Ys

God help me, I tried for three tracks but I just can't. I'm not going to be mean about this. I'm not going to say there are parts where she sounds like Carol Kane impersonating Regina Spektor. I'm not going to say that the lyrics sound like a rough draft of Jewel's middle school poetry. I won't say this sounds like a bad acid trip at a small-town Renaissance Faire. I won't mention my confusion that her voice is so raspy yet high that it sounds like she's sucking helium through a lit cigarette. I tried, but I just can't make sense of this.

Fuck, I really like this, and I was not expecting that AT ALL. I mean, five songs all longer than what I consider casually listenable? Seems like something I'm destined to be annoyed or at least bored with, but I really adored this. Firstly, it's gorgeous both musically and lyrically, with the strings really meshing well with the weirder choices such as a mouth harp and banjo. In that way it reminds me of a Leonard Cohen album, but I'd say the lyrics are far more abstract than Cohen's works, but it still really works. I like that there s no regular song structure yet it returns to the same line every few minutes to bring the song into its own orbit and not let it stray too far outwards and become a mess. I don't know if I'll go out of my way to listen to most of these songs separately due to their length, but as a whole album this is certainly up there as something great. I will admit her vocals remind me a little bit of whoever sings "Dance Monkey", but not really annoyed at it here. Then again, I never found the vocals on that track too annoying either, so perhaps I'm the one broken. Any way, amazing album, truly unexpected.

Wish.com Bjork. Possibly the worst album I’ve ever heard.

This album is quite astounding. Very ambitious but she achieves what she aims for. I may even go so far as to call this album "visionary," which is a rare thing indeed. I am consistently disappointed by how the users on this 1001 generator website rate great, unorthodox albums; people here have an enormous bias against anything unconventional. I much prefer RYM users in this regard: even if they are more snobby, they are better able to appreciate the weird albums too.

"Come on home, the poppies are all grown knee-deep by now Blossoms all have fallen, and the pollen ruins the plow Peonies nod in the breeze and while they wetly bow with Hydrocephalitic listlessness ants mop up their brow" Maybe it's all the harps, but I'm pretty convinced that Joanna Newsom is an angel. No human person could fit the phrase "hydrocephalitic listlessness" into a musical phrase so beautifully. This music is sent from somewhere divine. A friend put Newsom's Peach, Plum, Pear from her first album on a mixed CD for me many years ago and I was entranced with its harpsichord and the first lines: "We speak in the store I'm a sensitive bore You seem markedly more And I'm oozing surprise." The Milk-Eyed Mender became one of my favorite albums, so lovely it nearly breaks my heart. Ys is a harder album to digest. Tracks are long. So are the words. Deep listening is rewarded again and again. This isn't music meant for the background. But still heart-achingly beautiful and holy.

I bet Andy Sandberg is hony for harp music.

The strengths of this album (originality, ambition, storytelling, cool chamber music vibe, cohesion) are outweighed by the weaknesses (vocals, length of the songs, wandering song structure). It's interesting, I almost enjoyed it in places, and I can see a place for it on this list. But personally, overall, not for me.

Just when you think each song is about to end... you get 6 more minutes of 2-star music.

I’m mad I had to listen to this

this has less than a 3 on here... didn't know they let the deaf use this website

This. Is. A. Vibe. Gentle and touching and weird and whimsical. A beautiful record. Rating: 5/5 Playlist track: Cosmia Date listened: 30/11/23

Oh my god she never shuts up. 2/5

one of the best rap albums i’ve ever heard

Friends are supposed to help keep you making a fool of yourself. This woman has no friends.

This is an incredible album. The musicianship and songwriting is just on another level. I have always liked Joanna Newsom but hadn't listened to this album in a while. It got me hooked again. I listened to this one all the way through multiple times today and then moved on to listen to "Have One On Me" for the rest of my work day. I'll probably listen to "Divers" all day tomorrow. It's a 5/5. Standout Tracks: Emily, Monkey & Bear, Sawdust & Diamonds, Only Skin, Cosmia

Incredibly unique. I'll probably need another listen while reading along with the lyrics to fully appreciate it. Orchestral folk, but I like the terms "prog folk" and "freak folk" to describe it. Not my cup o' tea musically, but maybe I'll give it another shot.

Ok so the background music was awesome, but I could not do her voice. Whenever she hit a high shift and squeaked it actually hurt.

