Joanna Newsom and Toby Driver
 

1.) So I've been utterly obsessed with anything Toby Driver does lately. maudlin of the Well and Kayo Dot. Since I'm a new fan, I don't have the "Kayo Dot isn't as good" syndrome some seem to have-- I'd say Kayo Dot is much better, though I love motW as well. Not normally into screamed vocals or growling or anything, but it's really neat music. Maybe it will get me into more metal, that's always been a genre I've been wary of.

2.) I've been re-discovering music I used to hate. Perhaps with Joanna Newsom it was because of Pitchfork.. I tend to not like the stuff they rate so highly. Animal Collective's newest album being one of the few exceptions. So I decided to listen to Joanna Newsom's Ys again, and man this is a lot better than I remember.. her voice isn't as grating as before, and the lyrics are really nice. It would be great to find more musicians who write great lyrics. Any ideas?

Emily is one of the best tracks i have heard in the last 5 years. I love Ys.

Yeah Kayo Dot and Joanna are both great. Don't know what else to say. Uh.. I don't really pay attention to lyrics.

Y'know I didn't cream myself over Ys like a lot of folks did, I liked Milk-Eyed Mender much better. I'm hoping she comes out with a new one soon though, preferably with some more short songs.

She played some new songs already live and they were longer than the milkeyed mender stuff, but shorter than the ones from YS. So about 6-8 minutes. Can't wait for a new album :)

maudlin of the well \m/

I think it's the voice what makes The Milk-Eyed Mender so hard to get in to. Imo she has learned to control it way better on Ys, no more kitties being tortured.
And Emily destroys the rest of her repertoire.

The Milk-Eyed Mender is a better casual listen. I don't think many people can sit down and listen to Ys the whole way through at any given time.