Joni Mitchell
evolved from the smooth
jazz-pop
of
Court and Spark
to the radical
Hissing of Summer Lawns
, an adventurous work that remains among her most difficult records. After opening with the graceful
"In France They Kiss on Main Street,"
the album veers sharply into
"The Jungle Line,"
an odd, Moog-driven piece backed by the rhythms of the warrior drums of Burundi -- a move into multiculturalism that beat the likes of
Paul Simon
,
Peter Gabriel
, and
Sting
to the punch by a decade. While not as prescient, songs like
"Edith and the Kingpin"
and
"Harry's House -- Centerpiece"
are no less complex or idiosyncratic, employing minor-key melodies and richly detailed lyrics to arrive at a strange and beautiful fusion of
jazz
and shimmering avant
pop
. ~ Jason Ankeny