Rating System

In terms of a rating system, I just put my favourite albums in order and gave them a rank accordingly. What that means is the following:

Rating
9 - 10: Buy it immediately
8 - 9: Highly recommended
7 - 8: Well worth it

Since the whole point of this is to recommend music to people, I don't think that there will be anything lower than seven. There are about eight or nine albums that I'd put in the 9 - 10 category and maybe 15 - 20 in 8- 9 category.

Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom
Milk - Eyed Mender
(2004)

Rating: 8.4

I've developed a bit of a thing for Joanna Newsom over the past month or so. I have never read an interview with her and until yesterday, had never seen her picture; but she keeps leaking into my head unexpectedly. It's like in Touching the Void, when Joe Simpson is trying to get his bearings but is constantly confused by the sound of Boney M's "Brown Girl in the Ring" blaring in his head.

It's Joanna Newsom's voice that does it. She sings like a little girl who's got her favourite flavour lolly pop wedged in her mouth. I can't say that I liked it when I first heard it (in fact my face probably screwed up in a "What the fuck is this shit?" expression), but like that Boney M song, it keeps assaulting me.

The songs themselves are predominantly played on the Celtic Harp and are steeped in the tradition of demented Appalachian folk. In fact, over the course of the album it becomes difficult to suppress the suspicion that Joanna Newsom is bat shit insane. But it's the quality of the storytelling that draws you in. The opening song, Bridges and Balloons, tells the story of a reckless adventure on a shambolic ship; with a chorus of parrots adding to the tension by quoting from an eighteenth century novel. In Inflammatory Writ, she attempts a seminal novel but ends up staring out window in the middle of the night:

"In spite of all the time that we spent on it:
one bedraggled ghost of a sonnet!
While outside, the wild boars root
without bending a bough underfoot-
O it breaks my heart; I don't know how they do't. "

But despite all the hilarity, nothing seems forced. The songs are quite intimate and even though there seems to be some confessional content, she never spreads herself thin. It's nothing like the brain freezingly horrible tweeness of someone like Damien Rice or Sir Glen Hansard for instance. The storys are great and the singing comes across as both childishly innocent and worldly. In fact it's quite difficult to reconcile the two. Overall it sounds as if Gary Coleman got his first career break in twenty years playing Annie on Broadway. Tomorrow! Tomorrow! And isn't she pretty as well?

Most Listened To

I take an High Fidelity like interest in the organisation and classification of my music. One of the lovely surprises that came with getting an ipod was the facility which told you what songs you listened to most. I was surprised, amused and slightly ashamed of some of the entries on the list.
One of things that I wish music review sites would do is publish these lists. The way I'm introduced to bands has changed completely with the new technology and these lists give good stock of relative tastes. I would love if people would stick up some playlists, under whatever criteria you like: favourite songs, most listened to, late night mix-tape, favourite new stuff or tribal gay cabaret. Here's a list of what I discovered I'd listened most to this year (there are definetly some running themes) :

1. Tired of Being Alone - Al Green
2. In Dreams - Roy Orbison
3. Baltimore - Nina Simone
4. Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow - Felt
5. Neighborhood # 2 (Laika) - Arcade Fire
6. Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
7. Cold Cold Ground - Tom Waits
8. Windowlicker - Aphex Twin
9. Rowche Rumble - The Fall
10. If You're Looking for a Way Out - Tindersticks
11. The Classical - The Fall
12. Hope There's Someone - Antony and the Johnsons
13. Low Ambition - Lambchop
14. Small Town Boy - Jimmy Sommerville
15. South America - Nicolas Makelberge
16. Random Rules - Silver Jews
17. Millionaire - Kelis
18. Shanty Town - Desmond Decker
19. Crown of Love - Arcade Fire
20. New Slang - The Shins

I promise not to peddle these lists. I'll review something soon.