[stunning-sky]

Is there still time to vote? Here are my choices:

Group 1: - Soft As Chalk
Group 2: - What We Have Known
Group 3: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 4: - Little Wing*
Group 5: - Swansea
Group 6: - Sadie
Group 7: - Kingfisher
Group 8: - Baby Birch
Group 9: - Sprout And The Bean
Group 10: - Only Skin
Group 11: - In California
Group 12: - Peach, Plum, Pear
Group 13: - Have One On Me
Group 14: - Cosmia
Group 15: - Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie
Group 16: - Emily

[Steve]

stunning-sky ... YES there is still time, and thank you for doing so - delighted to have you along (in the words of the Bonzos). Don't forget to come back after tomorrow lunchtime to cast your votes in the next round, too.

[Steve]

Second Round – My Votes

Group 1: - Soft As Chalk
Group 2: - What We Have Known
Group 3: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 4: - Go Long
Group 5: - Flying A Kite
Group 6: - Sadie
Group 7: - Kingfisher
Group 8: - Baby Birch
Group 9: - Good Intentions Paving Co.
Group 10: - Only Skin
Group 11: - In California
Group 12: - En Gallop
Group 13: - Have One On Me
Group 14: - Cosmia
Group 15: - Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie
Group 16: - Emily

I had to think very carefully about Groups 2, 6, 15 & 16, and set aside a quiet time to listen through the pairs of songs This Side Of The Blue / What We Have Known, and Sadie / Ca’ The Yowes To The Knowes, and Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie / Easy, and ’81 / Emily. This made me realise just how powerful a song What We Have Known is – Joanna uses her harp as a weapon at times, and the delivery of the line “Sent off to die in perfect form” is among the most emotion-laden of her entire output, in my opinion (on the single, though not so much on the EP).

[Steve]

Twenty-two people cast votes this time round, which disappointingly is 1 fewer than in the First Round. The total number of votes cast was 349. The full results were as follows, with the bold songs passing through to the Third Round, either as group winners or as one of the 8 closest runners-up –

Group 1: - Monkey & Bear 17 / Soft As Chalk 5 / The Fray* 2
Group 2: - You And Me, Bess* 10 / This Side Of The Blue 8 / What We Have Known 3
Group 3: - Sawdust & Diamonds 20 / Occident* 1 / Autumn 0
Group 4: - Go Long 14.2 / Does Not Suffice 5.2 / Little Wing* 1
Group 5: - Swansea 13.1 / Flying A Kite 6 / No Provenance* 2.1
Group 6: - Sadie 12 / Colleen 10 / Ca' The Yowes To The Knowes* 0
Group 7: - Kingfisher 14 / On A Good Day 8 / Three Little Babes* 0
Group 8: - Baby Birch 13 / Inflammatory Writ 6.1 / Erin* 2.1
Group 9: - Good Intentions Paving Co. 12 / Sprout And The Bean 9 / Ribbon Bows* 0
Group 10: - Only Skin 22 / Jackrabbits 0 / We Are Doctor [P]* 0
Group 11: - In California 18.2 / Bridges And Balloons 2.2 / Prepared Harp Improv.* 0
Group 12: - Peach, Plum, Pear 12.1 / En Gallop 7.1 / Rock Bottom Riser [S]* 2
Group 13: - Have One On Me 18 / Esme 3 / Yarn And Glue* 1
Group 14: - Cosmia 16.1 / The Book Of Right-On 5.1 / If I Were [VB]* 0
Group 15: - Easy 10.2 / Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie 9.2 / Cassiopeia* 0
Group 16: - Emily 18.2 / '81 2.2 / Ring The Living Bell* 0

Group 1 produced a surprisingly clear-cut result, as Monkey & Bear easily saw off Soft As Chalk, which does not even make it through as a best loser. The same can be said for Does Not Suffice, up against Go Long in Group 4, Bridges And Balloons, which lost out to In California in Group 11, and The Book Of Right-On, which found Cosmia too strong an opponent in Group 14. We also wave goodbye to Jackrabbits, Esme, and ’81, which proved no match for Only Skin, Have On On Me, and Emily in Groups 10, 13 & 16 respectively. Only Skin is now the only song to have received maximum votes in both rounds. Occident was one of only two reprieved songs from the First Round that didn’t come last in its group this time, but it was still a long way behind Group 3 winner Sawdust & Diamonds, beating Autumn in to last place in that group.

Last place in all but one of the other groups was occupied by 1st Round Runners-up, the majority of them being the more obscure songs. Personally, I was sad to see The Fray, Ca’ The Yowes To The Knowes, Erin, and especially What We Have Known achieve so little success. The ‘mainstream’ releases that underachieved were No Provenance, Ribbon Bows, and Cassiopeia. Credit also goes to Smog’s Rock Bottom Riser, which although eliminated in last place in Group 12, was the most successful of the collaborations (with due respect to Picture, which will be making a late entry to the competition in Round Three).

