Top 5 of the Decade – #4
- Cover of The Milk-Eyed Mender
4) Joanna Newsom The Milk Eyed Mender/Ys
I’ve put these two records together in the number 4 slot because they are both perfect. Together they represent one of the most cohesive artistic statements from a solo performer in decades. I have often said that in this day and age innovation and newness has been replaced by intense individuality and “you-ness,” meaning that it is more likely that an individual unique sensibility emerge as a tidal force in pop music than a new sound or genre. Joanna Newsom has often been grouped in with the “Freak-folk” movement, but for me she stands apart from any group o classification. I saw her perform twice in 2004, once at the Hi-Tone in Memphis to 40 people who stayed dead silent during hr set (anyone familiar with the club knows what a feat this is), and once at the Bowery Ballroom where she debuted two of the songs that would eventually be on ‘Ys.’ Both were unforgettably moving and made me feel like sometimes true artistic genius slips through the cracks and gets its due.
Best Track: Peach, Plum, Pear / Sawdust and Diamonds
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Tags: Bowery Ballroom, Joanna Newsom, Milk-Eyed Mender, Music
