You probably read that Drag City is releasing Joanna Newsom’s Ys on 11/14. It’s got only five songs (55 minutes total). It was recorded with Steve Albini, mixed with Jim O?Rourke, and features orchestration arranged by Van Dyke Parks. Which means it’s gonna be Stereogum’s favorite album of the year.
Ys Tracklist
1. Emily
2. Monkey & Bear
3. Sawdust & Diamonds
4. Only Skin
5. Cosmia
A few other details we were able to dig up:
Advances go on out Wednesday, so if we’re lucky enough to score one we’ll translate its beauty into words for you. Otherwise, we’ll see you at McCarren Park Pool in one week: Neko Case, Joanna Newsom, and Martha Wainwright! Pray for eees.
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%s1 / %s2
Joanna Newsom puts on an entertaining live show, and considering the orchestration, this could be quite an album, but 55 minutes and only five songs? Wow.
Lucky enough to score one? Just like every album it will get leaked on the web the second those advance copies go out. Not saying it’s right just saying that it happens.
I d/l’ed most of those songs (live) about a year ago. At the time “Only Skin” was a 5 minute pop song and “Sawdust & Diamonds” was clocking in at just under 10 minutes. I’m really excited to hear how these turned out in the studio.
I know I’ll be getting a copy of Ys for review and I’m looking forward to hearing it. It took forever for Joanna Newsom to grow on me, but her live show helped her cause. Her voice still doesn’t sit well with me, but her lyrics and music are so lovely that it’s impossible to ignore her.
I’d say her voice is going to sound different on this, it’s sounded a lot less girlish and shrieky and more controlled in her live shows lately. The cast of contributors is absolutely stellar but I’d be a little worried about the old adage of too many cooks spoiling the meal. It’s certainly going to push the love her\hate her split even more – 17 minute songs aren’t for everyone. At least she’s being ambitious and pushing her limits, hopefully it’ll add up to a great record.
No MP3s, no streaming audio, no MySpace…it’s like they’re asking for the record to get leaked. No MySpace? That’s just annoying and pretentious.
Given that the shortest track is eight minutes long, it’s not really like they can start dropping MP3s around without giving away a considerable chunk of the record.. better to hear the whole thing in one go. Drag City must be wondering how they’re going to promote this – presumably with those extremely long songs there’ll be no singles, no videos, very little radio airplay, nothing she’ll be able to play on TV spots… it’s certainly brave considering it’s only her second record.
I don’t suppose this album is an ode to the classic Sega Master System game of the same name?
No, I didn’t think so…
Given that the shortest track is eight minutes long, it’s not really like they can start dropping MP3s around without giving away a considerable chunk of the record.. better to hear the whole thing in one go. Drag City must be wondering how they’re going to promote this – presumably with those extremely long songs there’ll be no singles, no videos, very little radio airplay, nothing she’ll be able to play on TV spots… it’s certainly brave considering it’s only her second record.
Given that the shortest track is eight minutes long, it’s not really like they can start dropping MP3s around without giving away a considerable chunk of the record.. better to hear the whole thing in one go. Drag City must be wondering how they’re going to promote this – presumably with those extremely long songs there’ll be no singles, no videos, very little radio airplay, nothing she’ll be able to play on TV spots… it’s certainly brave considering it’s only her second album.
PS – Stereogum dude, what’s up with your server? Don’t know if it’s just me, but it’s taking thirty seconds to post comments.
Given that the shortest track is eight minutes long, it’s not really like they can start dropping MP3s around without giving away a considerable chunk of the record.. better to hear the whole thing in one go. Drag City must be wondering how they’re going to promote this – presumably with those extremely long songs there’ll be no singles, no videos, very little radio airplay, nothing she’ll be able to play on TV spots… it’s certainly brave considering it’s only her second album.
PS – Stereogum dude, what’s up with your server? Don’t know if it’s just me, but it’s taking thirty or forty seconds to post comments.
Aaagh – delete those extra posts please. They didn’t show up when I was trying to refresh the page. I think your server is acting screwy today.
“drag city must be wondering how they’re going to promote this”
compared to a lot of the stuff drag city puts out (us maple for example) this is easy. she’s probably one of their biggest sellers.
Good points brought up by Richie, but she could easily edit the songs down a couple minutes, right? Like I said earlier, I have an early version of “Only Skin” (on the piano, btw) that’s only 4 minutes.
luv her!!! *~*~*
I am very much in love with Joanna Newsom, but she might wanna leave the 17 minute wanking to The Mars Volta.
On the other hand, this could be amazing.
its really good. i have it. its incredible.