Joanna Newsom: c/d?

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fandango, do you have some live bootlegs? I saw her in SF a couple of months back and her second song was a new song, probably about eight minutes long. If you have it and could YSI that would be swell.

whatev, Thursday, 29 September 2005 03:52 (eighteen years ago) link

i like a quirky voice, but Ralph Wiggum off The Simpsons has already got this one, so she should go get her own.

Lee F# (fsharp), Thursday, 29 September 2005 09:24 (eighteen years ago) link

i think her voice is quite beautiful. especially on the second track where she layers it up. lovely.

cake (cake), Thursday, 29 September 2005 11:00 (eighteen years ago) link

she is weird in a boring way. cocorosie are weird in a fascinating way.

alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 29 September 2005 11:57 (eighteen years ago) link

I think her humour is underrated at this point

otm. i think she's very self-aware of her own tweeness, and plays it up because it's funny, which makes it less insufferable than twee things normally are.

the actual timbre of her voice is the least interesting thing about it, she has a natural intuition for phrasing and emphasis which is far more effective.

The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 29 September 2005 11:59 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't think she is 'weird'. Quirky perhaps but not weird.

Cocorosie are neither weird or fascinating, or remotely interesting beyond the superficial sonic tinkerings (imo).

fandango (fandango), Thursday, 29 September 2005 12:00 (eighteen years ago) link

(xpost sorry)

fandango (fandango), Thursday, 29 September 2005 12:00 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh, and for whatev I just have a few random live songs. No bootlegs & at this moment they are on a hard drive unconnected to a working PC unhelpfully. Actually two hard drives(!) one of which may or may not have failed & all this needs sorting out. Fucking computers.

fandango (fandango), Thursday, 29 September 2005 12:04 (eighteen years ago) link

maybe she is not weird enough then...

somehow she reminds of the incredible string band. whose appeal i didn't get neither. the kind of hippie music which confirms all prejudices against hippies.

alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 29 September 2005 12:28 (eighteen years ago) link

Nothing like them

Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 29 September 2005 12:29 (eighteen years ago) link

I tried to like her but agree w/ a lot of the comments here. It just never registered in the end. I much prefer Josephine Foster's voice, although some people seem to be annoyed by it.

TRG (TRG), Thursday, 29 September 2005 12:42 (eighteen years ago) link

Classic, classic, classic. I can't blame anybody for not liking her - she makes some pretty adversarial stylistic decisions, but I can't think of any living artist who comes near her lyrically, and she consistently meets the musical challenges she presents herself with.

The B. Dylan comparisons are valid, the James Joyce ones are overreaching, but I can see why someone would make them. If you're a Lit nerd, you're on her like white on rice.

Here's a YSI of the new song she's been performing. Originally it was two songs, Only Skin and Be A Woman, she eventually melded the two and added some new parts. Sound is a bit distant initially but improves greatly at the 7 minute mark.

http://s62.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0EAMUZ275929007S13HG8IXVK2

It clocks in at 15 minutes, and I'll take this occasion to dispel the hippie tag everybody's throwing around. This is not some indulgent & stoned free-flow jam - it's a highly structured and crafted piece of work. Dismissing Joanna Newsom's work as "stupid hippie crap" is akin to doing the same to John Fahey's or Neil Young's. Don't let the dress / demeanor of someone blind you to what they have to say, which in this case is a lot.

Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 29 September 2005 15:21 (eighteen years ago) link

man, stoned free-flow jams are way more fun than tinkerbell songsters

Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Thursday, 29 September 2005 15:30 (eighteen years ago) link

i'm so conflicted about this one

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Thursday, 29 September 2005 15:54 (eighteen years ago) link

man, stoned free-flow jams are way more fun than tinkerbell songsters
-- Ward Fowler (littlefielda...), September 29th, 2005.

Ah, the other venerable slam - Joanna Newsom as curious tree-faerie. It was only a matter of time....

Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 29 September 2005 15:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Because it's an apt description?

Jimmy Mod Loves Alan Canseco (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Thursday, 29 September 2005 16:26 (eighteen years ago) link

to me that long concert extract sounds like a monologue theatre play. the occasional harp chord she hits doesn't make it music i am afraid. her voice sounds like a five year old björk without the rolled 'r's. let's face it she is a freak and people only go to see her as people go to see elephant man.

alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 29 September 2005 16:47 (eighteen years ago) link

Let's face it, die.

polyphonic (polyphonic), Thursday, 29 September 2005 16:56 (eighteen years ago) link

You're right, she sucks.

Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 29 September 2005 18:58 (eighteen years ago) link

I can understand people not liking her voice, but I can't understand people who think she's untalented.

o. nate (onate), Thursday, 29 September 2005 19:04 (eighteen years ago) link

i don't know if she is talented or not. how her output can appeal to anybody is the question i ask myself. her voice doesn't help really. it's about as annoying as the voice of the singer from sigur ros. who has the advantage that he kind of sings whereas she mostly does sprechgesang.

alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 29 September 2005 19:18 (eighteen years ago) link

If she'd release an instrumental, I'd be all for it. As it is, I just can't get over that voice.

Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Friday, 30 September 2005 00:09 (eighteen years ago) link

i think you eventually not only do you get used to her voice but get into it. i have more trouble with the song structures which are too predictable i think, coupled with how totally thought out her lyrics are. at the same time i know its supposed to be that way. but at times i wish it were so very very well thought out. that's a dylan thing isn't it?

also, is the Sadie song about a dog? that song makes me cry.

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Friday, 30 September 2005 00:21 (eighteen years ago) link

--so, curious if the voice is an issue for folks who've endured several listenings.

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Friday, 30 September 2005 00:23 (eighteen years ago) link

she's no harpo marx

J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 30 September 2005 00:28 (eighteen years ago) link

xpost:

its curious to me too when folks say she 'has no talent':

not to make everything a gender issue, but i feel that's what people say about female artists when there is one thing they dislike about them....particularly if it is a voice thing. its like ok you're not the total package, you're untalented. and your true instrument of expression is your voice of course and you must sing pretty.

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Friday, 30 September 2005 00:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Not sure I follow you, Susan. People use the word 'untalented' more when they dislike one particular thing about a female artist than when they dislike one thing about a male artist?

Aren't your comments above about her songwriting talents indicative of the fact that there might be more than one thing they don't particularly like about her (even if they just happen to mention her voice)?

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 30 September 2005 00:42 (eighteen years ago) link

Regardless of gender issues 'untalented' is a pretty crappy innacurate term to describe someone whose songs (whether they're to taste or not) ring out so clear, lyrically structured & melodic as those on JN's album (haven't listened to that live thing yet).

I might call Wolf Parade or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah untalented mind.

fandango (fandango), Friday, 30 September 2005 00:47 (eighteen years ago) link

xpost - yeah exactly. i think with male artists some folks are more likely to pick out what they think is a flaw but consider their other contributions separately...as opposed to feeling the one disliked thing colors everything else they're doing and they are now "untalented". i know folks may have multiple issues with her and issues that are not voice-related (i do) ...but labelling her as completely not talented seems sorta ridiculous to me. something about that word "talent"...well I do feel like its used more with women. maybe b/c otherwise you're talking about skill???

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Friday, 30 September 2005 00:55 (eighteen years ago) link

no need to go off in the gender direction...it was just something that came to mind.

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Friday, 30 September 2005 00:57 (eighteen years ago) link

x-post
thanks fandango for responding, and edward III for the YSI! much appreciated.

whatev, Friday, 30 September 2005 01:31 (eighteen years ago) link

There are about 5 new songs in that medley I think!

Interesting, but perhaps not the greatest introduction :-O

fandango (fandango), Friday, 30 September 2005 11:50 (eighteen years ago) link

sorry to stir this up again, but listening to stuff recently (b/c of this thread) and folks do talk about her phrasing a lot but also she seems to in general have an incredible sense of rhythm. also surprised folks don't compare her more to jeff mangum.

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Thursday, 6 October 2005 04:44 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm seeing her tomorrow night in Byron Bay. She's playing with Smog and I have expectations of a good show.

acidmouth (acidmouth), Thursday, 6 October 2005 05:16 (eighteen years ago) link

The rough, live Swedish stuff suggests she's exploring her lower register and composing more doleful melodies. I wish her well, and I hope she succeeds.

M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 6 October 2005 06:37 (eighteen years ago) link

I wish her well, and I hope she succeeds.

Heh. As opposed to "I wish her well, and I hope she fails."

M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 6 October 2005 16:47 (eighteen years ago) link

four months pass...
reviving

why? because i've re-dugout the milk-eyed mender and do you know, her voice isn't that bad, in fact it's very beautiful. her lyrics are the tits. plus the harp playing is beyond evocative. it makes me nostlagic for the summer. love it.

