I've just spent the last hour listening to Joanna Newsom's new album, Ys. Named after an ancient Breton city, and pronounced "ees", it's an album that would be very easy to dismiss as pretentious, overblown, over-arranged, over-produced, and (from the reviews I've seen so far) overrated. These comments may even be accurate, but it's also a beautiful and thoroughly interesting piece of art.

This is Newsom's second album, and was recorded by Steve Albini, arranged by Van Dyke Parks, and produced by Jim O'Rourke, though Newsom's voice and harp take centre stage. The album's 55 minute running-time contains just 5 tracks, the shortest being the last, Cosmia (at a smidge over 7 minutes), and the longest, Only Skin, being over 17 minutes long.

I must admit that when I first read about this album in this month's Uncut magazine, I thought it sounded like an album that I'd find a lot easier to admire than to actually like. I know it will probably be regarded as heresy by many, but that's been my reaction to Cat Power. I have her last two albums, You Are Free and The Greatest, and I don't think I've managed to listen to either all the way through, even when I've been listening on headphones at work, as they just don't seem able to sustain my interest. Ys was a different matter; my first impressions quickly confounded my expectations, and I became more interested with every passing minute.

I think it's the little details that kept me listening: the banjo that plays four notes, then vanishes. The lyrics that seem to delight in the shape and sound of the words as much as their sense (which is something I've always liked about Howe Gelb, too). The unexpected turns that her voice takes, breathy one moment, squeaking like Bjork the next, but never annoyingly so.

Such gushing praise is most unlike me: put it down to being suprised and delighted that an album so far removed from the world of X-Factor can get released - more power to Drag City for doing so.

Now I think I need to put some Tom Waits on to balance things out...

What is the speed of a meme?

That's the age-old question that Scott Eric Kaufman is trying to answer - find the details on his blog here.

Well, ok, it's not exactly an age-old question, but an interesting one none the less, so if you have a blog, please copy the link and ping Technorati...

(via Bitch Ph.D)

I've just finished listening to Tom Wait's new release, the mammoth Orphans. It's a three-disk set, split in to Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. The first disc contains 16 tracks of his "full-throated juke joint stomp" (as the sticker on the front cover says), the second has 20 tracks of ballads, and the third 20 tracks of the ... odd stuff. The last 2 tracks on Bastards aren't listed, but FreeDB has them as "Dog Treat", one of his in-between-song stories concerning a 36-inch long dog snack, and "Missing My Son", another spoken word piece about a nice lady he met in a convenience store.

In addition to 30 new songs, the tracks include "2:19", "Fannin Street", and "Lord I've Been Changed", which I'd only heard before on John Hammond's album of Wait's covers, Wicked Grin. There are also B-sides, such as "Buzz Fledderjohn", which was originally on a CD single from Mule Variations, and the track "Dog Door", originally on Sparklehorse's It's A Wonderful Life.

Since Tom is a rather acquired taste in my experience (which is to say that most of my friends violently object to my playing any of his stuff in their company), this definitely isn't a purchase for those who aren't fans, but the first two discs at least will be joining my other favourite Waits albums in my regular playlists. It's certainly a hell of a lot better than certain other b-sides and rarity collections I've got... just wish he was likely to be touring the UK again soon!

From the wonderful xkcd...

I really wish I'd been able to make it to the Calexico gig at the Roundhouse on Sunday - it sounds like it was a great gig! At least I saw them earlier this year with Iron & Wine at the Forum in Kenntish Town. Is it just me, or is the sound at that place always poor? Calexico sounded ok (they must have a sound engineer who knows their job!), but every other band I've seen has sounded, quite frankly, lousy. When I saw British Sea Power it was awfully muddy - I couldn't even pick out the guitar lines, it was just a wash of sound. Maybe it's my ears, I don't know...

Anyway, the following message has just been posted on the Calexico website. While I don't live anywhere near the places they're playing, I still think it's a good idea to post this as widely as possible. So, dear readers (both of you), here you go:

---

Calexico’s seven-date December tour broaches some of the most serious social issues facing citizens on either side of the US - Mexico border today. Accompanying them on these dates will be representatives from several organizations including Humane Borders and Music for America raising awareness about humanitarian issues stemming from border and immigration policies.

So, the contest, you ask? What of the contest? Well, we’d like for you to help Calexico spread the news and bring people out to the shows by telling everyone you know about the events. The following is a list of things you can do to help. Every time you complete one of the opportunities from the list, you’ll be entered to win two tickets to the Calexico show nearest you, a copy of World Drifts In (Live at the Barbican) DVD, and a vintage Calexico tour poster. In other words, the more you do, the more likely you’ll be to win.

