Wednesday, December 06, 2006

in a mud-cloud, mica-spangled, like the sky'd been breathing on a mirror

well...this is simultaneously annoying, unfortunate, and fortuitous (a word i would have preferred to let stand alone...but i don't know anyone who uses it correctly--fuck you linguists...it has a real meaning, so don't even start.) i have been putting off writing this blog for a number of reasons, but happening upon exactly the links that i need has accelerated the time table.   

so...here:




joanna newsom.   y's (full album).   alternate link.   lyrics.  

the primary reason that i didn't yet want to write this is my own ignorance. i haven't fully absorbed this album yet...and it deserves better. i have yet to sit down with the lyrics sheet to every epic song and read along (though i've done it with most)...and of all the albums i have brought you, this one may deserve it the most. i have been planning this write-up for days (not something i ever do) and yet i am still so under prepared.

why has this particular album been so important to me as to invade my 30 second breaks between cuffing and coaching children? see below for a clue:

youTube of bridges and baloons.
youTube of only skin (first ten minutes).
youTube of sadie. (the same track i posted last week from her.)

marjan and i were roughly to the left of the recorder of sadie (next to lovely miss carolann...randomly.) this was, officially, one of the best shows i have seen (those of you who know me understand the magnitude of this statement.) she is so moving and so gifted and so intricate and so lovely (in a groundling sort of way.) every minute of joanna was like a hug. a soft grandma hug. full of the truly unconditional love that only grandmas can bring to the table.

her performances of emily and sawdust & diamonds (youTube link from another show) were so moving. it was utterly impossible to watch with your mouth closed, until you remembered how happy it was making you, and how happy everyone around you was, and then a peaceful grin was pretty common place (but only temporary...mouths invariably dropped open once again.) at over twenty minutes when combined, it was only an amazing alchemy that kept you from breathing for the duration...for all i know, we all died.

this blog has probably featured more individual write-ups about joanna than any other artist. every time, i warn about her harsh voice. every time, i tell you that getting past the voice might be the most important musical decision you make in your life. i mean it. if you can't take the voice, do yourself a favor and just read her lyrics. pretend that she never wrote songs to go along with them. anyone who had studied writing will tell you exactly what is right about them, but everyone should find something to scribble on the inside of a binder, or the edge of a mirror.

when you fall for her and her art, i recommend this interview and this review with it...though, be warned, you will only love her more after reading. she is so articulate...which is totally hot. please check out the review; pitchfork is pretty hit or miss, but he writes about her far better than i.

you know what? for those of you who made it down here. this is her first album: milk eyed mender. love ya'!


so, now that this post is pretty much done, i suppose i can sleep. though, allow me thirty seconds to say that the opening band was soooooo bad. smog. marjan and i we actually laughing out loud at the absurdity of the man. here's the thing...he was a decent enough guitarist. he had a good enough voice for the dylan/hold steady talking/singing. apparently, he has been around for ever and has earned the admiration of some. however, he was just absurd. he would play a beautiful intro, and would launch into a decent verse. he would sometimes even make it all the way through a full verse. then, out of nowhere (though i was less surprised each time) he would say something completely indigestible. there was one song in particular that started like a raymond carver story, only to toss it all away with clashing imagery. lame. apparently, he explains this away by calling himself 'experimental'. another word would be 'bad'.


we have a game tomorrow, wish us luck!