The Joanna Newsom Thread

[Mardy]

The Cavester wishes he could sing like Neil Diamond.

 

Amen. Preach it, brother.

[Gnomicide]

Is it just me that finds the relentless Kate Bush comparisons tedious and more than a little sexist? It's almost as if two fellow female artists can't both be experimental in their music... 

"More than a little sexist"? What a ridiculous notion. Maybe a bit lazy, a bit too obvious but sexist? It has nothing to do with her being female, it's one of the things about music, almost every artist is influenced by what has come before or at least reminds you of something else. If this is the case though, maybe it is best not to mention it in case it offends.

[Guest]

Perhaps, but it's still a little demeaning in my eyes. You're unlikely to find Nick Cave constantly associated with Neil Diamond because they both sing with a growling baritone... 

I think you have won the thread.

The other one you see is "she's like Bjork, yeah? Because both of them are quite weird broads".

[stuartbert two hats]

I'm #teamteamcampesinos! on this one. Making particularly lazy comparisons when it comes to women is sexist if those comparisons are more lazy for women than men. You can be discriminate by omission as well as be actively discrimitory.

[Gnomicide]

So last year I was racist for not liking Kanye, this year I'm sexist for thinking Joanna Newsome sounds a bit like Kate Bush. Utter bollocks.

Jake Bugg sounds like Lonnie Donegan, some Primal Scream sounds like the Stones, Jeff Lynne sounds like the Beatles, Paul Janeway sounds like Otis Reading. All lazy comparisons applied to male performers. Sexist?

[stuartbert two hats]

So last year I was racist for not liking Kanye, this year I'm sexist for thinking Joanna Newsome sounds a bit like Kate Bush. Utter bollocks.

Jake Bugg sounds like Lonnie Donegan, some Primal Scream sounds like the Stones, Jeff Lynne sounds like the Beatles, Paul Janeway sounds like Otis Reading. All lazy comparisons applied to male performers. Sexist?

You sexist, lazy, racist bigot

[Gnomicide]

You sexist, lazy, racist bigot

I know, I fucking hate me.

[stuartbert two hats]

I know, I fucking hate me.

The nuence of this is hard to convey on a forum, but it's all about context. If those comparisons are less tenuous than the Newsom/Bush one, then maybe there is a problem, especially if there are more obvious influences. The big thing is that it's impossible to tell in isolation if a particular comparison is valid, or unduly influenced by gender. I would never presume to say any particular person is sexist, but if in general a bad comparison is being made that appears to be mainly because both artists have a vagina, then it's a bit easier to judge that on the whole that there is something going on. I don't actually know about JN and KB, I'm not familiar enough with Newsom's work to say.

This is way too complicated to discuss on a forum, maybe take it up at the festival? I am forever questioning my motives when I make gut judgements and sometimes I reassess my conclusions.

Incidentally, with regards to the weird female=Bjork angle I know for a fact that Natasha Khan used to piss her housemates off in Uni by singing Bjork at the top of her voice all day, so some of those comparisons night not be too far off the mark.

[mrf]

But as a reference point for people who arent aware of her, Kate Bush is a good starting point. It would be completely fucking pointless to say "Well she is quite dissimilar to Andy Sex Gang, and also bears not even a passing resemblance to Handsome Dick Manitoba. And you know that ex swimmer guy in Rammstein? Fuck all like him too".

Maybe if "she sounds like Kate Bush" is prefixed with "on no account of them both having vaginas, she can at times come across like Kate Bush if she somehow forgot how to shape certain words just before they left her mouth" would be a more acceptable, and less lazy sexist statement?

[Gnomicide]

Well put and including a Handsome Dick Manitober reference too, nice.

[addicted2noise]

So she played only one song on the Friday show? I was expecting 2 or 3 considering she just released an album. 

[GlastoSimon]

Not sure the Kate Bush comparisons are sexist at all, there are similarities. It's very much 'Wuthering Heights' style vocal than say 'Running Up That Hill' though.

Saw Newsom on Jools for the first time on Friday, saw some chatter on here but I was very surprised to see a harp in relatively popular music! Interesting stuff, not sure its my thing though. Maybe need to listen to the studio stuff a bit more.

[Tuna]

the first time radmac played anything off divers, they immediately went "reckon she's listened to kate bush much?" after

sorry, it's a fair comparison

no, i haven't read the thread

[CaledonianGonzo]

Thing is, though, a vocal inflection aside, Kate Bush is probably not the most apposite comparison.  Or at least, not the only one.

The music she's actually producing has more in common with Astral Weeks, Song Cycle, Hejira and Stormcock than it does with The Kick Inside.

I cant really speak for the new album, but at her most inspired, on the thin, wild mercury highlights of Ys, it's songs like Visions of Johanna that she's invoking.

[Mardy]

I'd not even thought about any Kate Bush comparisons till I'd read this thread. 

[Guest]

Thing is, though, a vocal inflection aside, Kate Bush is probably not the most apposite comparison.  Or at least, not the only one.

The music she's actually producing has more in common with Astral Weeks, Song Cycle, Hejira and Stormcock than it does with The Kick Inside.

I cant really speak for the new album, but at her most inspired, on the thin, wild mercury highlights of Ys, it's songs like Visions of Johanna that she's invoking.

I don't know if this post is serious or not, you've been on 100% wind ups for about 6 months. I'm beginning to doubt if you ever even were Scottish.

[blue6field]

Having heard leaving the city a couple of times on the radio decided to purchase Divers yesterday. Totally new to her music but really love the album

goose eggs, divers and a pin light bent really stand out after a couple of listens for me, fully expect the others to equally stand out after a few more listens.

[tjamest]

On ‎07‎/‎11‎/‎2015‎ ‎23‎:‎24‎:‎48, Gnomicide said:

Well put and including a Handsome Dick Manitober reference too, nice.

Wow -that's a blast from the past. I remember buying the 12 inch of Search & Destroy back in 77, but had honestly totally forgotten about the Dictators in the last 35 years.

[dentalplan]

I think Gnomicide is forming a fearsome eFestivals rocker gang.

[Gnomicide]

13 hours ago, dentalplan said:

I think Gnomicide is forming a fearsome eFestivals rocker gang.

 

A gang of old metal fans.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Gnomicide

[home to you]

Last night was ruddy perfect. The band sounded really tight and it was cool to see the interaction between them all during each song. She seemed genuinely overwhelmed by the crowd reception before and after each song too which was nice. 

Standouts: Time As A Symptom, Cosmia, Anecdoctes and Baby Birch

I'm crossing everything for her to be booked for next year 

[dentalplan]

 Coming back to the UK in March and playing Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall. Tickets available from Wednesday.

Edited December 8, 2015 by dentalplan

[CaledonianGonzo]

The Glasgow show on the 2nd is onsale already.

Got front row seats off the GRCH website about 15 minutes ago.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Of course the bad news is that - while this doesn't rule it out - it does reduce the likelihood of her being back in June.

[blue6field]

1 hour ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

The Glasgow show on the 2nd is onsale already.

Got front row seats off the GRCH website about 15 minutes ago.

Thanks for the heads up

ticket secured