Ys (2006)

Ys ( EESS) is the second studio album by the American singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, released by Drag City on November 14, 2006. It was produced by Newsom and Van Dyke Parks, recorded by Steve Albini and mixed by Jim O'Rourke, with orchestral arrangements by Van Dyke Parks. It features guest vocals from Bill Callahan and Emily Newsom. The vocals and harp were recorded at the Village Recording Studio in Los Angeles in December 2005, with the orchestration recorded between May and June 2006 at the Entourage Studios in Los Angeles.

The album consists of five tracks with song durations ranging from 7 to 17 minutes that deal with events and people important in Newsom's life, including the sudden death of her best friend, a continuing illness and a tumultuous relationship. The album is named after the mythical Breton city of Ys.

Ys received critical acclaim, and it was Newsom's first album to chart in the Billboard 200, where it peaked at number 134. Ys also charted in the United Kingdom, France, Norway and Ireland. It has since featured on several music publications' lists of the greatest albums of all time.

Production

The album features full orchestra arrangements by Van Dyke Parks on four of the five tracks. Parks also contributes accordion. Newsom's harp and vocals were recorded by Steve Albini and the orchestra was recorded by Tim Boyle. Newsom and Parks produced the album and it was mixed by Jim O'Rourke. The recording process was completely analog, on two 24-track tape recorders. The music was mixed to tape and mastered at Abbey Road Studios.

Bass guitar is contributed by Lee Sklar, and electric guitar by jazz guitarist Grant Geissman. Don Heffington played percussion and Matt Cartsonis played mandolin and banjo. Bill Callahan provides backing vocals on the song "Only Skin", while on "Emily", these are sung by Joanna's sister, Emily Newsom, after whom the song is named.

The album, particularly the length of the songs and orchestral arrangements, was partially inspired by the 1971 Roy Harper album Stormcock. In September 2007, Harper supported Joanna Newsom at her Royal Albert Hall performance, playing Stormcock in its entirety. Newsom was also impressed by Van Dyke Parks' 1967 album Song Cycle, and asked him to collaborate on Ys after listening to that record.

Release

In August 2006, ahead of the album release in November, an internal server belonging to the online music publication Pitchfork was hacked; it contained promotional copies of hundreds of albums, including Ys. On tour in late 2007, Newsom performed Ys in its entirety with a 29-piece orchestra.

Reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, Ys received an average score of 85, indicating "universal acclaim". Chris Dahlen of Pitchfork called it "great because Newsom confronts a mountain of conflicting feelings, and sifts through them for every nuance". Describing it as "incredibly likeable, and more convivial than the twee Milk Eyed Mender", Jimmy Newlin of Slant Magazine dubbed Ys "a precious—in every sense of the word—masterpiece". Uncut's John Mulvey felt that though its "vast scale" opens up the potential for "self-indulgence" and "prog folly", upon listening to the record "all the doubts evaporate. Every elaboration has a purpose, every labyrinthine melodic detour feels necessary rather than contrived." Heather Phares of AllMusic described Ys as "a demanding listen, but it's also a rewarding and inspiring one", while Alexis Petridis of The Guardian concluded that the album is a "hard sell, perhaps, but it could be the best musical investment you make all year".

Pat Long of NME wrote that Newsom "has managed to lessen the twee factor of her last record, in the process crafting an album as bewitching as it is odd". Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly felt that Newsom "remains an acquired taste", but that Van Dyke Parks' contributions and the album's orchestration "have an ameliorating effect on the too-precious warble that either bewitches or repels." The Independent's Andy Gill wrote that Ys "leaves one in no doubt of her oddball credentials" and "rarely, if ever, has an artist so assiduously cultivated cult status". Among negative assessments, Rolling Stone critic Christian Hoard called the album "hard to stomach" and plagued by overlong tracks "with meandering strings-and-things accompaniment and indulgent vocal quirks that make Björk sound like Kelly Clarkson." Robert Christgau, in his Consumer Guide column for MSN Music, wrote that much of the "sprightly" qualities of The Milk-Eyed Mender had been "subsumed here by ambition, to be kind, and privilege, to be brutally accurate", and that the songs "reveal only that her taste for the antique is out of control".

Ys was Newsom's first album to chart in the United States, reaching number 134 on the Billboard 200. As of March 2010, Ys had sold more than 250,000 copies.