Possibly The Awesomest Terrible Singer In The World

[plumtreeblossom]

I stumbled across Joanna Newsom completely at random while reading the Wikipedia page of her boyfriend (actor Andy Samberg). At first listen I was both bewildered and riveted at the same time. I didn't want to keep listening but couldn't stop listening because there's something akin to magic about the bizarre music she makes. Honestly, her voice sounds like Bjork's irritable Siamese cat with an epic sinus infection. But juxtaposed against her gorgeous harp playing and her rich, quirky lyrics, it folds together into something that defies... pretty much everything.

There's something inspiring about an artist who can take every contemporary convention we have about what constitutes "good" singing and chuck them right out the window. Lots of composers with mediocre or poor singing voices collaborate with better voiced singers to bring their songs to life. But sometimes, someone wants to sing their own song regardless of what their voice sounds like, and if they have the right combination of confidence, stage presence and thick skin, they can do it, damn the torpedoes. Whether liked or disliked, the voice of this elven bardette certainly draws strong emotional reactions. If you click through to the comment thread on Youtube, there is passionate fighting between those who think her vocal cords should be slit and those who look up to her as a hero.

Anyway, listen if you can handle it, respect if you're inspired to.

Comments

[scholargipsy.livejournal.com]

You're more charitable than I; I found her excruciating. That's not to say she isn't brave, or that she has no right to sing -- follow your bliss and all that. But I will elect not to listen (though the harping is damn cool).

[kalliejenn2.livejournal.com]

i don't hate it, but i have to be honest - my first thought was that she sounds a bit like she has down syndrome.

[dabroots.livejournal.com]

It's the sort of thing that you either like, in a strange sort of way, or despise and can't stand. It reminds me a bit of the singing style of Bianca Casady of CocoRosie, a childlike squeaking, but Bianca's is rather ethereal, and usually in company with her sister Sierra's operatic style of singing. I can see why Andy Samberg, in particular, would go for her.

[mindflankr.livejournal.com]

I didn't LOVE her singing (however, the harp was amazing!)but watching her made me very uncomfortable. It looked strained and painful.

[aphrabehn.livejournal.com]

The harp is amazing, for starters.

I hated it at first, but she sort of grew on me as it played on. to me she doesn't sound at all like Bjork, but I like Bjork. Her voice is odd, admittedly, but she has resonance and the ability to hit notes. A lot of Bjork's weirdness stems (I think) from a heavy accent and extremely unusual phrasing.

With this woman, I get the sense she isn't trying to sound good. To sing, at least in the way we think of it. Playing a harp doesn't make singing all that easy, either (forces a bad closed posture.) There's something very stylized here.

And this might get me banned, but she reminded me a bit of Billie Holiday - something in the way she approached notes and her phrasing.

[spacechicken.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Joanna Newsom. My brother bought her album after hearing "The Sprout and the Bean" played over the alarming ending of the movie "The Strangers" and brought it over here and played it for me. I listened to it two times through back to back. Who writes songs like this? Who plays the harp? She's incredible. Her voice takes a little getting used to but it really compliments her songs.

[heliopsis.livejournal.com]

She was reliably on pitch, so she's more musical than half the pop stars out there. Her sound is definitely weird, but it reminded me of some of Kate Bush's early vocal effects. I think perhaps her voice has not matured yet.

The thing I found least satisfying about her was that her diction is imprecise, which makes it very hard to figure out what she's saying. There might be some poetry there, but I couldn't tell. All in all, I wouldn't buy an album, but neither would I turn off the radio if she came on.

[kencf0618.livejournal.com]

Vocal wasabi. I liked it, not that I'd dine on it every day. She has, as the French would say, the virtues of her defects -- and she sounds like the inbred love child of Laura Veirs and Diamanda Galas.

[sideshowbennie.livejournal.com]

I love it! I would much rather hear someone like her sing from the heart in her natural voice than to hear another TIm McGraw or Taylor Swift, who are both well know in Nashville to be unable to carry a tune in a bucket. They use Pro Tools to electronically bring them to pitch and put them on key, both on stage and in the studio. It is more Milli Vanilli than Merle Haggard and it is a lie.

Bless Joanna. We need more of her and less Pro Tools enhanced "singers!!"

Catching up on the important stuff...

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

Wow, I love what you wrote here. As for the vid, I showed J and he asked that I turn it off about a minute in. But I applaud her for doing Her Thing.