Joanna Newsom
There is a great summary of Joanne Newsom in 140 characters on Twitter by @Discographies. It goes
“Joanna Newsom: 1 Plink! Plinketa-plink!; 2 Plink! Plinketa-plink! (with orchestra); 3 Plink! Plinketa-plink! (for two goddamned hours). Kind of nails it in so many ways but equally there’s so much more to say.
Forgive my suspicions. A triple album comes out and, whilst critics are falling over themselves always puts me on alert one way or another, I’ve hit that point where I just can’t quite believe that anyone can listen to that much music by anyone in one go let alone digest it.
When you add in the fact it’s Joanna Newsom, the very definition of an acquired taste, then my suspicion multiplies by the amount of compact discs on offer.
For the record then, in reviewing this I have listened now to this entire triple album three times through. I can honestly say, that’s enough, in every sense.
I would categorise myself as an admirer. After all, what, on so many levels, is there not to admire? This is a harpist for goodness sake. A harpist who sings and who actually has a recording contract and who tours and is doing so in increasingly large venues as she gathers audiences and fans as she goes along. That’s remarkable enough for most people. This though is also an artist in the truest sense. An individual with an individual vision and a dogged pursuit of that vision with next to no compromise. Her first album, “The Milk-Eyed Mender” announced that vision in a fairly stark not to say bleak way and the world was thus divided into people who “got” Joanna and those who didn’t. Nothing on anything that she’s done since is too far away from that original vision and so it’s all the more remarkable that she has built an audience. If you want a piece of music to empty your room of guests at the end of the evening then it’s as good as any. I could love it for that alone but it’s also a pretty damn good record on its own terms although I’m the first to concede that for most the voice is clearly a barrier.
As a lone woman in music who sings; writes her own stuff; plays a decidedly non-mainstream musical instrument then all of this is to be applauded. What it perhaps isn’t is to be listened to in one sitting. I count myself very much as a fan but even I couldn’t face a gig I’m afraid. One woman and a harp is, in small doses, fantastic and fascinating. Unfortunately, with the best will in the world the musical palette on offer will, to some extent, always be inhibited by the harp, and so there’s only so much variation available. Adding orchestration for “Ys” couldn’t disguise the fact that only two of the five songs really cut the mustard and some amazing lyrical vision also can’t compensate for the fact that you’re not talking concise lyricism here. She goes on a bit to say the least.
Now, much has been made of this triple albums move to less sparse orchestration and indeed its move toward almost mainstream Americana. Much has also been made of Joanna having an almost new voice following vocal problems that resulted in surgery. Hmm. Have these people really listened to this album in its entirety? Yes, there is certainly a gentler tone to those vocals but that applies to maybe a third of what’s on offer here. Yes, there is even more musical variation and some of it is quite compelling. Sadly, it is also spread out across three compact discs. Were it a single album I would happily present the case for musical variation and expansion of the palette. Spread over two hours I’m afraid it catches you unawares a couple of times early on the first two discs but… well that’s about it really. More the very occasional tweak to the template than a wholesale rethinking of the ethos. Ditto the er “Americana”. Don’t know what anyone else heard on here but Americana? Really? Truer to say that there’s a lighter more recognisably conventional almost pop feel to three or four things on here. Not much more to it than that really though.
It may well be the case that the lyrics are as bizarre and free flowing as previously. To be honest I found myself switching off. Sorry. On one level someone who demands more of your time and attention in an age of short attention span media has to be applauded and supported. Unfortunately, there’s a little voice at the back of my head and it seems to be muttering “Stop! Now! Please!”.
So, barring a radical reinvention next time around I’m not sure that anybody needs this or any more than this. There’s possibly enough within this package to keep the interested interested for years. There’s depth and originality and vision here. It’s just that you wouldn’t necessarily want to listen to it ever again other than to compile a single CD of the best bits. Thirty years on and no-one ever learns the lessons of indulgence. Think “Sandinista” for the digital age.