I've given Joanna Newsom a listen before but didn't like it. Maybe that's changed, I dunno. Oh no, no, noooo. That voice is too much for me. She can sing really well but there's this horrid inflection in some words that makes me wince. Plus a lot of the time the singing had almost zero connection to what was going on behind it - no doubt the point, but no thanks. The music itself was like jazzy renaissance fair stuff, but with the voice added in it had an odd country flavour. This was a struggle. 2/5.

This was my introduction to Joanna Newsom. I think I need to spend a bit more time with it to fully absorb her music. I especially loved the orchestra arrangements with the marvelous harp. I was a little less enamored, but very much intrigued, by her vocals and wandering lyrics. Maybe a little Björk mixed with Blossom Dearie? I just can't say I loved this, but I really would like to try it again sometime.

The people who suggest they like her apparently only do so in an attempt to appear interesting. They're not interesting. Neither is Joanna Newsom. We already have Björk, who's mastered whatever this genre is and has proved no one else should even try it. Not for nothing, but I'm sure that Icelandic Princess Björk and I would get along famously. Joanna Newsom seems like someone who wouldn't put up with any of my shit.

Unlike anyone else

This first day I listened to this album, I ended up listening to Joanna Newsom’s entire discography. This album is absurdly beautiful. The instrumentation, arrangement, and Van Dyke Parks’ production is truly stunning. Newsom’s lyrics span mythology, allegory, and mythologized scenes from her life and childhood. Though this album is five songs and almost an hour long, the songs never overstay their welcome and are engaging to the end. Joanna Newsom is perhaps my favorite current songwriter and I find her talent staggering.

The most wonderful fever dream

4.0 + "Emily" encapsulates all that is amazing on this record. Newsom's combination of harp and vaudeville-styled vocals are among the most unique in music, and the lyrics evoke images from nursery rhymes, ancient myths, as well as a childlike fascination with the cosmos. The rhythms and tones morph constantly, creating strange and exciting landscapes. This records offers up a feast for the senses, though perhaps one that's best consumed in small bites.

The way she sings is quite similar to Björk, and I really like Björk but in this instance I feel like it's detracting from the music immensely. I really like this project except for her vocals. It's a shame.

Opening the first track and playing the first 5 seconds... *extreme wince face*... Oh man, this is going to be an experience. Her singing voice is really bad. Like, really bad. And not just her voice, but the performance of it. It's like she's role-playing a crone from Macbeth at times, and other times as some kind of woodland nymph, caught up in a state of perpetual wonder at the natural world. The music around her is all dis-jointed and awkward. She occasionally juts in with this extreme shrill tone, and it would always make me jolt back in an alarmed manner. I might actually quite dig some of the music if it wasn't accompanied by such an awful performance. But let's be honest, most of it sounds like cringey, medieval minstrel music, with artsy-fartsy poetic lyrics that are WAY too earnest. I don't just dislike this, it makes me really annoyed. Awful.

I totally understand Samberg. Had I met Joanna Newsom the same year this was release I would have fallen in love too. Ys is uniquely complex, fragile and beautiful. It’s like nothing else. A rare work of utter brilliance. I don’t think there’s ever a time when I’m not in the mood for this.

Oddly affecting

fuck dude, I reaaaally want to give this a 10/10 I love almost everything about this; the instrumental arrange is simply divine, and the songs are all so well written what’s really driving me crazy is her voice I am NOT a fan of how she sings it’s like if Bjork was a ukulele girl, it’s painfully annoying I was thinking of giving this an 8/10, but again, these songs are so damn good I’ll give it a 9/10 maybe on a relisten it’ll be a full 10/10, but for right now, those vocals are just driving me crazy

I’ve had this remarkable album for almost two decades and I still don’t know what to do with it. Too intense to stay in the background, over a close listen it demands a commitment to its convolutions that I’m unwilling to give. It’s loaded with imagery and analogy that I’m too knackered to decipher, and while it sounds gorgeous and close (requiscat, Albini) and its intricate movements are dynamic, for anything to linger I’d have to march through it… well, I haven’t marched through it enough times yet. I like this record, but “it’s complicated”.

