Joanna Newsom
Ys

I was really hoping this'd score highly, and it fully deserves a 10.

Album of the year.

worth a 10. i've never heard anything like it, and doubt i ever will again.

I have ever read on DiS - nice one Mr Brainlove.

This album is a masterpiece and manages to somehow improve vastly with every listen.

I am gutted that I couldn't see or hear any of her performance at ATP last year. Maybe next time eh.

is sitting down and listening, and reading through all the lyrics. consistently compelling, absolute beauty.

great review...it conjures up exactly how I feel when I listen to it. I hope she does a decent sized tour to promote it

of a brilliant record. I actually bought Ys having never heard anything by her before, based on how excited everyone was on the DiS boards. So, like, thankyou. :-)

re:CD WOW! Order Delay: Ys by JOANNA NEWSOM

:(

I have dogs. who has pitchforks and petrol and lighters

amazing

joanna newsom has turned us into a flailing mob! who'd have thought.

amazing

wow I must be alone here. I think it's bloated, self indulgent and a waste of van dyke park's talents

such is life I guess.

Will still take a lot more listens before I really decide whether it's really great, or just pretty good. It's going to be a 'cool' album to like and give glowing reviews though I think.
Nothing matches the pure brilliance of Peach, Plum, Pear though. Looking forward to the London gig though.

made my day when i found out she had a song entitled emily.
I was even happier when i heard it.

great review

I don't actually think this is a ten though. a nine definitely but not a ten. there are some small flaws that stop short of it being quite perfect. it's still fucking beautiful though - maybe I'm just too much of a fussy bastard.

I do strongly agree, after many listens, I do like the record a lot, but *despite* not because of Van Dyke Parks's contribution. 'Emily' and 'Sawdust and Diamonds' are practically perfect but those strings knock this down to an 8.5 for me.

those who don't like it aren't alone. its been massively overhyped by the media.i've yet to see one sensible review of it. i listened to it because of van dyke parks (i could take or leave newsoms last album). i liked the strings but thought the album was a bit prepostorous. i'll give it a few more goes and hope to get some enjoyment out of it.... but come on lets be sensible nothing is worth 10 out of 10.

If you think it isn't I feel sorry for you.

the problem is, the IS a very ambitious effort, and I think a lot of it is *nice* but it often borders on ridiculous...the lyrics at times are laughable, and as someone mentioned, what I REALLY fault this album for is the relentless vocals. She gives ZERO time for the instruments to breathe, it's just one long sing a long , that reminds me of musical theater. There's a lot of reasons why people THINK this is such a masterpiece, but I'd wager it's because they haven't listened to that much music and to the general indie head ho hum dude/girl, this sounds REVOLUTIONARY...

the strings don't "fit" the rest of the music must be listening to a completely different album to me. I honestly don't understand that opinion at all. They couldn't be more perfect.

..this album is overrated.

Just because Van Dyke Parks happened to write the string section doesn't make it better than it is.

The strings sound awkward and half the time the timing of the songs is lost because of it, making it sound awkward and odd (and not in: 1. a good way, or: 2. an intentional way).

The album is a GOOD album, but it is extremely pretentious and Joanna definitely thinks it is more clever and deeper than it actually is (and so do most people who review it, it seems).

but in the end I deem it unlistenable. Her voice man...eugh.

Yes I like Keane. That might be because Tom Chaplin doesn't have a voice similar to Spanky from The Little Rascals.

...I would say his face is a definite improvement.

*runs away*

r stupid

stick with it

total obscurities there...

Just played this album for the first time. Man, her voice is very irritating. I just can't get past it sorry.

but I absolutely adore it. The way she sings certain words (like "call" at 0:38 in Emily) with this really unexpected intonation is just brilliant. Maybe you'll grow to like it with time - personally I think it's one of the most compelling singing voices I've ever heard.

not quite enough song... I don't know though. A second listen was different from the first. You, the people seam to have taken Emily to your hearts but it really passed me by, Monkey and Bear, where the orchestration only drowns her sometimes was much more interesting and Only Skin a better song. Her and Van Dyke Parks have different ideas on emphasis, and this sometimes is detrimental, the first time i heard it i thought irrademably so, but maybe not.
There's deffinately a lot of extended word play for the sake of word play, almost resulting in nothing being said sometimes, but that's her way, always has been. Sometimes it does conjure something hard to find.

if you dont like the voice, then you're, like, totally gay.

no one could have saved Kasabian

i got the milk eyed mender at the time, and absolutely adore it still, and got Ys for christmas from my brother, and he just copied me walnut whales, and yarn and glue, so i owe him :)

best music i've heard in years, so much better than almost anything else at the moment.

can't wait for new CocoRosie and the new arcade fire..xx

This album is possibly the best thing I have EVER heard. Much as I love many of the current plethora of 9/10 albums (and the rest) but I would happily trade them all for this one album.

Thank you John Brainlove for highlighting this in the recent post of best of albums of the last decade. This sets the standard of 10/10 for me.