¤ milky moon ¤

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Versions of Joanna: Artists Cover the Music of Joanna Newsom to Benefit Oxfam America

December 7, 2010 – Legendary punk/alt/folkie Billy Bragg joins M. Ward, Owen Pallett, Ben Sollee, Ian Cooke and 16 other artists from six countries contributing their cover versions of singer/songwriter/harpist Joanna Newsom’s music.

Billy Bragg lends his lo-fi, acoustic guitar cover of “On a Good Day”. Also included are two of the earliest Joanna Newsom covers; “Sadie” by M.Ward (She & Him, Monsters of Folk) and an updated mix of “Peach, Plum, Pear” by Owen Pallett, who has most recently been recording and touring with Arcade Fire. Cellist Ben Sollee, who just finished a cross-country “Ditch the Van” run of bicycle-only tour dates, renders a bluegrass version of the near 10 minute epic, “Sawdust & Diamonds”.

The diverse line-up features award-winning South African guitarist Guy Buttery playing a live instrumental version of “The Book of Right-On”, Australian punk Josh Mann of Paper Arms does a rocking “Bridges and Balloons”, Melissa Stylianou offers her soft jazz take of “Swansea”, and Denver-based prog/alt/rock/jazz sensation Ian Cooke delivers original arrangements on two of Newsom’s more complex pieces, “Colleen” and “Monkey & Bear”.

The compilation is a project to directly benefit Oxfam America (www.oxfamamerica.org) and their continuing work to assist the flood relief effort in Pakistan, which has been hit by the worst weather in decades, affecting some 20.5 million people. Oxfam has now reached more than 1.4 million people there with humanitarian aid, providing clean water, hygiene supplies and food.

“Oxfam America is thrilled to have such an excellent collection of music compiled to help our work in Pakistan. And to have the support of these artists, Drag City Records, and Joanna Newsom herself, makes the project all the more meaningful.” says Bob Ferguson, Oxfam’s Senior Advisor for Music Outreach. “We often say that ‘Oxfam believes music can change the world’. This album is proof of that”.

Independently produced and released, Versions of Joanna will be initially only available as a “Download for a Donation”, starting December 7th. For more information and to donate and download, please go to: www.versionsofjoanna.com

Cover artwork is donated by noted UK artist, Jamie Shaw www.ashriu.com

Versions of Joanna
21 artists from 6 countries covering the music of Joanna Newsom to benefit Oxfam America

01. Billy Bragg: "On a Good Day" http://www.billybragg.co.uk/
02. Josh Mann: "Bridges and Balloons" http://www.myspace.com/paperarms
03. M. Ward: "Sadie" http://mwardmusic.com/deluxe/
04. Ian Cooke: "Monkey & Bear" http://www.iancookemusic.com/
05. The Moscow Coup Attempt: "Sprout and the Bean" http://www.moscowcoupattempt.com/
06. Owen Pallett: "Peach, Plum, Pear" http://www.owenpalletteternal.com/
07. Joel Cathey: "Book of Right-On" http://music.joelcathey.com/
08. Melissa Stylianou: "Swansea" http://www.melissastylianou.com/
09. Ben Sollee: "Sawdust & Diamonds" http://bensollee.com/
10. Chris Leeds: "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie" http://www.myspace.com/chrisleedssongs
11. This is Deer Country: "Easy" http://www.myspace.com/thisisdeercountry
12. Francesco Santocono: "'81"
13. Guy Buttery: "Book of Right-On"(Instrumental) http://www.guybuttery.co.za/
14. Ian Cooke: "Colleen" http://www.iancookemusic.com/
15. Jennifer Schmitt: "This Side of the Blue" http://www.youtube.com/parkdalian
16. Rosa Hinksman: "In California" http://www.myspace.com/rosafrancesca
17. A Voice Heard on Baer Mountain: "Autumn" http://baermountain.blogspot.com
18. White Elephant Gift Exchange: "Inflammatory Writ" http://whiteelephantgiftexchange.webs.com
19. David Miele: "Soft As Chalk" http://www.myspace.com/davidmiele
20. Sandhorse: "Flying a Kite" http://jntp.110mb.com
21. Sarah Katheryn: "Baby Birch" http://www.sarahkatheryn.com/
22. Kristina Forrer: "On a Good Day" http://fairrabbit.com/home.html

