WishListening

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Week 1: Songs and Stories. (Part 1/11)

This week, I'll be sharing some memories and personal stories based on the songs in my current playlist. (This week is going to be a bit longer, to accommodate the holiday weekend and the number of songs on my playlist.) In future weeks, I plan to share one song or album per day, according to specific themes. As always, the focus here will be on personal reactions to and interaction with music, as well as reviews. Now, without further delay...

Elves and Ice Cream

Current track: The Book of Right-On from the album Ys1 -- Joanna Newsom

I'm not sure if I was more excited about the concert, or about the gelato. A few weekends ago, four of us trekked to Philly to see Joanna Newsom play an intimate show at the First Unitarian Church. After failing miserably at finding tickets through the traditional routes, I made a desperate plea on CraigsList. People were offering up tickets at a 600% mark-up from the original $20 price. Yeah, no. All I have to say is that I am ever-grateful to the person who responded with not two, but four tickets with my name on them. The best part? She only charged me face value. Those tickets sat on my coffee table for a month and a half, just so I could see them every day.

Joanna Newsom, 03/20/10; First Unitarian Church; Philadelphia, PA

I was introduced to Joanna Newsom in college, by my then-and-now boyfriend. I was a music major and a vocalist, and my initial reaction on the first listen was something like the face you might make when you taste something confusing. Pickled gooseberries will do that. So will rose gelato. Her voice was anomalous and for that reason, I was hooked. I spent a year buying copies of Ys for everyone but myself. Her timbre and pronunciation drew me in, but her musical style has garnered some interesting reactions from fans and haters.2 Honestly, I don't get it. People really don't know how to react to an indie-musician who happens to play the harp instead of the guitar. It is strange what timbre alone can do to people.

Joanna Newsom, 03/20/10...It's a shame that all of my other pictures were blurry!

The concert itself went off without a hitch. The crowd was equal parts hushed and excited, the weather was pristine, and we had enough time afterwards to hunt down the aforementioned gelato. Do not take me lightly when I mention gelato. I have been hunting for anything that came close to the real deal for the past 8 YEARS. I checked out Capogiro Gelato, and practically fell over. Go ahead. Look. I dare you not to drool all over your bad self.

...and if you ever do decide to taste, try something unlikely. It may surprise you.

Footnotes:

1Joanna Newsom's albums--including her most recent album, Have One On Me--can be purchased at Drag City. Support the musicians you love!

2A recent search for Facebook groups and the phrase "Joanna Newsome is" yielded the following results: a ridiculous fuckfest of blessedness/freakin' amazing/an angel/my savior/fit/lovely/a magical fairy-child/a beautiful creative fairy elf godlike angel creature.... There are some other truly weird results, like Joanna Newsom may sound like an aborted fetus but I love her anyway and Elfetish, whose group description reads: If you've ever been turned on by Lord of the Rings, the Dark Crystal, Joanna Newsom, fantasy novels geared toward 12-year-old boys so they decide to throw in elf sex while they're at it, or really anyone who's pale and has pointy ears and a penchant for archery.
Trust me, I only wish that I were making this up.

Also, for legal reasons, I can't cache or link to the article about Joanna Newsom on Vanity Fair's site, but a quick websearch should get you there quickly. There are some really intelligent--and pretentious--comments concerning the sexism and misogyny contained in many of the responses to her work.

Labels: elves, harp, Joanna Newsom, timbre, Week 1

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8:21 PM

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Labels: elves, harp, Joanna Newsom, timbre, Week 1

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8:21 PM