If you don’t live in any of the cities covered by the tour, don’t worry! You can still enter the contest and participate in spreading the word. See below.

1) Write your local newspaper, radio station and/or television station and tell them about the event. Ask them if they’d be willing to help by publishing an announcement about the event to inform your community. Send a copy of the letter to us at calexicocontest@tgrec.com or

Calexico Contest – Quarterstick Records
PO Box 25542
Chicago, IL 60625

2) Repost this bulletin including a personal message to your friends. Then post a comment on our myspace page (myspace.com/tgqs) saying that you’ve done so.

3) Post this message on your personal blog (non-myspace blogs) and send the direct link to calexicocontest@tgrec.com .

Calexico Tour Dates:

12/02/06 - Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ w/ Annuals
12/03/06 - Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM w/ Annuals
12/04/06 - Orpheum, Flagstaff, AZ w/ Annuals
12/05/06 - The Clubhouse, Tempe, AZ w/ Annuals
12/07/06 - Soho Restaurant, Santa Barbara, CA w/ The Broken West

This was the first time I had visited Koko, the recently refurbished Camden Palace, and they certainly seem to have done a good job.  It's a great little venue, and we found a place to stand at the front of the balcony, which gave us a great view of the stage.  Shame they only have Smiths Smooth to drink!

Neko Case and M. Ward appeared as a double-bill, with each performing a one-hour set, and it was great to see two of my favourite artists (and two of my favourite albums of this year) at the same gig.  M. Ward started the evening off with a mesmerising solo performance on acoustic guitar and piano.  He drew from all of his albums, with Chinese Translation, Sad Song and his melancholy cover of Bowie's Let's Dance being particular stand-outs.  I was as amazed as the last time I saw him with how superb a player he is: you'd swear at times that there were a few of him on stage.  I don't know how he manages to play both the rhythm and lead parts on an acoustic at the same time.  He also made good use of looping pedals, laying down rhythm parts that he then played over (shade of Rainer, I thought!).  The audience seemed very appreciative; maybe as it was a double bill plenty of people had come to see him as much as Neko.

Neko also performed material from all her albums bar The Virginian, including Canadian Amp, her tour-only CD (which I finally managed to get hold of at the gig), from which she played Hex and Knock Loud.  She also included a magical cover of Dylan's Buckets of Rain, though I was mildly disappointed that she didn't do Look For Me (I'll Be Around), which is one of my favourite tracks from Blacklisted.  Still, the ever amazing Furnace Room Lullaby made up for any songs I may have wished she'd played.

Neko's band included Kelly Hogan on backing vocals, and John Rauhouse provided his usual magic on pedal steel, banjo and guitar.

Songs I remember hearing included (in no particular order): Furnace Room Lullaby, Hex, Knock Loud, Maybe Sparrow, Star Witness, A Widow's Toast, Dirty Knife, That Teenage Feeling, Set Out Running, Deep Red Bells, I Wish I Was The Moon, Favorite.

Lambchop were, as I hoped, superb on Sunday evening. My companions were somewhat more sceptical, however!

The evening opened just after 7:30pm with a 15-20 minute set from Hands Off Cuba, with William Tyler from the 'Chop joining them on guitar. It was an interesting piece, and I think it was just the one piece, though split into a few sections. It reminded me off Pink Floyd in places, with long sustained chords and simple, yet elegant, chiming guitar parts. It made a interesting and appropriate introduction to the main set.

The rest of Lambchop ambled on stage at around 7:50pm, without a break between the opening set and their own. Kurt sat centre stage (in his hat, as ever), surrounded by 5 other members of Lambchop and the 2 guys from Hands Off Cuba. I should mention that Tony Crow referred to Reading as "the city of romance". Was their previous gig in Slough?

The set drew from at least the last 4 albums (or 5, depending how you count the Aw C'mon/No You C'mon pair), certainly going as far back as Nixon, from which they performed a beautiful version of Nashville Parent, but with the body of the set coming from their recent album, Damaged.

Even my sceptical companions seemed won over by the musicianship on stage, with Tony Crow on piano seeming to be the bedrock on which the sound was built. William Tyler's guitar added strange, ghostly, at times ethereal sounds, while at others I could have sworn that Paul Niehaus was on stage with them playing his pedal steel. Kurt sounded in fine form, his rumbling baritone crystal clear, at times cracking with the emotion of his minutely observed songs.

The audience seemed rapt by the performance, Kurt remarking towards the end of the show that we'd been the quietest audience they had played to so far on this tour. I could certainly understand why, as I didn't want to miss a single note...

Tour only CDs available: Hands Off Cuba - seems to be the opening set.
Lambchop - Succulence, Live 08 09 06 - a recording of this tour, from a radio broadcast in, if memory serves, Austria.