Courtney Barnett, I like her

pretty great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKQ5P7vBIwc

cambridge show was fun, although shame we had to leave early to catch a train :-/

Among the things I do now is perform a bar quiz every Wednesday evening. One of the nicest parts of the gig is I get to play music from my library when I'm not reading questions or answers. Last night I got into the sound system early and treated my patrons to the first three tracks from Sometimes I Sit... I walked around the place to make sure the speakers were working, and to hear those songs coming out loud and clear in a suburban Texas yuppie bar felt so damn good.

"she looks him up and down with a botox frown"

really looking forward to (slowly) learning the lyrics on this album, she is so good

this was #1 on my CMJ Core station last week

… with death

More raucous live, with slightly quieter moment being solo encore take on You Am I's "Heavy Heart." They also did a sloppy fun take on Breeders "Cannonball"

For those who thinks she sounds like Sheryl Crow, Sheryl would put her fingers in her ears for much of the set and head out quickly if she ever saw Courtney live. Much more Nirvana-eque

yeah i remember her being a lot rockier live than on record

I don't think you're giving Sheryl Crow much credit, curmudg.

The frequent Sheryl Crow comparisons make little sense to me either, though the (as frequent) ones to Nirvana are only a bit more understandable. Likely this is because so much of what defines Barnett, for me, is her off-kilter phrasing, and I don't here any such analog in either Crow or Cobain.

She's closer to the pop side of the spectrum, which is why she's more fun than Nirvana.

Mostly it's the "All I Wanna Do" conversational phrasing that overlaps between the two. And that, in the same way that Vampire Weekend reached college kids who heard Graceland in the car in their first years, now it's Tuesday Night Music Club infants reconnecting with that style.

otm

Huh. Didn't even think of "All I Wanna Do" (mostly because I try not to ever think of that song). But yes, otm indeed.

hoping she goes for a Globe Sessions vibe on this one.

*on the next one.

So she'll solicit an unheard Dylan song?

and date Don.

I like her weird noun-verb compounds (or whatever you want to call this).

"Fair evades his way down the 96 tram line"

"Headphone wielding to the Nicholas building"

"Big business overtaking, without indicating"

Dog latin and I were emphasizing that LIVE she is much more rock than pop. She speeds her tunes up, mumbles the words, and puts her guitar near the amp shaking it and creating feedback. As far as I can tell, Crow doesn't do that. I also don't think Crow has ever covered the Breeders "Cannonball".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/06/14/australian-guitarist-and-singer-courtney-barnett-gets-grungy-and-gnarly-at-930-club/

But onstage Saturday, the first of two sold-out nights at the 930 Club, Barnett and her band were more gnarly and grungy than sly and subtle. Barnett’s electric guitar tangled with bassist Bones Sloane and drummer Dave Mudie in a hour-long set that channeled burly 90’s alt-rock as much as it followed up on the buzz surrounding her latest album.

If I were to trace the influence of "All I Wanna Do" on popular music, I'd locate it more within the realm of "bro country" than Barnett. Like, I get where she got the conversational phrasing from the earlier song (as Easy ID'd above), but her phrasing is a lot knottier than Crow's. And her words are infinitely less banal.

Mostly it's the "All I Wanna Do" conversational phrasing

great comparison... and also a little disturbing

y'all are way too sensitive about this comparison

Eh, not being sensitive. Just wondering why this awesome, punkish, wordy new record that I like keeps getting compared to Sheryl Crow.

Like, I *really* could not fathom it until today's discussion, and now I'm just like, "oh, *that's* why!"

I was thinking her studio voice was more Liz Phair than Sheryl, but whatev.

A Sheryl Crow comparison is a compliment!

Though I do loathe "All I Wanna Do," I'm by no means a Sheryl hater--I owned the self-titled once upon a time. It was just puzzling to me to see that this was the comparison that was coming up most often w/r/t this record (and as I mentioned above, I don't wholly get the Nirvana one, either).

Watching left-handed guitarist Barnett turn and twist with her axe, slur her vocals and crank up the noise last night reminded of Nirvana; plus even a few quieter ones had a Nirvana Unplugged feel.

I understand the Crow mention is meant as a compliment, and I like some of her stuff ok, I just don't hear it as strongly. Barnett is still seemingly developing her sound, so we can all be right--different songs are drawn from different sources.

wow this record rules... my brother is a huge fan and now i'm bummed i didn't go with him to see her a couple weeks ago. "an illustration of loneliness" and "depreston" stand out but the whole thing is so fucking good. shit, "dead fox" too

"Small Poppies" is a bit overlong and meandering, but there's a bunch of great tunes on this album. I overlooked her debut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAn3JdtSrnY

eff

meant to post this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NVOawOXxSA

i like the whole album, but this track is especially excellent in my opinion

She was terrific at Pitchfork yesterday! She sounded even more like "If It Makes You Happy"-era Sheryl Crow.

She was terrific at a festival in Minneapolis a few weeks ago, too. Her soloing and vocals on "Small Poppies" were really heavy. Was Sheryl Crow ever such an intense performer?

How do the festie crowds react? She a hit?

Hard to tell. At my show she began rather tentatively.

(a) I saw Ms Barnett play a small pub in Hobart late last year, I have never seen a human enjoy playing the guitar as much as she does.
and (b) my nine year old daughter, who is waking up to a deep interest in music I think, is OBSESSED with this record, knows the lyrics inside out. I think it might be her "ground zero".

<3

I love the way she plays guitar in concert, physically, slinging it up and down and waving her arm at it like you're not sure she's even going to hit the strings. Like it's an extension of her body, but a kind of awkward extension that she can't help flailing around with.

Just noticed what sounded like her on a TCM commercial, and indeed it is ("Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party"). Still haven't gotten around to the album. I did like that one better than the other two I've heard.

When I saw C.B. there was to my right a young girl on her dad's shoulders, singing along tentatively w/ "Avant Gardener." Couldn't tell if she'd been coached or if it was genuine, but either way I think Barnett provides a good opportunity for adults to invite kids to their musical world.

She is such an amazing guitarist. Everyone talks about her as a lyricist so it took seeing her live to understand that her guitar playing is really what shapes her songs.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11755062_979509195402558_5882669198378646600_n.jpg?oh=a190f8c462287979d9fa00307e26c007&oe=565658D4

They'll callus soon enough.

When I saw C.B. there was to my right a young girl on her dad's shoulders, singing along tentatively w/ "Avant Gardener." Couldn't tell if she'd been coached or if it was genuine, but either way I think Barnett provides a good opportunity for adults to invite kids to their musical world.

My five-year old daughter is always "oh I love this song!" when Elevator Operator comes on in the car.

Wonder how loud they got at the Newport Folk festival (which I guess goes beyond folk these days)? Saw photos but didn't look for video