Vintage Latin (dog latin), Sunday, 12 February 2006 02:43 (eighteen years ago) link

the kelefa article from the other thread mentions that she studied composition and creative writing - the creative writing thing makes sense, as her lyrics make me feel like i'm trapped in freshman poetry workshop hell.

the composition training i don't hear, not that there's anything wrong with that - but just flat and boring, no textures or dynamics, nothing surprising or interesting to me. she's sub-tori amos at this point, imho.

bell labs (bell_labs), Sunday, 12 February 2006 22:04 (eighteen years ago) link

still fantastic

sean gramophone (Sean M), Sunday, 12 February 2006 22:14 (eighteen years ago) link

still horrifyingly terrible

noooo, Monday, 13 February 2006 04:12 (eighteen years ago) link

Better than Devendra, worse than Sheryl Crow.

adam (adam), Monday, 13 February 2006 04:15 (eighteen years ago) link

still good

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Monday, 13 February 2006 05:04 (eighteen years ago) link

"I killed my dinner with karate" still funny.

Marcel Post (Marcel Post), Monday, 13 February 2006 05:07 (eighteen years ago) link

"Sadie" OTM!! ?

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Monday, 13 February 2006 05:08 (eighteen years ago) link

Pulled out Milk-Eyed Mender recently - yes, still fantastic. She hasn't been gigging much lately, hope she's working on new album.

Edward III (edward iii), Monday, 13 February 2006 18:23 (eighteen years ago) link

to the people who liked her first album - it's been 2-ish years, will anyone care about another album of the harp-fairy schtick or will she have to have to pull off something radically different?

bell labs (bell_labs), Monday, 13 February 2006 18:54 (eighteen years ago) link

she could have some bigger arrangements, more instruments. Actually I reckon it would be good if her harp were backed up by lots of musicians.

Vintage Latin (dog latin), Monday, 13 February 2006 19:04 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...
please dont sing, joanna.

fies, Monday, 19 March 2007 10:45 (seventeen years ago) link

please dont post, fies.

Edward III, Monday, 19 March 2007 13:01 (seventeen years ago) link

ZANG

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 19 March 2007 13:17 (seventeen years ago) link

She finished recording her new album apparently. If "Esame" isn't in it there is no hope for this world, imo.

Turangalila, Friday, 20 November 2009 20:14 (fourteen years ago) link

tylerw, what you should do is find out if there's strings in this new album. :)

Turangalila, Friday, 20 November 2009 20:14 (fourteen years ago) link

Doesn't sound like strings are a big part of it -- at least compared to the last one. This one was recorded with her touring band mainly ... It's more of a "band" sound, I guess.

tylerw, Friday, 20 November 2009 20:23 (fourteen years ago) link

Also it might be a "triple album" apparently.

tylerw, Friday, 20 November 2009 20:24 (fourteen years ago) link

!

Turangalila, Friday, 20 November 2009 20:32 (fourteen years ago) link

a small ensemble recording sounds great!

still one of the best shows I have ever seen

sleeve, Friday, 20 November 2009 20:40 (fourteen years ago) link

So it will be a more down-to-earth triple album?

Makes sense.

Moodles, Friday, 20 November 2009 21:46 (fourteen years ago) link

one year passes...

http://i.imgur.com/5YiDv.gif

markers, Sunday, 15 May 2011 03:17 (twelve years ago) link

she's got it all. sass, ass, shoes, voice, harp skills, curves, legs, entire english dictionary memorised, whimsy

i mean, what

jumpskins, Sunday, 15 May 2011 15:50 (twelve years ago) link

Listening to Joanna Newsom is like being attacked by smurfs. But I'd give her a classic because no one sounds like her. I can't stand her music though.

thirdalternative, Sunday, 15 May 2011 17:03 (twelve years ago) link

one year passes...

Whimsy is just the right word for the video’s star, the adored singer/songwriter and harpist Joanna Newsom. Newsom, harp in tow, performed a cover of Sandy Denny’s folksy, 1971 sea shanty “The North Star Grassman and the Ravens.” “Aesthetically, her songs are really inspiring to me—they’re really bold strokes that feel sort of theatrical and they’re interested in story,” Newsom said of Denny’s melancholy track and creative collaboration it inspired. “The fashion and design that I’m interested in also has to do with story, very strong statements that have some sort of narrative to them, that they aren’t just interested in the now.”

buzza, Saturday, 22 December 2012 21:29 (eleven years ago) link

http://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/280377599946010624

markers, Saturday, 22 December 2012 23:44 (eleven years ago) link

one month passes...

Not too sure how many Joanna fans will actually buy this, but nice to know it'll be out there.

http://jtclassics.co.uk/product.php?id_product=49

Hard Skin, the most popular oi! punk band around, send a strong message to their massive fanbase of women by doing a collaboration record with a lot of very famous females who are huge fans of the band as people as well as as a band. They have redone their whole new classic album On The Balls but have let the ladies take over the main vocals! What could have turned out to be really funny is actually absolutely brilliant and another classic!

http://jtclassics.co.uk/img/p/49-104-thickbox.jpg

it's all fuck what sit says, we'll do our own thing (Matt #2), Tuesday, 22 January 2013 16:36 (eleven years ago) link

There's a sound sample on Amazon, definitely sounds like her:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Who-Ran-Town/dp/B00B1BQ98Y

a la recherche du tempbans perdu (NickB), Tuesday, 22 January 2013 16:42 (eleven years ago) link

one month passes...

http://vimeo.com/61742904

Luna has new answers (buzza), Tuesday, 19 March 2013 01:29 (eleven years ago) link

two months pass...
one month passes...
one year passes...

