9 posts tagged “music”
I wrote about the emergence of "River" as a new Christmas standard last year. I'm sure the New Republic writers must be reading this blog, and that's why they're jumping on my bandwagon.
Yesterday, Joni Mitchell released her first album in nearly 10 years. I won't write a full scale review yet, because no sensible person can pretend to assess a Joni work after just one or two listenings. The album is full of social commentary, which I don't think is Joni's strength, but it is also full of lovely sounds. Not hummable, of course; Joni doesn't do hummable. Her melodies take a while to reveal themselves. After only two listenings, I surprise myself by favoring the album's finale, a re-working of Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If." I really, really hate that wretched poem, but Joni's done something interesting with it.
Joni Mitchell will be releasing a new album, Shine, on September 25. She has signed a two-CD deal with Hear Music, the Starbucks label that released Paul McCartney's latest album (the theory being, apparently, that Joni's decrepit boomer audience no longer patronizes music stores). There's some bitching about corporate sellouts and bad coffee, but I'm just thrilled to my bones that we're finally getting some new music from Joni, after almost 10 years. And piano songs, to boot. I'm a happy lady.
I had a chance to see the folk-pop trio Girlyman at the Sellersville Theatre (PA) last Saturday. For fans of close harmony a la Simon & Garfunkel they are truly a must-hear, must-see group. Their songs are beautifully crafted and they are funny, sassy and so gosh-darn cute. Read more about them at their web site, and hear a few songs on their myspace page. Their new album, Joyful Sign, will be available online on April 13.
The December 21st Washington Post has an article about Joni Mitchell's song "River" showing up on all the Christmas albums this year:
I'm so glad to see it. "Both Sides Now" has been covered umpteen million times and that's nice, but if "River" works its way into the Christmas canon, that will mean royalty pennies not just for Joni but for her grandchildren!
The song that seems to be popping up on all the holiday CDs this year is Joni Mitchell’s River. The most high profile covers are on Sarah McLachlan’s beautiful CD, Wintersong, and on James Taylor at Christmas. It’s also been covered by Linda Ronstadt, Robert Downey Jr, and even Barry Manilow (ouch).
This is not your typical Christmas song. It is sad. It is unsentimental. It is unflinchingly honest. It is Joni. I never used to think of it as a Christmas song, but I guess it fits in nicely with that subgenre of Morose Holiday Music (with Blue Christmas, First Christmas Away from Home, the original Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and of course, oh my god, the Coventry Carol).
Awhile back, Joni was talking about releasing a Morose Christmas CD of her own, but it looks like that isn’t going to happen. She is recording a new album of original material, though, which is supposed to be released in 2007. Watch this space.
It's December 1st; let the holiday madness begin! Although I kvetch incessantly about the sappy music, the consumerism, and the incredibly frightening inflatable decorations showing up on everybody's lawns, I do love this season. The music is actually my favorite part - not the radio and department store pablum, though. Perennial favorite CDs are Bright Day Star by The Baltimore Consort, Christmas by Bruce Cockburn, and December in Vermont by Diane Ziegler (that last is quietly stunning, and an absolute must if you're a folkie). I've always been a sucker for an English boys' choir, although having just finished reading Lord of the Flies with my book discussion group, the whole choir thing just feels creepy.
I just downloaded Joanna Newsom's album Ys, which is setting the critics all a-flutter. First take: the voice is a cross between Sandy Denny and Billie Holiday. This is not easy listening. Odd as hell. But I think I'm going to like it.
The release of Nellie McKay's new CD, Pretty Little Head, was delayed for over a year when Nellie and her record company disagreed over the length of the album. Nellie took her marbles and went home, and decided to release the record on her own label. Worth the wait? Hell, yeah. It's full of intriguing melodies that are catchy -- but not so catchy as to be inane -- and lyrics that are delightfully off-kilter. Early favorites are "Cupcake," "Beecharmer" and "Columbia Is Bleeding," about inhumane animal testing in Columbia University's research labs.
What's missing, and it's inevitable, is the element of surprise. The first album just stunned me because I had never heard anything like it. Well, now I have heard something like it; and this album, instead of sounding unprecedented, sounds like Nellie.