Another 2000's darling gathering dust on my flash drive. I think I forced myself through it once when it came out, did not know Albini engineered it! Surprised me how enjoyable this was today, sharp and tuneful although undeniably flighty and precious. Decent result overall; kids hate it, of course, condemned as a deranged Disney soundtrack

I can certainly see the appeal and the reason that this album is on this list. However, I personally did not like this album at all. Listening feels like biting into a juicy, ripe fruit with a flavor that I just don’t like. The album meanders along like a butterfly flapping through a garden, jerking in the wind to whichever direction it feels, occasionally stopping on a bright and beautiful flower. And while this would be a sight to behold for some, I personally don’t belong in this metaphorical garden ogling at the beauty of nature (I’d be something like a caveman doing brute, monotonous tasks in the metaphorical Yeezus world). All things considered, it’s probably objectively a 4, personally a 2, and -1 for not being on Spotify, so giving it a 2

Típic disc que encanta a la crítica, per la seva valentia, el seu so, la seva imatge. I és cert: és un treball valent, amb només cinc llarg temes, amb l'arpa i la veu de Newsom com a protagonistes; amb un so diferent i molt propi, encerclat en la corrent de l'alt-folk que tan en boga estava en aquells anys. I amb una imatge exquisida, com una guapa joglar medieval recent aterrada en els nostres dies. El contingut, però, no està a l'alçada de tot el que l'envolta

Yea......so my coworker walks in for some information, hears this and asks if I'm listening to cartoons. I wish I was. This is not for me. Quite a tough listen. Best part of the album is seeing the song titled Emily. We love Emily and can't wait to be introduced to her first child soon. Shout out to Emily and Aaron. All I got for for this.

1.5 I really try to be mindful and open to new music that’s very much outside of my normal wheelhouse… but Jesus, what was this? Yoko Ono presents Snow White? As someone who has never been to a ren faire before, this may have single-handedly convinced me to keep it that way. Ok, this album admittedly has a lot of lush instrumentation to it and is produced incredibly well. Hell, if it was an instrumental album, I actually may have mildly enjoyed it (how often do you hear me say that?) - but holy cow, I find Joanna’s vocals unbearable. Look, I’m normally one of the first pretentious a-holes to praise unconventional vocalists - I genuinely think there’s a unique sense of beauty and identity in imperfection - but my God, this made me want to pour bleach down my ears. Before anyone writes me off as having not given this a proper chance, I listened to this four times, each time dreading the next listen more than last. I’ll give credit to this album for certainly being a unique release for 2006 and for the sense of tranquilness to its instrumentation, but it ain’t for me - feels more like a thing for theatre kids. Or Andy Samberg I guess.

Surprising that this is a mid 00's album and not an early 70's or late 60's album. It sounds like it would fit in much better with the psychedelia movement at that time. That said, it doesn't offer much of a new spin on that movement either, so I can't understand why this is even only the list. Perhaps it's noteworthy for reviving interest in a genre that was last popular before many listener were born. Musically, the album may be nuanced, but ultimately, it sounds pretty contrived. The swings in volume make Newsom's singing sound grating, occasional squeakiness in her voice really doesn't help either. The album would probably also have benefitted from fuller sounding instrumentation. All in all, a very unpleasant listening experience. I didn't finish it.

Was initially interested that she was a harpist, thinking this would be some nice soothing music to put on and chill. Instead what I heard was shrill wailing that was like nails on a chalkboard. I saw one review say she is the “wish.com Bjork” and funnily enough it’s pretty accurate. Her music does grow on you a bit but there is almost no chance I’ll give it any more than the time already given to her. 1.5/5 as it’s not the absolute worst thing I’ve heard. Annoyed at first that this wasn’t on Spotify but found on YouTube. Now I’m glad it’s not on Spotify so I don’t have a song to add to my 1001 playlist.

Forget the rack, the Scavenger's Daughter and the manacles if the tower of London had this they would have had way better success torturing people. She can play but her voice makes me want to confess to heresy.

Insanely good for some strange reason.

4.75

Wow. Had never heard of Joanna Newsom before this, but I loved it instantly. I love how the songs just kind of meander through different melodies, the tempo ebbs and flows, and accompaniment varies from just punctuation and countermelody from her harp to a full Elfman-inspired orchestra and the occasional jaw harp or guitar, all vibrato'd out. It's like a fey fever-dream, and even though the songs are 11 minutes long on average, I never got tired of listening.

