JOIE/ DEAD BLONDE GIRLFRIEND
ROTA Sessions at Notting Hill Arts Club 20th April 2002
I guess you're going to be hearing a lot more about this guy over the course of the next year. Joie (it's pronounced Joey)/Dead Blonde Girlfriend is the curious handle for this solo singer-songwriter. He is almost unknown in the UK at present, but this performance was one of seven gigs in London in a space of six days, most of them in the presence of acts like chaotic anti-folk duo Prewar Yardsale (who I'm kicking myself for missing today!).
Yes, Joie has been talked up as something as an inspiration for the growing "anti-folk" movement (see also Hammel on Trial, Moldy Peaches, Jeffrey Lewis), some of his music will appear on Rough Trade's forthcoming anti-folk compilation, and in fact he was listed as a "hero" by Moldy Peaches in a recent issue of Mojo.
At various points during his set he talks about "taking folk music away from the coffee houses of New York" and "making the acoustic guitar sounds angry again". You can see how he would jar against purist folkies with his messy green hair and gruff rasping voice, but the music he plays reminds me of live acoustic Bob Dylan tapes I've heard, where Dylan is giving it loads on tunes like 'Don't Think Twice'.
Joie is aware of singer-songwriter traditions as he ironically includes a bit of 'You're So Vain' in the first song, but he gets angry at how the acoustic guitar has become a soft, cosy instrument. He certainly isn't an easy listen, but with songs as strong as 'Let's Burn Bleecker St to the Ground' he's hard to ignore. All we need now is some UK releases to get the ball rolling....
