Joanna Newsom: c/d?

i love "bridges and balloons"

Sell out!

But she has to get more musically interesting yet for me.

The album frequently loses my attention about half-way through, yet I don't think the songcraft dips badly at all. It's not in the sequencing either, and there is plenty of variety (the bluesy "This Side of..." the trad-folky "Swansea" etc). Nevertheless there's something a little limited about her palette (tempo?) that doesn't grab me like it could at this point.

What I've heard of her newer material seems to be spinning towards lengthier lyrical epics, possibly exploring/reining in her voice a bit too. I really dislike judging things from bootleg live recordings so I'm not going to speculate whether this is yet an improvement.

Give her time I say. I think her humour is underrated at this point, and her personality & grit still latent under the image (or schtick if you're cynical) and the novelty.

signifieds butt heads with the signifiers and we all fall down slack-jawed to marvel at words. just insane lyrics! I haven't heard better ones in a while.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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)?

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

Interesting, but perhaps not the greatest introduction :-O

cute couple!

there is film on the internet somewhere of her telling a dick joke, brought to you by some magazine that photographed her wearing couture

i find myself really hoping she has a seriously long-tailed career: the cd-rs and milk-eyed mender are fantastic finding-a-voice stuff; i've never been able to get an angle on ys because i miss the sheer enthusiasm to be writing and singing conveyed in the first album. or the joy in just doing it for it's own sake.

'colleen' (only new song since, i think?) maybe more accomplished than anything on 'ys'

'ys' quite clunky in some ways —

"and I miss your precious heart
and miss, and miss, and miss
and miss, and miss, and miss
and miss, and miss your heart
but release your precious heart
to its feast, for precious hearts"

— i mean, i know how it looks written isn't the point, but i still find that a little naif or faux-naif

i may be biased towards 'colleen' bcz the yelping makes it sound like she's finding a way to indulge the schtick
-singing of the first releases without leaving technique behind, which would be +++ good thing

also the ys street guitarist sounds a bit like he's playing on one of the acoustic tracks on rumours

i can't help but feel like it was a big fuck you when she started singing more normally to all the people who had defended how she sang on the first album as natural instead of contrived. I'll let you know when I have worked through this with my therapist.

can't help but wonder what I'm On a Boat would have been like if she's helped write the lyrics.

also the ys street guitarist sounds a bit like he's playing on one of the acoustic tracks on rumours

yeah what a pile of shit

I thought thomp was saying that's one of the reasons he preferred "Colleen" to Ys.

oop, sorry

i can't help but feel like it was a big fuck you when she started singing more normally to all the people who had defended how she sang on the first album as natural instead of contrived. I'll let you know when I have worked through this with my therapist.

― ❉❉❉❉❉❉❉❉Plaxico❉❉❉❉❉❉❉❉❉ (I know, right?)

I think the reality is that when she was first starting out, she hadn't really sung before and wasn't too great at it. Some people found it "endearing", others "contrived".

But she's obviously a perfectionist who works hard at all the things she does. I'm guessing that she's either taken some vocal lessons or just worked at it a lot since the first album. She's gotten to be quite good and will probably continue to improve.

Seeing her live on the Ys tour, the thing that amazed me the most was how good and well-controlled her voice sounded.

kinda can't believe there's much debate about the dexterity/accomplishment of her voice http://www.mediafire.com/file/15ueodzydmz/joanna-newsom-esame.mp3

oh i'm not sure the fleetwood mac thing is particularly accurate but i meant it in a positive way, yeah

i have now accidentally played the above track over the top of 'tusk', which comes closer to working than it ought, but still doesn't really work

She has a bit of a comedic turn in the video for MGMT's Kids too

That Esame song is fantastic.

ws gonna say

http://mistermort.typepad.com/.a/6a010535d07789970c01287594b3e7970c-800wi

http://mistermort.typepad.com/.a/6a010535d07789970c0120a692f4cc970b-800wi

nice shoes? heard from a friend who plays on her upcoming album that the new one is "more down to earth" than Ys.

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

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

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.

Also it might be a "triple album" apparently.

!

a small ensemble recording sounds great!

still one of the best shows I have ever seen

waht
http://www.wmagazine.com/images/fashion/2009/12/fass_armani_03_v.jpg

http://19.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_koymtfXv9w1qa10kgo1_r1_400.jpg

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

Makes sense.

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

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

i mean, what

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.

http://www.style.com/blogs/stylefile/wp-content/uploads/wren-joanna-newsom-1.jpg

http://www.style.com/stylefile/2012/11/wren-a-songbird-joanna-newsom-lends-a-string/

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.”

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

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

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

http://vimeo.com/61742904

http://24.media.tumblr.com/9318917232af82f16bbff64d0b839ca4/tumblr_mmz0xdKvtq1qa1ubyo1_1280.jpg

http://24.media.tumblr.com/dbd7e4b6c6ed592fce7e361afe5fd040/tumblr_mq9fg36Ile1qhug3qo5_500.png

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

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

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

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.

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.

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!

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

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

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'?"

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

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.

Very weird to have a kids show at the fucking CEMETARY

Hey, they gotta learn somehow.

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