Absolutely love this album, although I admit it did take me quite a few listens to come around to it. Her voice is definitely an acquired taste, but her harp playing is fantastic and the lyrics are so detailed and meaningful. I think I first heard it around 2014/2015, then got really into it when her new album Divers came out, which I also love. If I could make every boomer who thinks all modern music is terrible listen to this 3 times, I would. Honestly much better than at least 50% of the folk rock in this book so far.

The album cover made me worried that I was in for a bad time but this album surprised me! Once I was got over the slightly odd singing style, I really enjoyed it! The orchestration with the harp made it sound interesting and fresh. A bit of Regina Spector but with harp instead of piano. I was really hooked from the start with the beautiful melody of "Emelie", and it kept my interest the whole way through. The lyrics are interesting and they paint very vivid stories. It was a long time since I liked an album this much the first listen. Too bad that it isn't on Spotify which shouldn't be as much of a problem as it is. 5 surprised stars!

This fucking rules. It's so maudlin that a lesser artist would have made this feel like it ventures into Disney girl territory but it's so fucking perfect that it never manages to toe that line. Real weird girl hours who the fuck is up

This is my third-favorite album by her, but it’s the one most beloved by critics and the fanbase. I think she’s the best lyricist working today. Emily: a chorus? Weird. M&B: Monkey’s speech reminds me of Donald Trump. His love for his followers is just and earnest. They just need to unlearn their allegiance to this life of service and follow him. And as long as they keep their fancy clothes on for a little while longer and dance appropriately, the reward of the bountiful hills will be theirs. S&D: The idea of a lost baby (miscarriage? abortion?) waiting for you in the afterlife is heartbreaking. The “I wasn’t born of a thistle” part, so good. “Enough of this terror, we deserve to know light.” Only Skin: I know it’s not the point of the song, I know it’s not a love song (or at least not an unambiguous love song like we’re used to in pop music), but “I’m starving and freezing in my measly old bed / I’ll crawl cross the salt flats to stroke your sweet head” is a lovely phrase. Actually the whole part with Bill Callahan is amazing. Cosmia: the one I’ve spent the least time with, this just means it’ll be my favorite five years from now. An album that rewards repeat listens. Instrumentation and lyrics on point. Some people don’t like her voice but they are wrong.

I loved it. So odd and so sublime.

Incredible album, felt fully immersed in the world the music wove together

I cannot express how much I adore this album: every moment of every track means so much.

I heard this when it came out and liked it, and I left her set at Latitude 2005 halfway through because I had to go and start the absolute worst job I’ve ever had in my life, but apart from that I wasn’t very familiar. Listened to it repeatedly since it came up on here, it’s amazing, one of the best albums made.

Beautiful album, wish it was on Spotify. I struggle to describe it.

Joanna squeaks and yips out some of the most majestic indie folks tunes of the aughts.

Kan godt se den er polariserende men jeg er kæmpe fan, selv hvis jeg ikke var ville jeg stadig synes den skulle på listen bare for at være så unik. 5 stjerner for arrangementerne alene Nu vil jeg håbe for Claus’ skyld at vi slipper for Regina Spektor på listen

Tidsløst. Emily er nok en top 10 sang of all time.

This feels like if Bjork made a folk album, and I love that.

Beautiful

If Jeff mangum was a midevil peasant woman

Love Joanna Newsom . Wish it was on Spotify

"She sounds like Lisa Simpson." I'm playing Milk Eyed Mender for my college roommate. Scratch that: I've hijacked a bedroom at the party to play Joanna Newsom for several nonplussed people circled on the carpet, including my roommate, who has eviscerated her by comparing her voice to Lisa Simpson's. This will always hang over my relationship with Joanna Newsom's music, and my total lack of surprise at the sub-3 average rating for this album (does anyone else consider 3 the turning point for average ratings here? Anything below feels like an insult, anything above feels like universal acceptance). I've gotten into it before, but I was heavily alienated by my college experience: mix up some culture clash with self-doubt and mix in the late-teens impatience to Become the adult I'm still working at being twenty years later, and you get one unhappy camper. I dove deep into music; while my socal peers were deep into dance-rock (your Bloc Party's, your The Faints, your Arctic Monkeys), I was falling headfirst into Freak Folk. Joanna Newsom was the woodsy poet who proudly kept some Yes and Gong records on the shelf. Lyrics were especially important to Young Me, and Joanna had lyrics for days. I carried Ys with me everywhere for the coming year: walking a California-winter college campus, flying back to Arizona for Thanksgiving and Christmas, temping for a loan company in rural Arizona for all of January, then zigzagging over Europe for four months as I studied abroad solely for an excuse to not be in California for that time, all of it culminating in my first long-term relationship with someone whose parents were mysteriously connected enough to obtain two tickets to Joanna's sold-out show at Walt Disney Concert hall in fall '07. This album is inextricable from my experiences. It's a bit of a shame none of her music is on Spotify; I'm sure more people could benefit from accessing it more easily. It's kept me away, as well; I don't have it on vinyl (I will rectify this soon) so my only copies live on my laptop and ipod. It's probably been a decade since I've listened to Ys. But from "the meadowlark" on, I'm tuned back into a complex yet completely familiar part of myself. The music has so many nooks and crannies, touches and flourishes which I can nestle into like the couch in my childhood home. I can't speak to this music from an objective place. But I sure hope that if I heard it for the first time today I'd take pause. That I'd come back to the person who used to sit for a moment as the final track ended, and then press play on track one once more.

