¤ milky moon ¤

So, this is how I feel about each track on the compilation.

1. Billy Bragg - On a Good Day. First of all - what an honor to be included on a compilation with this man! His contribution is simple, as it should be.

2. Josh Mann - Bridges & Balloons. I do not like this one bit and no one that I know likes it either. It's a shame, since hearing the cello at the beginning was exciting. But, ultimately, his voice and phrasing ruins the piece. Sounds like someone on American Idol took the song and did it up. His vocals are too Creed-ish. Much disappointment. Oh well.

3. M Ward - Sadie. Many of the people who I've played this to find it very boring, as if M Ward arranged a holiday version for a department store. I'm a bit bothered by his arrangement of the song and how he really jazz-chords it out. I'm no fan of it, I guess, but I'm trying to be as sympathetic as I can to all these covers.

4. Ian Cooke - Monkey & Bear. I really think the cello arrangement of this is brilliant BUT he pays no attention whatsoever to any subtlety in the song. Because of this, I think the track flops, which is a shame due to the great attention to string arrangement. I think the drum-kit sound added is not very good - makes it sound too mainstream rock. I like this in parts, and then I don't in others.

5. The Moscow Coup Attempt - Sprout & the Bean. I really enjoy the musical arrangement of this. The programming and tones are superb! Very lush and moody. Well done! The vocal phrasing, however, I don't exactly like much.

6. Owen Pallett - Peach Plum Pear. I love Owen Pallett very much and I have always like his version of the song. I'm glad it turned up on the compilation!

7. Joel Cathey - Book of Right On. NO. NO. NO. I don't like anything about this. So painfully twee-pop and it sounds like it could be played in a Starbucks. Unfortunate for the amount of arrangement done for the track. I really don't like this. I can't really get through it without cringing.

8. Melissa Stylianou - Swansea. I like this. She's a jazz lounge singer in a good way. Very original take on a complex song. I have a very small critique of it, which is that I feel like my grandmother would play this as christmas music.

9. Ben Sollee - Sawdust & Diamonds. A very original and lovely re-interpretation of the original masterpiece! At times, the vocals can seem slightly passion-less, but overall I very much enjoy this version. The cello is wonderful, and it will take a while to get used to his phrasing of the lines. Good job.

10. Chris Leeds - Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie. This is so moving. Very beautiful and I'm glad it was included. Such an honest and disarming version of an honest and disarming song. I would like to voice a plea right here: It would be a dream come true to hear Conor Oberst cover this song -- He was made to sing it, and I would never cease to listen to it.

11. This is Deer Country - Easy. I like it! Not an easy song to cover, whatsoever. I really like how the guitar and banjo work together and how they state the chords that were originally on piano. Well done!

12. Francesco Santocono - '81. I've always had my complaints of his version -- It's just not something I'd listen to. But if other people enjoy it, so be it. There is another version of '81 I really wish would've been on the compilation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rsXfsEFX3w

13. Guy Buttery - Book of Right On. I heard this back in the day when I listened to many solo-acoustic acts, via Kaki King. I enjoy this very much -- I love the man -- his guitar, his attitude, his barefootedness. A dream man of mine.

14. Ian Cooke - Colleen. My original complaint of his other contribution persists. No attention to the subtle movements of the song. The drum programming doesn't really cut it. I don't like how he sings the words, or makes harmonies with himself. I don't feel comfortable, in a bad way, with him singing the words. I just don't like it. Out of the many people I've spoken to about this compilation, they too are a bit let down by it.

15. Jennifer Schmitt - This Side of the Blue. I don't really like ukulele covers of songs usually. This is fine, though, but I have not much to say for it.

16. Rosa Hinksman - In California. I've seen many of Rosa's covers on youtube and I've had mixed reactions to many of them. Her overall effort is admirable, though. She has quite a skill for learning and executing the performance of the songs. This is very to point and I like it.