Mastered by Mike Sugar
http://www.mikesugarmusic.com

All Songs used by permission and copyright Joanna Newsom

Got my copy just now!
I'm slightly disappointed we were given no other choice than 192kbps MP3; I'd have loved to have a FLAC copy for best quality, and then of course I could make a lossy copy in a format of my choice without nasty transcoding.

Thanks! Yes, that would be nice and is being considered
Look for that in the near future, should this be semi-successful

I'm listening to it now... I have to say Monkey and Bear was pretty amazing.

BONUS TRACKS for MILKY MOONERS!

For those of you who downloaded and supported the project, here are 2 bonus outtake tracks from fellow forum members- Claire and doublewuzzy aka Sandhorse

Would love to hear peoples faves and not so faves from the album




Enjoy!

Wow! I love them. Both beautiful, but as Go Long is a favorite of mine, I'm partial to it.

My favorites?

Monkey and Bear, Sprout and the Bean (always liked this version), Peach, Plum, Pear, Swansea, '81, Colleen, This Side of the Blue, Inflammatory Writ (cute oboe!), Soft as Chalk and Baby Birch (I mean this in the nicest way possible, but she sounds like Leela from futurama!).

Preview and listen to the tracks on Soundcloud

haven't heard it yet; just wanted to say i'm impressed with the title. i figured it would be a play on words, but i thought it would be something predictable from a newsom song... very happy with the dylan reference, made me smile

http://infantdressingtable.tumblr.com/p ... -joanna-is

Wow, what a bitter, hateful person. Oh well. I see what he is saying. I find that normally I believe covers should be different from the original, because otherwise, what is the point? But with Joanna...it's already so perfect, changing anything feels like sacrilege.
That said, I feel like everyone on this (minus my poo cover) did such an amazing job and it just goes to show what talented fans Joanna has.

I can find 20 positive comments for every hater. This person didn't even listen.

I am tracking mentions in every corner of the InterWebZ and so far the response has been incredibly positive

Also, I don't see what he is saying- it is NOTHING like the average fan ruining your concert experience by singing along. Not even close.

Yeah, I think he's just an angry person or something. And I've seen mostly positive comments, too. I just came across that unintentionally while searching tumblr for Joanna-related stuff and for some reason thought I'd share.

He's right about her work being perfect. The rest was just him being an ignorant ass. His opinion means nothing to me, and it shouldn't matter to anyone involved in this project. I say, keep the covers coming!

Of course her work is perfect! - that is why artists from all over the world lined up to cover her...DUH!

Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" is perfect too..doesn't mean that Jimi Hendrix's cover or any of the other 50 versions since then can or have changed that- only raised the awareness of that piece of art- further escalating it in cultural respect.

I could write 50 pages on why reinterpretations, covers, tributes, etc are important and vital in the artistic process.

I plan on writing a post-mortem analysis and reflection on the project after it is out for a while
There are many subtle things I don't expect the avg. 19 year old asshat, poser, hipster(like the above) to "get "

For instance- one of my favorite tracks on the project never gets mentioned, but after listening to it for 2 months- it almost brings me to tears now. Chris Leeds doing Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie.
The contrast with him as an older- 60 yrs plus male, singing the words written by a teen girl - his life experience coming through and feeling in every word he sings captures the poem in the song for me.

Anyway, I simply hope that those who respect music as an art form and process will have open minds instead of doing the obvious and thinking this is about comparing, improving or attempting to touch any of JNs original works.

once i fix my mandolin, y'all best be ready for a cover of erin.

Guy Buttery's cover is totally unique. I'm going to buy an album of his next.

I should totally finish this joke dance remix I made of '81 if there's a second versions!

http://mp3upload.ca/track/joanna-awesome/dance-mix