It Tolls for Me

I heart Joanna Newsom. Seriously, with her harps and her Steve Albini production and her Van Dyke Parks string arrangements, and her warbling voice. She also is dating Bill Callahan (smog), which is pretty cool, as well. I do wish she performed more frequently. Alas, not so much.

Here is the big solo centerpiece of Ys, the amazing "Sawdust and Diamonds." Enjoy.

Joanna Newsom - Sawdust and Diamonds

Yes, lame short post, I know. Tired. But going to stick with posting this time. Also, here is a good Joanna fansite.

And Life Goes On and On and On

I have been really digging the Magnetic Fields again lately, in particular 69 Love Songs. They are actually on tour this winter, which would doubtless be an amazing show, were they playing anywhere near DC, where I am currently living. Stephin Merritt's work has, unfortunately, gotten spottier over the years, but then, there are more good songs on 69 Love Songs than many artists write in their entire careers, so perhaps it is forgivable.

Merritt and his labels don't seem to be big on making downloads available, so I hope I don't get any threatening letters as a result of this, but here is one of my favorite tracks from 69 Love Songs. Enjoy.

The Magnetic Fields - I Don't Want to Get Over You

Jana McCall

Pandora really is a delightful little invention, isn't it? I find it really helps me turn up the most interesting obscure stuff, sometimes so obscure it's hard to obtain any information about it. Case in point: Jana McCall. I can tell you approximately three things about Jana McCall. 1) She played bass in an obscure grunge band called Dickless. 2) She put out two albums on Up Records, one in 1998 and one in 2002. 3) She has a MySpace with a newer, non-album track on it. That's about it.

If I had to take a stab at describing her music, I'd say it's sort of like if you crossed pre-You are Free Cat Power with Codeine-type grunge. That doesn't quite capture it, but it'd be hard to get closer on the basis of comparisons alone. Sad, slow-to-mid tempo, female vocals, good stuff. If she still plays shows, or even puts out records, I can't find any information about it.

Here are two tracks from the Up Records site, where you can also buy her albums. They are actually not my favorite songs of hers, but they are pretty good:

Jana McCall - Bloodlines
Jana McCall - Today

...And, We're Back

After a longer-than-intended hiatus, I have returned. Hopefully no more disruptions for awhile now. I am preparing a post right now; it should be up by the weekend, if not sooner. Hopefully tonight.