For my birthday (today! Sticking out tongue) I decided to treat myself with the new EP by Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band (obvious play on word between Bruce Springsteen's E S.B. and Joanna's previous 2006 album entitled 'Ys'). I've been a huge fan of her music since one of my friends first introduced me to her first album in Nov, and this EP is everything but disappointing.

Although I like the 1st album a lot, I found 'Ys' more mature and better put together, and I feel that her music keeps getting better and better, still following this direction.
I think the majority of people on this site don't really like her music (mainly because of her voice, which I can understand), but in that case you'll probably like this EP much better than the rest of her songs. I thought her voice/way of singing was already much softer on 'Ys', but when I saw her in concert in January (one of my best concerts ever!), I was absolutely blown away and mesmerized by how even softer and mature her voice sounds.

I think the EP perfectly capture this quality, and the arrangement perfectly matches the harp/voice lines. The whole CD sounds a bit more 'folky' (there are only three songs, a new one entitled 'Colleen', and 'Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie' from the 1st album and 'Cosmia' from 'Ys') thanks to the instrumental part which includes more banjo or tambura, or what sounds like a mandolin (if you've seen her in concert, this'll remind you of the final part of 'Only Skin' where she sings with her mandolin player, only accompanied with the harp and the mandolin - orgasmic!). As for 'Colleen', the catchy tune reminded me a bit of Loreena McKennitt's music, which is not a bad thing considering how obsessed I am with her albums! Smiling

Oh, and not to mention that the album design is, once again, gorgeous.

Wish I could award it six stars out of five.