I can totally hear her in all the stuff she picks:

http://www.vogue.com/8204763/inherent-vice-joanna-newsom-1970s-songs/

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 20 January 2015 23:01 (nine years ago) link

Crossing my fingers for Gentle Giant influence on the next album. She's at her best on twistier tracks like "Have One On Me".

jmm, Tuesday, 20 January 2015 23:09 (nine years ago) link

four years pass...

Saw her live this week, she's amazing. In tears for "Only Skin", and I came away with newfound appreciation for the non-Ys songs she played. I'm in utter awe at what an amazing performer she is.

Antonym Scalia (Leee), Wednesday, 27 November 2019 20:40 (four years ago) link

four years pass...

THE STRINGS/KEYS REINCIDENCE
Trill the trumpets!
Hoist the flags!
Raise the gates of the city!
Rip the protective plastic covers off the furniture!

For lo, Joanna Newsom, balladeer without compeer, Nevada City’s native daughter and Aureate Laureate of these Austral climes, comes riding down the mountain (sidesaddle, natch) to undertake a limited Los Angeles solo residency at The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, May 15th through May 19th, 2024!

Though she rides alone this time, Joanna comes equipped with her usual blistering wind-up double punch to wreak raptures upon harp and piano alike.

I know what you’re thinking — we’re all thinking it — What’s in the saddlebag, Newsom? It’s hard to tell from here, but darn if she doesn’t seem to be packing new tunes! What’s your pleasure? The golden oldies? Perhaps a cover song or two? A 17-minuter for the large-bladdered among us? Over the space of these five nights she’ll sing some, strum some, pluckety plunk some, and probably sonically boggle your noggin. The noggin inside your heart.

You should only read this next part if you're a child, or know one who's cool: the May 18th show will be a 3:30pm (doors at 2:30) Matinee Performance strictly for kids under 18 (and their keepers), where Mrs. Newsom has promised to forgo the "blue" material we've all come to know (and respect) her for, and instead tailor the setlist to be not only suitable for children, but specifically designed with them in mind. Tickets for this show will only be available for the little ones (and their keepers), a policy as ironclad as it is unenforceable!

Now as for the rest of the dates, old timer — mark them on your calendar, tattoo them on your forehead, brand them on the back of your wizened hands, but remember — only a ticket will get you in the door.

What side of history do you want to be on? The underside? The wet part? The index? The table of contents? Or the future of music? We think the answer, like God’s grace, speaks for herself.

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 11 March 2024 14:04 (one month ago) link

what on earth is a joanna newsom show tailored specifically for children going to be like

i hope that new album is coming soon, those new songs she debuted last year were wonderful and it's been nearly a decade!

ufo, Monday, 11 March 2024 14:11 (one month ago) link

That is thee most Drag City press release of all thee Drag City press releases; also, ofc, a Joanna Newsom show tailored to children is a Joanna Newsom show

Funding Hostile (Craig D.), Monday, 11 March 2024 15:21 (one month ago) link

(I have to assume her 'blue' lyrical content would go way over the heads of those whose lil' ears are protected)

Funding Hostile (Craig D.), Monday, 11 March 2024 15:23 (one month ago) link

lol at any kids being able to pick out anything from her songs, "blue" or not. "Mommy, what did the pretty harp lady mean when she sang 'And the articulation in our elbows and knees makes us buckle, and we couple in endless increase as the audience admires'?"

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 11 March 2024 15:33 (one month ago) link

You'd be surprised -- I had to take my nephew's iphone away after I caught him texting about "cockles" and "cowries"

Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Monday, 11 March 2024 16:09 (one month ago) link

The perk and protection of being a Drag City artist is having Rian Murphy press releases that take the piss out of press releases while also getting the info across.

paisley got boring (Eazy), Monday, 11 March 2024 16:26 (one month ago) link

Very weird to have a kids show at the fucking CEMETARY

The SoyBoy West Coast (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 11 March 2024 16:40 (one month ago) link

Hey, they gotta learn somehow.

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 11 March 2024 17:02 (one month ago) link

Tickets on sale Friday at 10 a.m. Pacific (stampede expected).

paisley got boring (Eazy), Monday, 11 March 2024 17:50 (one month ago) link


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