Is anyone really that surprised that Joanna Newsom is releasing a triple album? Sure, it'll probably elicit groans from haters, but the rest of us are stoked to jam three plus hours of harp music about tilling fields. In fact, "81" works in a lot of ways that moments of Ys didn't. When we wanted stark, we got Van Dyke Parks' lush strings. Ys wouldn't be Ys without them, but at the same time, part of Newsom's appeal is that in her best moments she sounds like she's right there in the room with you singing songs so dense you could study them forever. Hit your local record store February 23rd to pick up Have One On Me, which is sure to be a fucking awesome musical object, then while you walk home think about how it is weird that Newsom dates Andy Samberg. Oh yeah, we had a hard time actually getting onto Drag City's website, which leads us to believe that THE WORLD HAS BEEN HOLDING ITS COLLECTIVE BREATH FOR MORE NEWSOM. Just keep trying, after a couple page reloads you'll get there.
Stream: Joanna Newsom, "81"