17. (A Voice Heard on) Baer Mountain - Autumn. I was extremely nervous about how my band and I executed this song after we had sent the final mix in. I'm starting to actually like it though, and I've been told by many that it sticks out and is a more original take on the song then other covers on the compilation. I really don't like talking about myself, so I'll cease in a moment. We wanted to do a minimal version, and I think we accomplished that much.

18. White Elephant Gift Exchange - Inflammatory Writ. I really enjoy the oboe arrangement on this piece! Makes it very elephant-like. Well done!

19. David Miele - Soft as Chalk. By the time I was half-way through this, I was pretty sure I had heard the most expertly executed track on the compilation. Extremely well done! The attention to the subtle movements of the original is exquisite, as well as the background textures. I like how he picks out certain phrases and makes them explicit - such as 'morning doves'. This could've benefited from the addition of a tambourine during a certain part, but all in all this is exemplary of a good cover. In my own wishes, I would love to hear Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors do a version of this song. I very well thought it was him singing in the first 4 seconds of the song (but not any moment after). Ha!

20. Sandhorse - Flying a Kite. If I was extremely please by the previous song, this absolutely topped it! Fantastic performance and sung extremely well. I love the way he sings 'my kite pale cotton, willow cross'. This actually makes me like the song -- I didn't like the version on Walnut Whales. Our very own Dubblewuzzy showing us how great this song is!

21. Sarah Katheryn - Baby Birch. I do not like this one bit. I am not a fan of how she sings it -- sounds like a caricature of Amanda Palmer. Apologies, but I can't even get through this at all. Totally not the right song to do these kinds of vocals. This song is extremely delicate and relies on subtle approaches to be done well.

22. Kristina Forrer - On a Good Day. I really haven't listened to this much -- I get stopped by how overwrought the sweetness of it is. I don't like how she interpreted the song as 'lullaby'-like in her description of it. On a Good Day surely is no such thing. Too clean cut. Too sugary for its own good.

Overall, I think the cover compilation amassed an interesting roster. Glad it's out there and getting the attention it deserves. Joanna has accomplished something here, what with getting a tribute comp three records into her career!

I had trouble listening to "Easy" because one of the chords in the opening is SO WRONG and I can't stand the dissonance against the voice. After that it's fine, but it drives me SO NUTS. But maybe that means it just needs more listening...

I'd love to see another compilation, but with none of these songs again, just so that there is a variety of her work.

great write-up Eric- love the perspective
At some point I will do something similar

BTW- the Owen PPP is a new mix - exclusive release

Needless to say - it isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but that wasn't the point
The artist and track line-up would be a bit different were it to be a few months later
Only artists who already covered Joanna were invited to participate
Fans and the community were asked to participate
no label funded the project, done with no budget

I understood that with such a large, diverse compilation that a few tracks would hit with each person, a handful would be listenable, and a few they most likely would never play again

In the end the fact that this young woman inspired 21 artists of all different musical genres, styles and backgrounds, from countries all over the world, from legendary artists who have been recording for 30 years to those whose first release this is, to play her music and share it -is enough to claim it was a success for me. (also as of this evening, the average donation over the last week has exceeded the minimum asked donation- which is the real success)

I have had the advantage of listening to each of these 100 times in different environments for months. There are some I have come to love and those I will never listen to again. I have had kids from age 8 to parents of 60 listen and the feedback is all over the place...as a matter of fact, you would be shocked to hear that one of, if not the fave mentioned tracks to me, by Drag City was the Josh Mann Bridges and Balloons...heh. Young people don't react well to Swansea, while many musicians are impressed by alot of the subtle jazz stylings and interpretation.

Here is to you and the artists, Eric! Thanks!

i haven't heard this yet.... however i like the M Ward cover. sure, it's under-stated and very relaxed, but it's still a worthy. and that BIlly Bragg version is fantastic. he sounds weathered and the sensitivity of the original is not lost...

and the baby birch cover is so over-sung. not good at all.

Wow, it's so interesting to see all the different comments. One person's favorite will be another's least favorite. Just goes to show you "there's no accounting for taste" or whatever.