Turning to the more closely contested groups – those from which two songs have gone through to Round Three – we find that You And Me, Bess was the round’s big surprise, the only group runner-up from Round 1 to survive this time as a group winner, just edging ahead of This Side Of The Blue. For me, Group 2 was the most surprising result of the lot, as my preferences would have placed the three songs in the exact reverse order. Flying A Kite, which just edged ahead of You And Me, Bess in Round One, scrapes a “best loser” slot in Group 5, in which Swansea was a convincing winner – another result that surprised me slightly, though perhaps Flying A Kite suffers from never having had a wider release. The same can be said of Colleen, which came a remarkably close second to Group 6 winner, Sadie. These are now the last two remaining songs which are not to be found on one of the three main albums.

The brief On A Good Day gave the more epic Kingfisher a closer run for its money than I would have predicted in Group 7, and MEM song Inflammatory Writ is probably benefitting from the more recent re-work to take more votes from Baby Birch than might have been expected in Group 8. Sprout And The Bean remains popular enough to have nearly held its own when pitted against HOOM’s most radio-friendly offering, Good Intentions Paving Co..

Group 15 was always going to be a tough one, as one of only four consisting entirely of songs from the three main albums. In the end, only a couple of votes separated winner Easy from its challenger Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie.

Which leaves just Group 12, and for me the ‘shock’ result of the Round, as 'En Gallop', one of Joanna’s true masterpieces in my book, was left in the wake of fellow MEM song, Peach, Plum, Pear, a song I’d have classed as one of the more lightweight from that album. 'En Gallop' is still in the tournament, but having to carry a “*” around with it might prove too much of a burden in the next round.

I can also reveal that Matt and Dwaink are our own version of ‘Basildon Man’ [not to be confused with ‘Billericay Dickie’, btw] in that every choice they voted for in Round One went on to win their group. That distinction was almost shared by u-som, too, but he had one ‘tie’ among his selections, choosing both group winner Jackrabbits and Erin.

The sources of the 25 surviving songs break down as shown below (but don’t forget – you are voting for your FAVOURITE version of each, not necessarily the most official release). The figure before the + represents the undefeated songs, that afterwards counts those which have been reprieved.
1 – WALNUT WHALES – 0 + 1 (12.5%)
8 – THE MILK-EYED MENDER – 3 + 5 (66.7%)
5 – YS – 5 + 0 (100%)
1 – COLLEEN – 0 + 1 (33.3%)
9 – HAVE ONE ON ME – 7 + 2 (50%)
1 unreleased song added as a late entrant.

[Steve]

Here are the groupings for the Third Round of the Joanna Newsom Song Tournament. They comprise the 16 group winners from Round Two, plus the 8 best (i.e. closest, so this isn’t a subjective, personal choice), plus one song that I overlooked entirely as kindly pointed out by Headless_Caboose: it’s the JNST’s equivalent of the 1920s Corinthians! This latter is the cover of Picture, which can be viewed on YouTube, performed as a duet with Robin Pecknold [therefore marked JN/RP]. I would have excluded the last of the 8 reprieved songs, but since that was Flying A Kite, which in the First Round had beaten You And Me, Bess (Group 2 winner in the Second Round) I thought it should be retained. Which means that one group was randomly selected to have FOUR songs in it.

As in previous rounds, please select one song from each group as your preference, and post your list back into this thread by 8pm (BST) on Sunday 10th April 2011 (I’m speeding things up very slightly, as so few votes were received in the last days of the previous round). If you can't decide between two songs, please state both. If you've no preference, or can't decide between all three, leave that group blank. The first two songs in each group listed above are in a random order, the third song (marked "*") has been reprieved as a 'best loser' from Rounds One or Two. A best loser cannot go through as best loser for a second consecutive round, and so must win its group to stay in the tournament. The groups are drawn into a random order. You And Me, Bess and Flying A Kite have been kept apart in the draw, as they have already met.

Group 1: - In California / Easy / Flying A Kite*
Group 2: - Kingfisher / Monkey & Bear / Sprout And The Bean*
Group 3: - Emily / Baby Birch / This Side Of The Blue*
Group 4: - Picture [JN/RP] / You And Me, Bess* / Inflammatory Writ* / Only Skin
Group 5: - Good Intentions Paving Co. / Go Long / On A Good Day*
Group 6: - Swansea / Have One On Me / Colleen*
Group 7: - Sawdust & Diamonds / Peach, Plum, Pear / En Gallop*
Group 8: - Sadie / Cosmia / Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie*

[beverley]

Group 1: - In California
Group 2: - Kingfisher
Group 3: - Emily
Group 4: - Only Skin
Group 5: - Go Long
Group 6: - Have One On Me / Colleen
Group 7: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 8: - Sadie

[ursulabear]

Group 1: -In California / Easy / Flying A Kite*
Group 2: - Monkey & Bear
Group 3: - Emily
Group 4: - Only Skin
Group 5: - Go Long
Group 6: - Swansea
Group 7: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 8: -Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie
This is getting too hard!

