I attended that show as well and have been following the reviews of it that have been of course, gushing and full of love towards Jnew, her band and the brooklyn philharmonic.

I joined the Newsom bandwagon when Ys came out. I wasn’t into the milk-eyed mender but had no reservations either. it didn’t do anything for me at the time. Ys on the other hand, has took hold of my ears and heart for the remainder of 06 and the whole of 07.
So u have to imagne my excitment to finally see her play it live. I have moved from israel to NYC about a month before the show (not because of it, although it did influence my decision to live a few months in NY before moving to CA).

as a big admirer of that album and as a musician as well, i was expecting to have some revelation from that performance. one was to finally hear those amazing arrangements and see what the hell those strings are doing with my own eyes as well as ears and the other was to be emotionally engulfed in the music in a live experience.

when i started reading your review i was happy to find that you too noticed that there was an issue with the sound at BAM. the orchestras volume was much softer than ms newsoms harp and WAY softer than her voice which seemed to dominate any other sound. I love her voice, that is fine, but it took away from the swirling arrangements that storm their way on the album. Ys felt a bit lost to me although i was still excited and happy to see it live (my hands were literally trembling).

I do have to say as someone who is an avid bjork and kate bush admirer (okay, crazy fan) that although i hear the similarities in the music, i think Joanna Newsom is making music that isn’t comparable with anything else. believe me, i tried. it’s not just a mixed batch of ingredients, it’s its own dish. She may be using polyrhythms on the harp like Kora players do yet her music sounds like american folk, not african music. that’s because polyrhythms dont sound african, they sound disorienting and that can be done in any style. And yes, her chords are easy to trace, but her music still sounds complex yet so easy to get swept away by its melodies. it’s not what you use, it’s how.
I cannot think of any other pop artist today that is shares her level of musicianship and vision (even though she did mess up on some notes here and there, surprsingly on the easy parts of the songs).

i am sorry that this is long, but it is actually because you chose to write some substance rather than just plain praise.