I still remain fully convinced my cover of "Inflammatory Writ" is the worst of the bunch. I would have liked to do more with it, but since it was a somewhat last minute rush to find someone to record me and work out an oboe part and harmonies (I'd only done it solo live before), I just wanted to get it finished and in and cross my fingers.
I've only had a chance to listen to the whole thing once, but off the bat, I really liked "Easy" and the last "On a Good Day." My faves would probably change on further listens. I don't really think there are any weak tracks (except mine). Either before, or during this process I watched a lot of covers on youtube and got completely psyched out by how talented Joanna fans are. I've watched covers of other artists I like on youtube, but most do not stand up to the Joanna covers.

It's so strange how many people dislike Swansea... I LOVED it (and that is one of my favorite songs already). Taste, taste, taste, I know; but I can't see what's unlikable about it!

Swansea is my favourite too

Becca! No! I love your version of Inflammatory Writ, I definitely included in my favorites on the album.

...And I still like Baby Birch.

We're all so diverse about this album though, I love it.

I like the Josh Mann as well but I don't like Ian Cooke's tracks... it's kind of interesting how we can't seem to agree on anything EXCEPT Joanna Newsom, which in a way I guess is a nice indicator of people who have developed a personal taste, rather than just listening to Top 40 all the time because TV says we should.

Anyway, my problem with Ian was just his voice because it doesn't suit my personal aesthetic (JNew, Bianca Casady, Antony Hegarty... seeing the pattern?).

Totally shooting from the hip here, but all of this gives me hope. It seems as though things like American Idol have created this culture of you-shouldn't-do-things-if-you-don't-sound-like-this - Top 40 has a sound, American Idol follows it, it's the predominant form of popular music... then people with these strange voices come plowing through and turning everything on it's head. And when you look at something like VoJ, you have all SORTS of different voices and all these different combinations of what people prefer. It's as if people are being "allowed" to have their own voice, no matter what it sounds like, because somebody somewhere is bound to like it, rather than being afraid of singing altogether because you wouldn't pass American Idol. Just my two cents...

Yeah, American Idol has ruined our culture. (like our culture wasn't already stupid?)
Just look at the nasty things that get said about Joanna's voice. I want to punch people who say she "can't sing" because their definition of "singing" is so based on American Idol and the like. A lot of these pop singers do such normal stuff (i.e. simplistic chord progressions, narrow/flattering range, stuff that makes them sound good) while Joanna is really going outside the box and singing these phrases that go from really high to really low (like '81) and super melismatic stuff ("Good Intentions," "Esme") that is ACTUALLY REALLY HARD TO SING. And she also has these longass phrases with no convenient places to breathe ("Inflammatory Writ" ) and basically, her stuff is not vocally flattering for the most part. So the fact that she can do it at all means she is actually a pretty effing great singer in my opinion, she just has a crazy voice! And I like that. So there.

It's so weird to me that people find the sound of her voice hideous and we find it so beautiful. My friends/fam who I really trust their music taste cringe at her voice and I just don't understand. She has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard.

I know! When I first heard her (MEM) I cringed and understood, but at this point, I genuinely think it's beautiful. I really don't recognize is as something hard to listen to. I mean, I was all excited to show people tracks off of HOOM because I was so sure that her voice is not even at all bad-sounding and that she's up there with other singers, for sure, but when I played Go Long for my friend, she just sort of grimaced. I just don't hear it anymore, I don't hear what is supposedly so awful about her voice. It is by far the most beautiful singing voice I've ever heard.

Especially the chirps in Colleen and pronunciations on Ys.

I love how she says Ink. Shot full of ink, until you sink.

Those aren't chirps. They're yelps.

When does she chirp? Some words on Ys - I can't think of it at the moment.

@doublewuzzy

I actually really enjoyed how she fucked up the chords on Easy. It gives the song this special little bit of tension that is only noticeable to people who know the song well.

I think I've listened to this version of Baby Birch more than I have the official HOOM version... Everyone's going to hurt me now.