The new(som)est love of my life.

Here's my last post for the morning. I really ought to shower.








It seems to me that people are either hot or cold when it comes to Joanna Newsom. Upon playing her music for friends I've gotten responses such as

She sounds like a demon.

to

She makes my skin crawl.

and my favorite...

Her voice is the sound of kittens being murdered.

But the people who do love her music LOVE her music. You only need to take a trip over to any number of 'Song Meanings' sites where there are pages and pages of people analyzing "Emily" or "Peach, Plum, Pear." She's quite the overachiever when it comes to song lyrics - you will more than likely need to consult a dictionary at least once.

Her talent on the harp is also noteworthy. Most people don't know much about the instrument but I had the pleasure of dating a harpist and after showing her "The Sprout and the Bean" she came to the conclusion that

Her fingerings made me horny.

I personally have never heard a vocalist, female or otherwise who is as daring as she is when it comes to melodies or inflection. This is especially true on her second record, "Ys." The Joanna Newsom on that one is much more mature and free than the one on "The Milk Eyed Mender." It's to my understanding that she was still working out the kinks as she recorded the first record. She got so damn good at singing and all you need to do is listen to "Monkey and Bear" to realize that she's kind of fucking amazing. Unless you think she makes the skin of dead kittens scrawl.

Anyway, all singers are supposed to paint a picture with their voice but I think she has broken past forming those pictures on a flat canvas and added a Pixar-esque third dimension.

With that said, I'll direct you to one of her music videos. It was my own starting point and I think it's a good one.



Enjoy.