Posts about Joanna Newsom
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I saw filmmaker Craig Zobel’s The Great World of Sound a while ago, but got it on Netflix again to re-watch a scene in which a character performs Joanna Newsom’s “Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie” a cappella. Outside the context of the movie, the singing by actress Tricia Paoluccio is a little too theatrical even for Joanna Newsom material, but it gives me goosebumps nevertheless, and worthily illustrates Joanna Newsom’s gift as a songwriter. The story of how this song ended up in the movie is discussed in an interview on Fabulist. When I first watched the film, the surprise was so unexpected that it almost made me leap; so I’m sorry about the spoiler, though it has been over a year since it came out! It’s not by any means a movie that will move you a million miles, but it’s kind of a sweet story with a sad aftertaste, and modest in its telling, about a disheartened music enthusiast who finds himself working for a record company that scams aspiring musicians in small towns; Kene Holliday, who plays a colleague bent on making his job work, is actually pretty hilarious; and though Tricia Paoluccio was a hired actress, most musicians you see in the movie are non-actors who thought they were auditioning for real–their responses to the staged auditions are far more telling about the entertainment industry than the plot itself. Continue to download the song and watch the trailer.
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If you missed buying Joanna Newsom tickets, like I did, for her show at BAM with members of Brooklyn Philharmonic, do not despair! Another date has been added the night before: Jan 31 it is, and good seats are still available.
Download Colleen (via Puddlegum, from Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band EP)
Photo: shannon mcclean
A lot of us who buy vinyl paid about $21 for 5 Joanna Newsom songs, but that’s because the record was a double disc deal and each song averaged at 13 minutes. InSound is selling the three-track 12″ Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band for $13.99 + shipping. Other Music’s got a slightly better deal at $10.99 (+ shipping if you buy online). We’ll have to head to the physical store and investigage the worthiness of this purchase. Speaking of Other Music, it has just fully launched its digital store.
In the meantime, the Sound Fix Records website has been down for a few days now. That must be investigaged too.
Download Colleen (via Puddlegum, from forthcoming EP)
(photo uploaded by: RabbitCycle)
This from Dragcity:
Believe it or not, Joanna Newsom’s also back in your face in April, world! By then, her planetary tour will be partially complete (we’re still working on Antarctica and the Sandwich Islands), but you can’t stop the Ys-er! There’s another new song to be released to the ever-growing JNA, and what better way to release it than a sweet little EP? And what better way to title a sweet little record that with a smart-arsed title like “Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band”? Yeah, that’s the title! So, you got a new song and two songs remade in the image of Joanna 2006-07 with her touring band (hence the fanciful title). And guess what? It’s great, too.
It comes out April 24.
This is about a month old, but never mind that. “Sprout and the Bean” at Rickshaw Shop in SF. Uploaded by RocketBrothers.
[youtube 2PmHWFX3skc]
From the first of the two November 13, 2006 shows: Newsom started with an impeccable performance of a few solo tunes—”Bridges and Balloons,” a traditional Scottish song, and “Sadie”. A request for “Emily” came in early in the show, at which Newsom said with a smile, I’ll get to that in a while. Then – her three-piece band appeared with a female vocalist, and to everyone’s delight she announced they were going to play the new record start to finish. And so they did with greatest sensitivity, the songs meticulously arranged for a four-piece. After “Only Skin,” perhaps knowing there was only one more tune from the album to go, the audience took time to pre-emptively hoot and encore-applaud, at which Newsom turned to her band with a shrug and an inquisitive look. After the slow and quiet finish of “Cosmia,” she came back solo, ending with “Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie” and “The Book of Right-On.” Then – she just ran off the stage.
