Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me

This seems a bit unfair. I've only had this record a little over three weeks — a Christmas present to myself — and, with a boxed set and other recent releases to deal with on these pages, I'd only managed to listen to the first record of the three.

I got the vinyl version. My friend Brian, occasionally to be seen in the comments fields of these pages, was haranguing me on Facebook through much of last year to buy this album. I relented when the price of the vinyl dropped a bit, anticipating that it will rise again before long. I wanted the vinyl precisely because I wanted only to be able to listen to the album in one context — the room downstairs with the turntable. I can't rip it to MP3 files, and I'm pleased to see it's not available on any of the streaming services. I wanted to settle down in my listening chair with the big lyric booklet on my lap, like the old days — or with the extensive Wikipedia entry, as in the not-so-old days. Like settling down to watch 1900, Heaven's Gate, something by Rivette, or to read U.S.A., Middlemarch, something by Pynchon.

Over the weekend, with deadlines behind me and other recent Music Arcades items not detaining me for long, I was able to listen to all the remaining sides of Have One on Me — some of them more than once. I enjoyed it, and look forward to returning to them. On first acquaintance, I probably liked Ribbon Bows most, while Kingfisher reminded me of the things that kept me wary of Joanna Newsom for several years (like, are all those words tumbling out ceaselessly really necessary?). These opinions may flip into reverse over time. I like that.

There are plenty of stories out there of people who've taken some time to come round to Joanna Newsom — maybe not as long as me — maybe I will add to them; maybe I won't.

It's still way too early to decide whether Have One on Me adds up to anything remotely as substantial as Middlemarch etc. I checked out some of the reviews like The Guardian's and Muso's Guide, and they say it's impossible to weigh up the album after a short amount of time, so I'm not going to try.

Unfortunately, that Wikipedia entry, which you might hope would give a rolling update of the latest thinking, is so tigh-arsed in sticking to the facts rather than commentary or opinion that it manages to say almost nothing of any interest about the songs. I mean, who gives a toss about the false rumours that circulated about the album before its release, or what charts it featured most highly in?

Over to you, Brian…

MusicBrainz entry for this album Wikipedia entry for this album Rate Your Music entry for this album Some metadata about this album at Last.fm