A dazzling cadre of our favorite artists have been assembled for the “first major US tribute album” to the illustrious Joni; we told ya about it earlier this year, but now we have a little audio to accompany our salivation. Having Soof tackle “Free Man In Paris” is a logical choice for the tune’s groove-shifts and opportunities for brass fanfare, though he essentially Sufjanizes the track top to bottom, while paying loose respect to the chord contours and the Joni’s spirit. Hear it at Hype. The rest of the collection features turns from Björk, Brad Mehldau, Prince, and Elvis Costello. We sorta adore Prince’s “A Case Of You” — or, as we would have titled it, “A Case Of U.” Tracklist after the jump.
01 “Free Man in Paris” – Sufjan Stevens
02 “Boho Dance” – Björk
03 “Dreamland” – Caetano Veloso
04 “Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow” – Brad Mehldau
05 “For the Roses” – Cassandra Wilson
06 “A Case Of U” – Prince
07 “Blue” – Sarah McLachlan
08 “Ladies of the Canyon” – Annie Lennox
09 “Magdalena Laundries” – Emmylou Harris
10 “Edith and the Kingpin” – Elvis Costello
11 “Help Me” – k.d. lang
12 “River” – James Taylor
A Tribute To Joni Mitchell is out 4/24 on Nonesuch.
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what no carey?
No Counting Crows?
I kid, of course
That Sufjan track is by far the worst one on what is a pretty lackluster disc. Caetano Veloso and Prince aren’t too bad but nothing on there really does Joni true justice.
I’m nost curious about k.d.’s contribution. “Help Me” is one of my all-time favorite songs. Oh, the liquid sensuality in that one. Sorry, Sufjan.
Another strike against Sufjan.
Butcher job!
I am so disappointed with that cover…I didn’t even give it a full listen
Surfjan should watch Neil Diamond’s cover and see how its done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHvEFL6w3nM
Prince’s “Case of U” is awesome.
I have to agree. the Sufjan cover lacks charm. I do love the Bjork cover though, despite having your typical icelandic twinkling chimes & what have nots.
I actually really am enjoying the instrumentation of the last quarter of the song. Fun stuff! I will confess that I know more Sufjan than I do Joni…
Despite the comments above, I love me some Joni so much that I can not wait for this CD! My favorite album by far is Blue and it’s nice to see a few songs represented here…
Steph
covers are meant to be just that….a personal interpretation of whatever the song means to the covering artist surely….. whether or not that’s doing justice to the original is irrelevant – as it’s so subjective anyway – if there’s an essence and respect there that’s cool… anyway i like what i’ve heard…
I have listened to all the songs on this tribute album and I’m amazed at the comments posted before me. Sufjan Stevens’ cover is by far the most interesting one. You have to ask yourself, is the point of this record to be a ‘celebrity karaoke’ kind of deal? Nonesuch doesn’t seem to me as a label who would embark upon such a project. Instead, they gave creative freedom to musicians coming from various horizons in the hopes of creating something fresh by taking bits of a musician’s extensive body of work. Joni Mitchell’s importance and uniqueness in the history of music is undeniable. If you want to hear a cover of Joni’s song the way it was composed and sung originally by Joni herself, there are plenty of good cover bands around. But this album, I think, was meant to be something else. In my opinion Sufjan Stevens is the only one who actually spent time thinking about what covering a song means and I believe his and Joni’s original are now both fuller and richer because of it. And you should read what he wrote about it on Nonesuch website. Here’s an articulate and forward-looking artist, and that’s what I call paying tribute to a master because that’s who Joni Mitchell is and what her music conveys.
i love the sufjan version.
i think that its actually better than joni’s.
but i am definatly byist.
everything sufjan stevens does, to me is amazing.
god, its so good.
its basically my favorite song of his.
well, of joni mitchells but w/e.
:]
sufjan is sufjan. joni is joni. i am me. you are you. a song is a song and a singer is a singer. a critic is a busybody is a critic.hey but i say shine on all of us.let your little light shine.its all grist to the mill and everybodys tongues are wagging.lets not get too rational about art.robbie williams should cover cherokee louise.what do you think?