i'm going to blame your new found crack addiction on this comment.
different does not equal original OR talented.

You all talk like you've only ever read articles about her and the titles of songs, which I do not doubt is the case. Her music is far from performance art, the first album in particular, which is strongly rooted in traditional folk. You can't hear the fucking knitting, and I don't think there's a cymbal on the either album.



Different kind of does equal original, actually. Depending on your data set I guess. And I didn't say she was talented because she's original, I was just trying to figure out exactly what OKL hated so much about her. It seems to be her song titles and appearance, mostly.

The songs on Ys read like short stories. I sat down and read the whole booklet while I listened to the album the other day and was amazed at how she manages to take some of the lines, which don't read on paper at all as being particularly fluent, and made them melodic and rhymeable.

The voice is another thing I don't understand. Not liking someone's voice is fine. But to get up in arms and feel the need to outright run down and give flack to anyone else who likes them simply because of that seems ridiculous.

And the image? Christ. Are you grasping at straws? Because she's short and cute? She doesn't come on stage wearing crowns of wreaths, prancing about with flowers.


I'm with Haq in that I don't understand what causes such outright loathing and hostility. She's not all that different from Devendra Banhart, Dylan, Smog, etc. who all get praised on here.

Fuck, I don't think Animal Collective gets the amount of ignorant shit thrown at them as she does and they truly deserve it more.

Comparing her to Dylan is pretty ridiculous. I don't consider Smog LOLworthy but don't really like them/him either. Animal Collective and Devendra Banhart are every bit as awful as Newsom. I think you'll find that there's a huge overlap between Newsom fans and fans of all the non-Dylan names you mentioned.

Newsom may be the poster child for freak folk and an easier target but if you want to make fun of the others, I'll try to join in to the extent I know anything about them.

sorry, aaron.
i've listened to 3 entire songs and found no reason to go further.
she's a novelty that people are buying into right now.
in 5 years no one will admit to even remembering her.

it's a bet.

She just did a DJ set on NPR as well, apparently:

http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/archives/djnewsom/

DISCLOSURE:

I've heard two of her songs, one of them twice or so, and the other about 5 times, both on xmu. When I've heard them, I didn't like them. Not immdiately, but after 5 or 6 minutes of the same little twinkly chords and mousey vocal delivery. I have overcome bigger hurdles than this in the past to like someone, but I reeeeally haven't seen the need here yet. But Haq's determination stands for something.

COUNTERPOINT, courtesy of my wife, who asked what I'm typing about:


"I love it. It makes me wanna go play in the woods."*




















* Yes, really.

What? Come on Billy...if someone came into your house and looked at your record collection and said something to the effect of "I don't like world music" you would find them completely off base for such a broad and narrow view. Sure, I can understand thinking a band pompous for a statement, but to outright judge a band without hearing a single note? Rather sophomoric don't you think?

I like her quite a bit but overdefense of her to people who have no intention of listening to her is only going to make them them more derisive of her.

Because it's more fun to snicker at fanboys if you're not a fan of something than it is to listen to things you don't usually like. Always has been.

Like my good friend from college who loves Barbra. I am not capable of loving Barbra. It will never happen, no matter how much I listen, no matter how much I can see the work and craft she puts into her overblow claptrap. I am not a Barbra person.

However, Newsom, I predict with the calm sureness of a guy who 20 years from now will barely give a shit ever posted opinions on the internet, will not be forgotten.

She will still be equally loathed/loved, but in the way Joan Baez or Leonard Cohen is loathed/loved (I loathe the first, love the second, you may be the opposite).

Newsom's stuff is more Other than any of the Banharty peeps. Banhart will be respected years down the road, still annoying to some, but Newsom will still be polarizing. What she won't be is forgotten.

Billy G's stance I understand. If he thinks freak folk sucks, why should he listen to Newsom? My stance is there's a hell of lot more experimental and daring REAL folk going on with Newsom than there is poseur chick tinkling around on stage. I understand hating it, but not the dismissive sexism some people exhibit about it. When Billy dislikes both Banhart and Newsom, it at least does away with that aspect of the issue. Other people often say stuff like "stupid little girl playing D & D." I'm sure Joni and Emmylou got their share of "silly little girl" remarks, hell, Marianne Faithfull had to hear them for 30 years, but that doesn't make the comments correct.

There are some things about Newsom I think are irritating, but her creativity, stamina and intellect are not among them.
.

