The Hissing of Summer Lawns

this took a while to rate, my first impression was that it's a bit slight, like 70's AM radio pop, but there are quite a few interesting layers and diversions that I didn't quite get on the first listen.

odd and disjointed but I might love it

HL: "In France They Kiss On Main Street", "The Jungle Line", "Shadows and Light", "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow", "Shades of Scarlett Conquering"

P.S. With the way I stopped and started this project, I've gotten a Joni Mitchell once a year since 2021. Looking forward to Hejira in 2024

We moesten eerder al naar Blue luisteren. Op dit album schoot ze geforceerd alle kanten op. Wat daardoor soms niet aan te horen was. Al zal ze een Kate Bush er wel mee geïnspireerd hebben.

Op dit album hoor je wat er gebeurt als je wat normaler doet. Een aantal nummer wordt dan gewoon te saai. Er blijft wat creativiteit over en ok, dat redt haar wel wat. Maar daarmee trekt ze het echt niet naar een voldoende.

All of Joni's albums belong in the top 1001. The Hissing of Summer Lawns isn't my favorite of hers but I definitely pull it out once in a while.

This is my favorite Joni album, largely due to the curve ball that is "The Jungle Line." Nothing sounds quite like that song, it's both primitive and futuristic at once. The only thing I can think of that's even comes close would be by Bjork, who came about 20 years later. It goes to show you how Joni is far from simply being just some folky singer songwriter. On the rest of the record it's like she's fronting Steely Dan, seamlessly blending genres till you don't know how to classify it. Is it jazz? Is it rock? Is it folk? I don't know... but I know I like it. She even drew the cover for God's sake! A total artist.

Second Jodi Mitchell album in a week of listening, and after listening to both, I can see why she's rated so highly

I'm just coming to accept that singer-songwriters aren't really my thing. This is decent enough. I dig her voice and there are some solid lyrics but it doesn't really evoke much strong feeling in me unfortunately.

The best JM album we have listened to yet. Maybe it was closer to the bridge from her singer songerwriter days to her more jazzy days. 3.5/5

can't believe how much i enjoy Joni

I've never delved into much of Joni Mitchell's stuff before, I am just familiar with her hits, so going into listening to this album, I didn't know what to expect because I knew none of the songs on the record.

I don't know how to categorize this style of music. It is kind of jazzy/folky. Joni has a very unique voice that I didn't much care for at first, but it grew on me as time went on.

Upon the first listen to this album, I didn't much care for it, however listening a second time, I grew to like it more. I still don't love it, but I can understand the appeal in certain settings. Even on the first time listening I did like the music. Joni had some experimentation with moog synths and piano, as well as a nice coffeehouse acoustic feel. Something I found odd on The Jungle Line, was the inclusion of an almost 8 bit sound (sounds like the noise heard in 1980s Super Mario Bros on NES when you kill Bowser) throughout the song. That song, however, also featured Drummers of Burundi, which was revolutionary at the time (apparently worldbeat being included in pop music became trendy in the 80s) and sounded great.

What took me a while to grasp was Joni's lyrics. She is, for sure, a poet, but one of those poets who have really obscure poems that hipsters like to sit in coffee shops and think about for hours on end trying to make sense of them. It took me two album listens to appreciate what she was saying, and I still don't really know, but some lyrics are so weird that they stood out to me such as:

In the song Don't Interrupt the Sorrow, she says "God goes up the chimney like childhood Santa Claus"

In the song The Hissing of Summer Lawns she says "he gave her a room full of Chippendale that no one sits in"

In the song The Boho Dance she says "like a priest with a pornographic watch, looking and longing on the sly"

No idea what any of that means, but the lyrics are neat.

I may listen to this album again, but it isn't something I would pull up as a favourite.

Favourite songs: Harry's House/Centerpiece (Centerpiece is a fantastic little jazz number), The Boho Dance, Edith and the Kingpin, The Jungle Line

Least favourite song: Shadows and Light

3/5

Not on Spotify - Joe Rogan still sucks!

All the songs are pretty similar, and not in a good way. She can really sing, and the lyrics are good, but it didn't quite grab me. Very enjoyable, but not especially memorable

I kinda only knew Joni Mitchell from that one hit (Taxi) and the Prince cover, but I'm very glad I finally fully listened to some more of her music. The album is an amazing combination of folk and jazz.

I was sort of dreading this after her more folksy albums, but it's kind of perfect. The sort of thing Air were trying to do, minus the tongue-in-cheekness.

El segundo disco que oigo de esta lista de Joni Mitchell. La primera canción me ha vuelto a recordas a los Carpenters y es bastante buena: "In France they kiss on main street". Luego viene "The jungle line" con samples de percusión africana antes de que Paul Simon hiciera estas cosas y con un sonido que me recuerda más a Björk que al folk, sorprendente para un disco de 1975.