[doublewuzzy]

Group 1: - In California
Group 2: - Sprout And The Bean
Group 3: - Baby Birch
Group 4: - Only Skin
Group 5: - Good Intentions Paving Co.
Group 6: - Swansea
Group 7: - En Gallop
Group 8: - Cosmia

[claire]

Group 1: - In California
Group 2: - Monkey & Bear
Group 3: - Emily / Baby Birch
Group 4: - Only Skin
Group 5: - Go Long
Group 6: - Swansea
Group 7: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 8: - Cosmia

[Weirdelves]

I'm upset to see Does Not Suffice go out. I reckon if it was pitted against almost anything other than Go Long that early on it would've made it through. Also I can see my personal favourites are starting to diverge from those that are getting through. Although the results seem to show the seemingly commonly-held opinion that Ys is her most masterly album (bearing in mind it does have fewer songs).


Group 1: - In California
Group 2: - Kingfisher
Group 3: - Emily
Group 4: - Only Skin
Group 5: - Go Long
Group 6: - Swansea / Colleen*
Group 7: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 8: - Cosmia

[Jordan~]

Group 1: - In California
Group 2: - Monkey & Bear
Group 3: - Emily
Group 4: - Only Skin
Group 5: - Good Intentions Paving Co.
Group 6: - Have One On Me / Colleen
Group 7: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 8: - Cosmia

[Steve]

Six voters in little more than 3 hours - that's a great start and thank you to beverley, ursulabear, doublewuzzy, claire, weirdelves, and jordan for setting the pace.

[madpawn]

Group 1: - In California
Group 2: - Monkey & Bear
Group 3: - Baby Birch
Group 4: - Only Skin
Group 5: - Go Long
Group 6: - Have One On Me
Group 7: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 8: - Cosmia

[stunning-sky]

Group 1: - In California
Group 2: - Sprout And The Bean
Group 3: - Emily
Group 4: - Only Skin
Group 5: - Good Intentions Paving Co.
Group 6: - Have One On Me
Group 7: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 8: - Cosmia

[polliwog]

[Ann]

Group 1: - In California
Group 2: - Monkey & Bear
Group 3: - Emily
Group 4: - Only Skin
Group 5: - Go Long
Group 6: - Colleen
Group 7: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 8: - Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie

Oh, this was painful.

[Steve]

Thank you, madpawn, stunning-sky, and ann, for bringing us up to nine respondents already for Round Three.

We now have the 'cream' of the songs, don't we, and whichever ones get knocked out from here on in will be sorely missed.

As I mentioned at the start of the Tournament, I cobbled together a set of 'seedings' based on a couple of "favourite tracks" threads. I don't want to prejudice any votes by giving too much away about this, but I will reveal that, of the top 24 seeds, only What We Have Known, Erin, and Soft As Chalk have failed to reach this stage of the competition. 'Their' places have gone to songs that were seeded 27th and 28th, and one that was not seeded at all (ie not in the top 34). [I have excluded the special case, Picture, from this comment].

[ursulabear]

I so wish Erin would have made it. It is my favourite Joanna song. I've got my money on Only Skin.

[Steve]

Aww I'm sorry, too, about Erin, ursulabear - it is a lovely song, isn't it.

[LawnsOfDawns]

Jeeez, Ys is tearing it UP!

Not sure what to do yet about Group 2 or Group 8.
Kingfisher and Monkey & Bear are both two of my favorite songs by her (actually, two of my favorite songs period), but Kingfisher live was an especially mind-blowing experience. Still, I am frustrated that I have no idea what that song is about more than a year after it has come out, and although I can connect with a lot of the imagery, there's no cohesive narrative like the one in M&B. It's easy to relate to Ursula, but I don't even know which type of Kingfisher she is referring to in the other song.
Group 8 is a different kind of problem. Cosmia, on one hand, is fucking epic as hell, and both versions of it are breath-taking. Between Van Dyke Parks's churning strings and her fantastic performance on the Ys street version, that song has done a lot for me. Clam, Crab, etc., though, is damn near one of the prettiest songs I have ever heard my whole life. I mean, come on: "There are some mornings when the sky looks like a road"? That whole song is so life-affirming, and I love the old-school simple folk style--the song sounds older than time.

The Sprout and the Bean and Sadie are good songs too.


Also, @steve: which was the one that wasn't seeded at all? I'd guess Easy or Swansea, but I honestly have no idea.