Joni...Emmylou...Marianne Faithfull...Joanna Newsome.

oh, okay.

My point was they've all been made fun of yet wound up respected.

Marianne was particularly brutalized.

Cherrypick for contempt purposes if you like, but I did not say Joanna was as good as Joni.

I do think she will be remembered, will have a long career and will more or less transcend dismissal the way other unusual female singer-songwriters have in the past.

People will still hate her, but other people will wonder why she was so thoroughly dismissed.

Eh, sure.

No...I'm not a critic...I don't have to listen to things I don't have an interest in. As music fans, we all "judge" whether bands are worth of hearing a single note or not. No one can listen to everything and why listen to things that you expect you'd hate? The fact that I've never heard a note doesn't change that calling your music "haiku music" is pretty lolworthy. And to clarify, I'm not laughing with them.

I dislike all the artists and bands mentioned in this thread.



I win.

i honestly cant believe what I just read

dylan shouldnt be mentioned in the same thread as joanna newsom. actually neither should leonard cohen. neither should sarah silverman in south pacific's quote.

i do think she is better than davendra banhart who would not understand a melody or a hook if it sat on his face or animal collective who I am pretty sure are the definition of poo poo ding dong

Whether we like Joanna Newsom or not, at least we ought to be able to agree that South Pacific is an idiot.

Awesome. My work is done here.


Oh, and billy g? Thanks for recommending that obscure Brazilian bongabongapoobah record. I can't stop listening to it. I don't know what we'd do without you.

C'mon, sp, it's bongabongopahpah. The other kind is Salvadoran.

Not in the least.




Of course, by looking at the tracklisting for each of the above, it makes it even easier. I'm also not saying that you can judge every book by it's cover, but I agree with billy g's response. I know what my tastes are, and I have developed a pretty good idea of what artists are more likely to be to my liking —even without hearing a note—than other artists. It's just a matter preference.

Everybody judges things. If Toby Keith assembled an ensemble cast of musicians and recorded an album even better than The Band, most people here, including myself, would dismiss it without hearing a note. And I see nothing wrong with that.

The difference is that too many people get their feelings hurt when someone voices feelings on an artist that oppose their own (not selecting you out of the crowd, btw). There are people here that don't like Neil Young and though Prairie Wind was total shit. I enjoy it, and it doesn't affect me one bit if someone else wants to pan him for being a tired old man who plays with trains. Or Ike Reilly for being a king hell Cracker who fumbles embarrassingly with hip-hop. I may or may not defend an artist, depending on the situation, but I don't need to start trotting out the tired ass claim of "backlash" or invest in defending the guy. If you don't like it, you don't like it.

It doesn't hurt my feelings, and I don't see the need to waste a bunch of energy convincing a critic why they are wrong, or why they are a close-minded, uncultured meathead for disagreeing with me

And that's fine, to choose not to listen to a particular band. The problem lies in the way that you articulated that you didn't listen to them. You just touched a pet peeve of mine.

Now come on, guys. I know you can up with some really shallow criticisms of Joanna Newsom if you try a little harder.

We've already got the "she looks like an elf" thing here, some superficial D&D comments (Does she actually have any lyrics about dragons or fairies or elves or knights or wizards? I honestly can't think of any right now.), poking fun at a song title, and calling out the "novelty" that she plays the harp (which isn't the most prominent instrument on all of her songs, many of which could work just as well with a guitar or other arrangements). But I know you guys can do better. Somebody needs to mention that she's got a big butt or that her breasts are kinda small. Oh well, I guess I saved you the trouble.

Sorry Drink, but I disagree. All those things are valid in my mind. It's not that she looks like an elf, it's that she dresses like one. Sign her up for the renaissance fair. If you don't think image is important, then there isn't much I can tell you. Music is a form of expression, we all know that and I refuse to indentify myself with someone who projects Lord of the Rings Soundtrack. You don't think that the album cover of Sticky Fingers is a part of the Stones allure?

Next one. I Wanna Be Your Dog doesn't have the same punch if it was retitled Cookies and the Bake Sale.

I think the harp speaks for itself.

I've never noticed the butt so I can't comment.

I like both Lord Of The Rings and Newsom, though Led Zep were more about Tolkien than Newsom ever will be.

So the "aligning yourself with" thing is completely subjective.

jesus, we're missing the point.