Joanna Newsom, Barbican Centre, London Fri. 19 January 2007

Wearing an almost identical dress to the one she is depicted in on the cover of Ys, Joanna Newsom shyly steps in front of a full Barbican Hall framed by her drummer, guitarist and conductor. Once behind her towering pedal harp, she delivers the first notes of Emily. Tonight, she will be performing Ys in its entirety, backed with the London Symphony Orchestra. This date comes at the end of a short tour of the UK, and is the sole performance with the Barbican-based formation.


Joanna is there, on stage, just behind the guitarist...

The songs are presented in the exact same order as on the album, but Van Dyck Parks’s arrangements at times appear to have be given a slightly different relief. Cast against the orchestra, Newsom’s voice sounds as if it has once again gained in maturity and clarity, giving the songs a much sharper and vibrant feel. Emily flows well. The song, for her younger sister, provides a perfect introduction to the evening. Monkey And Bear follows. Equally as exquisite as the original, its Celtic roots, brushed with discreet medieval tones, appear much clearer, highlighted by the outburst of percussions and the soft vocal harmonies provided by Newsom’s drummer.

As the lights are dimmed, the focus is on Joanna alone when she starts Sawdust And Diamonds. Her execution is particular acute and physical here as she caries the whole song alone. Her hands run on the strings in intricate sequences, like spiders on a web, yet, nothing of the complexity transpires in the music as she weaves melodic patterns and lays upon them her delicately acidic tones. Here, she captures the attention of the audience for good and will not let go until the end of the performance.

The epic Only Skin follows. Stretching over sixteen minutes, it is a monster of a piece, but it is delivered with precision and class. The pastoral feel of the song is accentuated as the orchestral backdrop ebbs and flows with the melody. Toward the end, Newsom is joined by Smog’s Bill Callahan, her partner in life, who adds a deeper, darker harmony to the culminating section of the song. Cosmia, which is, as Joanna informs us, the last song she will be performing with the orchestra, flows like a river, at times tumultuous and wild, at others peaceful and vast. The soft accordion brushes which give the song a discreet Jacques Brel flavour on Ys are absent here, but this almost goes unnoticed as vibrant orchestral swathes continuously swell.



After a short interval, Joanna returns to the stage, this time on her own, for a few more songs. ‘This is not a Christina Aguilera costume change’ she says, justifying her change of dress by the intensity of the first half of the concert. She begins with The Book Of Right On and Sadie, renamed Sasha in honour of a friend, both from The Milk-Eyed Mender, followed by Ca' The Yowes To The Knowes, a traditional Scottish song which is perfectly suited to her voice and instrument. Joanna is then joined by her drummer and guitarist for a brand new song with strong Irish folk flavours, which may give an insight into what the follow up to Ys might sound like. With one more song under their belt, the trio retire. Joanna comes back once more for a one song encore. ‘We have been debating which song I should do, and this is the one’ she says before breaking into Bridges & Balloons, concluding a truly magnificent evening under the ovations of a devoted audience.

The contrast between Joanna Newsom’s frail appearance and disarming modesty and the confidence with which she delivers her songs, either with the orchestra or on her own, couldn’t be greater. With Ys, Ms Newsom undoubtedly delivered a career-defining record, and this live performance didn’t disappoint.

BATTLES / ANIMAL COLLECTIVE LIVE

Although I was wondering what the hell was going on the first time I played an Animal Collective album (Campfire Songs), I very quickly realised that this was no ordinary band. Since, they have continued to deliver the goods with each new album, seemingly ploughing the same groove, but each time with different tools and in a totally new way. Somehow though, I’ve managed to miss them every single time they’ve come to London, and they have been rather generous with their visits. After seeing that they were due to come to London again, at the Astoria, some time ago on the Fat-Cat website, and subsequently being reminded by Andrew a few weeks ago, we decided that whatever happened, this time we would go. Scott and his girlfriend (who I cannot remember the name just now and am mortified of it) joined us.

Adem, who was/is in Fridge with Kieran Hebden, was due to play tonight but ended up not to. On the bill though was Battles. Andrew had seen them live before and has been raving about their live performances for a fair while now, and although I was only tepid about the compilation of EPs that was released on Warp a few months ago, seeing them live offered a totally different angle to what they can do.

Crammed in a tiny space at the front of the stage, the keyboard player, guitarist and bass player seemed strategically positioned around the drummer, as to freely feed from the vast amount of energy exulting from this most focal of points. The band’s hypnotic post rock thing felt a lot more organic and raw than what I’d heard of them previously. It was interesting to see the constant exchange happening between the four members during their set, and how together they appeared. There were some wonderful moments when time felt suspended while they were weaving increasingly tight loops and grooves together into trance-like structures.

As far as this evening was concerned though, the piece de resistance was always going to be Animal Collective, and boy did they deliver. The set was largely centred around Feels, with Grass, The Purple Bottle, Did You See The Words and Banshee Beat making particularly lively appearances. Yet, if Feels is most definitely the Collective’s most accessible record by a mile, it is when they dabble in primal trance and febrile drones that they are at their most mind-blowing. Cast against the poppier songs of their repertoire were intense sonic experimentations build around dense electronic structures and hypnotic drums, sometimes simply linking two songs, at others just left to develop to full motion, progressively bringing the crowd on the brink of ecstasy before dropping us back down to earth with a deceptively simple pop melody.


Ani-mask Collective

Animal Collective have provided me with some of the best and most exhilarating music I’ve heard for years, and this gig at the Astoria certainly didn’t disappoint. There could have some more of the iridescence of Here Comes The Indian or the subdued lights of Sung Tong for instance, but in tonight’s incarnation (full Collective on stage), they have achieve near perfect balance between experiments and catchy moments.

Animal Collective please, go on Top Of The Pops and save the world!