Wire this month. she seems like an ILM dream girl.

she sounds great in that video

UNDER THE RADAR

"Issue #31
Issue #31 - Spring 2010 - Joanna Newsom"

http://www.undertheradarmag.com/issues/4478/

"I think I'm a weird compensator for shyness, because in certain circumstances I don't think I'm perceived as shy, but in others, it's very, very clear." - Joanna Newsom

So weird that a 28-year-old woman thinks it's of public interest whether she considers herself / is perceived as shy or not. (Even weirder that readers prob are interested.)

Yeah that was a bit o_O

judging quotes out of context is a bit o_O imo

the context was that is the splash quote.

Always, I'm of the opinion that there are no circumstances, except maybe smoking a ton of weed with very close friends, where a 28 year old should be discussing how shy they think they are.

especially not when a journalist is asking you a bunch of questions w/ the goal of writing an entire profile about you

Yeah, I understand she has a public artist persona and that in her private life is probably not as obnoxious. But I can only relate to her public persona and it's o_O to emote the least.

i think she's come off as really smart, self-aware, and sweet in the pieces i've read about her, but it's alright, we just disagree

Clearly there are people far less shy than her, no? And answering questions from journalists is not exactly the same as being outgoing.

"I think I'm a weird compensator for shyness, because in certain circumstances I don't think I'm perceived as shy, but in others, it's very, very clear." - Joanna Newsom

how are you all reading that? b/c i don't think i'm reading it the same way as y'all

i think she's saying "i'm shy, but sometimes i come off as shy and other times i don't"

which, to me, is hardly "obnoxious." if anything, she's just comparing how she perceives herself to how she thinks other people perceive her

I'm reading it the exact same way that you are, I just think it's totally inane. But 'shyness' as a social organizer lost its meaning for me when I was in like 5th grade, and I don't think I know anyone who would characterize themselves that way. It just strikes me as totally childish and cloying to call yourself shy, esp to a reporter, and esp with that kind of analysis (sometimes I come off as shy and sometimes I don't -- who cares??????).

Like I have to wonder what kind of person she is to think people want to know how she characterizes her levels of outgoingness and whatnot. If she said that she's kinda withheld, or that sometimes she's reserved and sometimes outspoken, it wouldn't strike me this way. But it's this 'shyness' that annoys me. Especially because I don't believe it -- she's a public personality who is clearly tremendously outgoing in almost every element of her life (from the person she's chosen to date to the interviews she conducts to the kinds of music she makes) and when I hear her describe herself as shy it sounds like she's trying to present this image of a sensitive 11-year-old girl who is embarrassed around other people. Which is totally obnoxious coming from a clearly poised, intelligent, socially adept 28-year-old woman.

alright, i bought this earlier today -- i'm going to go read the article now