Absolutely deligtful, eclectic, baroque.

THIS. I. LOVE! it's so complex, is got depth that cuts your bones, it's magical and transformative. Never tire of her a-muse-ing-ness

I did really like this album, but because all her stuff isn't on any streaming service and the move away from any physical music in my house I don't hear it very often. Can't even stream the files on my phone to my Sonos anymore, it's mental. So considering I spent half the time listening to this on headphones dicking around trying to actually put it to my (non-bluetooth Sonos) speakers, and still enjoyed it thoroughly, has to be top marks. Absolutely gorgeous. I would listen to her stuff much much more if it wasn't such a ball-ache. I do find it hilarious how much Van-Dyke Parks appears to love that boingy boingy effect. It's all over Smile and it pops up here incongruously multiple times as well.

Solid

This the problem I've always had with rating your music by the number of tracks. Ys - 55 minutes, 5 songs, I've listened to it at least 15 times so 75 plays Milk Eyed Mender, 50 minutes, 12 songs, I've listed to this at least 25 times so 300 plays. Oh yeah btw, I love this album.

I’ve seen Joanna Newsome live a couple of times and love her dearly. At one point at one of the shows her thumb split open and she just calmly took a minute or two to superglue it closed and then carried on. So metal! 🤘 I get that her voice can be divisive, and the reviews here didn't disappoint! 😆 Fave track - "Monkey & Bear", but really the whole album is tip top!

a starkly beautiful album. i suspect people will not be able to get past her voice, but i think it's quite interesting and love the timbre in contrast with the harp and orchestrated instrumentals. very fun, playful music. calming. really great!

Well that was just lovely. Joanna Newsom writes great epics, Van Dyke Parks arranges beautiful strings, and Steve Albini was always a far better producer than just the 'difficult analogue noise' guy. A meeting of three brilliant minds, brilliant in itself.

Surprised by the low ratings. This thing is a journey, a sublime masterpiece. Full marks

Gorgeous and unique, the kind of album that you just follow as it unfolds, without really knowing (or caring) where it's been or where it's going. You just go with the flow, and the flow is magical.

There are these albums that aren't supposed to exist... Well, this is one of them. A mainstream progressive/avant folk album in 2006? Featuring Van Dyke Parks as a musician and conductor? Steve Albini as an engineer and Jim O'Rourke at the mix? How can this be possible? Totally outcast. Well, here we are, and it's exquisite stuff, really.

OK, this is actually incredible.

*Listening Note* While not available on Spotify, it is available on youtube. What a beautiful album with harp and accompaniment. I appreciated the appearance of Bill Callahan, even if it seemed brief.

she rhymes "monkey" with "spelunking". nobody is doing it like her. this type of complex orchestral music often has this air of taking itself very seriously, but there's so much playfulness and whimsy in this album. it feels like a child staring in wonder at a rabbit crossing a field, or gazing up at the night sky. some of the lyricism has a certain feel to it that i only see recaptured in, weirdly enough, rappers like MF DOOM. there's something similar in the complex internal rhyme schemes and cryptic, nonsensical on-the-surface but internally consistent lyrics. the orchestration ebbs and flows with her storytelling and it's just beautiful, especially the harp and the strings. "C'mon, will you dance, my darling? Darling, there’s a place for us; Can we go, before I turn to dust?"

