Joanna Newsom leads a pack of modern dreamers reinventing a genre
By Chris Nixon
For The Union-Tribune
December 14, 2006
In pop music, three chords and a catchy chorus just doesn't cut it anymore. If you hadn't been paying attention to folk music these days, a group of musicians is breathing new life into the tired genre with fantastic imagery and an outsider mentality.
Though coming at folk music from different angles, artists such as Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective, Vetiver, DeVotchKa and Faun Fables have been grouped together under an umbrella name: psych-folk.
As opposed to the politically driven music emerging from living rooms during the New York folk scene of the 1960s, the artists of the psych-folk movement are dreamers using fanciful allegory and rich layered compositions to reinvent folk. Also known as New Weird America, these artists provide whimsical escapism instead of cutting political satire.
Enter psych-folk singer Joanna Newsom, with her huge orchestral harp in tow.
Born into a family of musicians, the 26-year-old singer-songwriter grew up in the former gold-rush town of Nevada City in Northern California. She's been playing the harp for almost 20 years, bringing an Appalachian down-home feel to her indie folk sound.
“First of all, the harp has this bad reputation,” said Newsom in a 2003 interview with freewiliamsburg.com. “It's been used for easy schmaltzy crap. The harp is capable of much more expressiveness. It doesn't have to be this sloppy, over-the-top, dramatic instrument. It can be really delicate and yet abrasive at the right time. I am producing sounds that people are not used to hearing from the harp.”
After gaining a national audience touring with singer Will Oldham (aka Bonny “Prince” Billy), Newsom signed to Drag City Records and released her 2004 debut, “The Milk-Eyed Mender.” A beautifully stark album, Newsom shines with her intertwining harp melodies and unique singing style.
Newsom shifted her approach for her sophomore effort “Ys.” Released less than a month ago, “Ys” is an ambitious album replete with epic sprawling song cycles ranging from seven to 16 minutes and compositions thick with strings, accordions, mandolins and banjos.
Famed composer Van Dyke Parks (Brian Wilson's lyric partner on the legendary “Smile” album) lovingly wraps Newsom's warbling vocals and crisply plucked harp melodies with lush orchestration. Producer Steve Albini (Pixies, Nirvana, Fugazi) recorded Newsom's vocal and harp parts, while Jim O'Rourke (Wilco) mixed the album. Albini is a fierce proponent of recording analog instead of digitally, thus “Ys” was recorded completely in analog with mixing taking place at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London.
“Ys” is a big album, revealing new complexities with each new listen. Surrounded by such star-studded support, Newsom could have been crushed under the weight of big orchestral compositions and big egos. Instead, she steps up the challenge, revealing artistry that surpasses psych-folk or any other name you could put on it.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