Don't have a lot of time on my hands today, and of course, of all the albums this list could have churned out, this is the one that comes out. Impossible for me to pen a proper review explaining why this record is great. Because *Ys* is a masterpiece, enough said. Not as directly effective as *The Milk-Eyed Mender*, which admittedly harbors its share of more easily-digestible gems. And yet as rewarding as Newsome's debut once you spent a few listens learning how to navigate inside its melodic digressions and many intricacies. At first, you need to apprehend this one just as you apprehend reading a poetry book in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. You sit with it, read and listen to the lyrics at the same time (sometimes cryptic musings, sometimes delightful "narratives"), and gape at every little detail inside. Then, after a few listen, you can equally return to this record in this mode, or conversely, you can play it as a soothing yet often lively soundtrack in the background. I've just spoken of "every little detail" in this admirable record, but it's not as if it was overflowing with so many layers either--the bulk of it, recorded by Steve Albini (but it could have been anyone else, basically) is pretty raw: it's Joanna's precise and enchanting harp, along with her high-pitched, frail-yet-fully-expressive voice, like a warble in your ears. Newsom feels very much like a Medieval or Renaissance bard telling us of her loves, losses, joys and sufferings through so many elegiac metaphors, or similes drawing from the world of animals and nature. Then, adding to this otherworldly atmosphere, you have Van Dyke Parks' elegant orchestral flourishes, underlining every event within the singer's yarns, and every inflexIon of her off-kilter voice. Plus a few other instruments here and there (banjo, guitar, accordion, marimba etc.). The songs are long, yes, but they need that time to properly develop their musical and narrative ideas, and they ALL build up to wonderful climaxes for each of their thrilling conclusions, that can have you sitting at the edge of your seats. Don't miss the latter in the longest cut, by the way, sung with Bill Callahan of Smog. Yes, "Only Skin" lasts for almost 17 minutes, but if you have leanings for experimental-yet-emotional "confessional" music, I can guarantee those 17 minutes just fly by. And the same can be said for each of the four other tracks in this record. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list, rounded up to 5. Which translates to a 9.5/10 grade for more general purposes (5+4.5). 2006 is rather a "mid" year to be honest, filled with very few truly "essential" albums. It would heve been a shame not to have this one in the list. Number of albums left to review: 220 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 338 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 199 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 250

Bewitchingly beautiful, both musically and lyrically. I absolutely adored this album

Wild cosmic endeavor. Bjork meets Regina Spector meets Shara Nova. I can even hear some influence on Anais Mitchell and Hadestown. This album holds up. Hard to believe it’s 18 years old. The timelessness of the instrumentation, the otherworldly lyrics and the uniqueness of her voice help with that. Loved it!

The lyrics near on Shakespearean on this one. While the vocals may not be everyone's cup of tea, this blew me away. To write lyrics like that that go on that long, WITH a few orchestra?? Gorgeous.

Few things bring me more joy than the fact that Joanna Newsom and Andy "Jizz In My Pants" Samberg are a couple.

realmente increíble y los putos de spoti no lo tienen

One of my favourite finds from this list so far. I had never heard her before, and had to listen to this twice. Enchanting.

I adore this album. There are some quite exceptional moments and every track has magic. One to keep coming back to again and again.

Grandiose, vast, demands repeat listens to center in on the intricacies of the lyrics and arrangements. Demanding of your time and attention when an artist doesn't need Spotify to know their worth.

I think this will take another 20 listens to be sufficiently appreciated. First run through I couldn't help but think that while each and every part in isolation was sheer perfection (orchestral arrangement, voice, writing etc) it struggled to make sense to me when packaged up together. Second time it started making more sense and I think that incremental appreciation will continue as I listen more.

As of 2024, Joanna Newsom has released four albums, each of them garnering praise from small ardent circles and bafflement from many more. "Ys" was released when she was just 24, and addresses a range of life events including her growing relationship with her sister, a miscarriage she had suffered, a failing romantic relationship, and her place in the music industry itself. It sits completely outside any other music on this list, anything I have in my collection, and certainly anything else happening in 2006 (when this was released, Justin Timberlake was topping the Billboard charts). "Ys" could have been written in 2006, or it could have been written in 1681, or 1147, and I'm not sure I'd be any the wiser. It's as though Newsom discovered a secret, untapped alchemy for making music, existing in her own vacuum. At what point did I realise I was listening to a true classic? Perhaps somewhere between the eighth and ninth listens, wandering the city farm, completely lost in my own thoughts, the music growing out from the ground, drifting down from the heavens, shining in with the sun. To summarise the five tracks/poems/epics… "Emily" meanders delicately through a verse, pre-chorus and chorus, running a four-minute cycle three enthralling times. It builds masterfully, then pulls the rug away, then gently lays it back at our feet. "Monkey and Bear" is a twisty-turny allegory of two animals escaping their farm for a life of performance. It initially felt disposable to me, but has such engaging narrative and colour in its delivery that it's hard not to be swept away on the journey. "Sawdust and Diamonds" consists almost entirely of Newsom's vocals and her harp playing (the undeniable instrumental centrepiece, taking my breath away every time). Utterly beautiful. "Only Skin", my favourite track, is stunning from beginning to end: the ornate, orchestral intro, the perfectly judged changes in dynamics throughout, the ragged runaway climax featuring backing vocals from Bill Callahan. Finally, "Cosmia" is relatively simplistic, a plea to a departed friend which stretches grief into a celestial exultation. A heart-melting chorus, gorgeous harp work, and we're done. What else to say? Newsom's vocabulary is off the scale, standing as poetry on its own, to an extent which won't appeal to every listener. Reading the words alongside the music helped it all come together for me: very few lines are wasted, with every one either beginning a new story, running alongside a key change, offering a switch of perspective. And every now and then, a stunning, straight-to-the-heart melody breaks out like sunshine: the hook of "Only Skin", the chorus of "Sawdust and Diamonds", the refrain of "Cosmia". It's almost impossible to grasp on the first couple of listens, but then to embrace "Ys" is to follow Newsom down a rabbit hole - or into a labyrinth, or through a wardrobe - into a wonderland. With just a little time, it becomes lush, expansive, immaculate. It's taken a while and I had to put the work in (in fact, my first listen was five months before finishing this review) but I'm very, very glad I did.

That was so interesting musically. The orchestral backing was fantastic and the overall vibe of the album sort of reminds me of some disney movies.

Love love love 💕

“Does that mean it’s more whimsical? Is it any more whimsical?” “Well, it’s one more whimsical, isn’t it? It’s not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten...Where can you go from there? Where?” “Why don’t you make ten a little more whimsical? Make that the top number and make that a little whimsier?” “These go to eleven.” But I fucking loved it.

so good

Truly enchanting, in the deepest sense of the word. I was so transfixed that when my headphones died mid-album it was genuinely jarring and upsetting. This is easily one of the best records that this list has introduced to me.

Wow. Kind of a celtic Folk Kate Bush or Björk. I love it.

I'd forgotten just how good this album is. I was a fan of "Milk-Eyed Mender", but this is at another level entirely.

I really liked it! Never heard of such orchestral folk music before, also think her voice is super unique and cool. Hehhe the was a bread roll.

An astounding achievement in modern pop music: timeless, haunting, achingly beautiful, and evocatively poetic, Joanna Newsom is a force of nature. Like an angel with her harp, she sings of life and death and romance and the cosmos and the beauty and danger of the natural world, all the while surprising, delighting, and possibly even breaking the heart and piecing it back together again for the attentive, engaged listener. Like nothing I’ve ever heard, Newsom went for broke on this her second album and succeeds on ever level. An album to return to again and again, to marvel at, to bask in the glory of, and to dig through carefully to reveal its subtle secrets. 'When the bough breaks, what’ll you make for me? A little willow cabin to rest on your knee What’ll I do with a trinket such as this? Think of your woman, who’s gone to the west But I’m starving and freezing in my measly old bed! Then I’ll crawl across the salt flats, to stroke your sweet head Come across the desert with no shoes on! I love you truly Or I love no-one'

Kate Bush and Bjork via California, almost timeless in its themes and sound. The average score for this is way too low and most of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Very solid and unique.

Amazing!!!

Great chamber and orchestral pop masterpiece

I'd listened before and not cared for it so I was shocked at how much I absolutely adored this album this time through. Just such stirring rises and falls of beautfilly orchestrated music accompanying such vivid yet cryptic poetry is just awesome. I get it now lol

A stunning record - ambitious, enchanting and magical. Something from the past, something from the now. The scale, the imagination. In a lane of its own, Ys transports the listener. Read the room, Caroline Saint-Jacques Renard.

One of my favorites of all time

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