The Milk-Eyed Mender

The Milk-Eyed Mender
Studio album by Joanna Newsom
Released	March 23, 2004
Genre	Indie folk
Length	52:05
Label	Drag City
Producer	Noah Georgeson
Joanna Newsom chronology
The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004) Ys (2006)
Singles from The Milk-Eyed Mender
"Sprout and the Bean" Released: November 2, 2004

The Milk-Eyed Mender is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, released on March 23, 2004 on the Drag City label (see 2004 in music).

Joanna Newsom wrote all the songs on the album except for "Three Little Babes", a traditional Appalachian song by Texas Gladden. According to the liner notes, Joanna plays "a Lyon & Healy style 15 harp, a wurlitzer electric piano, a harpsichord, and piano."

A bandmate in San Francisco band The Pleased, Noah Georgeson, produced and recorded the album, as well as contributing guitar to two tracks and backing vocals to one. Cover art embroidery is by Emily Prince and photographs are by Alissa Anderson. Newsom thanks former touring partners Will Oldham, Devendra Banhart, and Vetiver, along with many others.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[1]
Allmusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	(A-)[3]
Cokemachineglow	(9/10)[4]
Dusted	(very favorable)[5]
No Ripcord	(10/10)[6]
Pitchfork Media	(8.0/10)[7]
Prefix	(9.5/10)[8]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[9]
Uncut	[10]

The album received largely positive reviews upon its release, earning Newsom several accolades that same year and by the end of the decade. In 2009, Pitchfork Media named The Milk-Eyed Mender the 47th greatest album of the 00's.^[11] The website also named "Peach, Plum, Pear" the 197th Greatest Song of the 2000s and "Sprout & The Bean" the 229th.^[12][13] Slant Magazine named the album the 83rd best album of its decade.^[14] The Milk-Eyed Mender was also ranked number 76 inside Tiny Mix Tapes's greatest records of the 2000s list.^[15]

According to The New York Times The Milk-Eyed Mender has sold more than 200,000 copies in the U.S., despite not charting. ^[16]

Track listing

All songs written by Joanna Newsom, except where noted.

1. "Bridges and Balloons" – 3:42
2. "Sprout and the Bean" – 4:32
3. "The Book of Right-On" – 4:29
4. "Sadie" – 6:02
5. "Inflammatory Writ" – 2:50
6. "This Side of the Blue" – 5:21
7. "En Gallop" – 5:07
8. "Cassiopeia" – 3:20
9. "Peach, Plum, Pear" – 3:34
10. "Swansea" – 5:05
11. "Three Little Babes" (traditional) – 3:42
12. "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie" – 4:21

Accolades

• #1 – Dusted End of the Year: 2004^[17]
• #5 – The AV Club's Best Albums of 2004^[18]
• #5 – College Music Journal Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #6 – Tiny Mix Tapes's Favorite Albums of 2004^[20]
• #8 – Sonic's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #7 – Coke Machine Glow Top 50 Albums of 2004^[21]
• #8 – Gaffa's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #10 – Pitchfork Media's Top 50 Albums of 2004^[22]
• #11 – Les Inrockuptibles's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #12 – Blitz's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #15 – Intro's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #17 - Stylus Magazine's Top 40 Albums of 2004^[23]
• #17 – CD Drome's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #20 – Village Voice's 2004 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll^[24]
• #20 – PopMatters's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #20 – Rough Trade's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #21 – No Ripcord's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #25 – BOOMKAT's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #28 – Dagsavisen's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #28 - The Sunday Times's Best Albums of the 00's ^[25]
• #35 - Q's Best Albums of the 00's ^[26]
• #37 – Americana's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #40 - Spin's Top 40 Best Albums of the 2004^[27]
• #45 – Rock de Lux's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #47 - Pitchfork Media's Top 200 Albums of the 2000s^[28]
• #48 – NME's Top Albums of 2004^[19]
• #50 – Rate Your Music's Top 100 Albums of 2004^[29]
• #54 – Porcy's Top 100 Albums of 2000-04^[19]
• #54 – Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of 2000-04^[30]
• #76 - Tiny Mix Tapes's Favorite 100 Albums of 2000-2009^[31]
• #83 - Slant Magazine's Best of the Aughts^[32]
• #88 - Treble's Best Albums of the 00's^[33]
• #162 - Under the Radar's Best Albums of the 00's ^[25]
• No Order - Rolling Stone's Top 50 Records of 2004^[27]
• No Order - Allmusic's Top Albums of 2004^[19]

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ [5]
6. ^ [6]
7. ^ [7]
8. ^ [8]
9. ^ [9]
10. ^ [10]
11. ^ "Staff Lists: The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 50-21". Pitchfork. 2009-10-01. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7709-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-50-21/. Retrieved 2010-02-25. 
12. ^ "Staff Lists: The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 200-101". Pitchfork. 2009-08-18. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7686-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-200-101/1/. Retrieved 2010-02-25. 
13. ^ "Staff Lists: The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 500-201". Pitchfork. 2009-08-17. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7685-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-500-201/6/. Retrieved 2010-02-25. 
14. ^ "Best of the Aughts: Albums | Music". Slant Magazine. http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/feature/best-of-the-aughts-albums/215/page_2. Retrieved 2010-02-25. 
15. ^ "Favorite 100 Albums of 2000-2009: 80-61 | Staff Feature". Tiny Mix Tapes. 2009-01-20. http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/favorite-100-albums-2000-2009-80-61. Retrieved 2010-02-25. 
16. ^ Rosen, Jody (2010-03-07). "Joanna Newsom, the Changeling". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Newsom-t.html?ref=magazine&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
17. ^ "End of the Year: 2004". http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/326. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
18. ^ "Best Albums of 2004". http://www.avclub.com/content/node/24649. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
19. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q} "The Milk-Eyed Mender at Acclaimedmusic.net". Pitchfork. http://acclaimedmusic.net/Current/A4097.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-09. 
20. ^ "Favorite Albums of 2004". http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2004.shtml. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
21. ^ "Top 50 Albums of 2004". http://www.cokemachineglow.com/feature/1779/top50albums-2004?pg=5. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
22. ^ "Top 50 Albums of 2004". Pitchfork. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/38230/Staff_List_Top_50_Albums_of_2004/page_1. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
23. ^ "The Top 40 Albums of 2004". Stylus Magazine. http://stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/the-top-40-albums-of-2004.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
24. ^ "The 2004 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres04.php. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
25. ^ ^{a b} [11]
26. ^ [12]
27. ^ ^{a b} [13]
28. ^ [14]
29. ^ "Top 100 Albums of 2004". http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/2004. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
30. ^ "Top 100 Albums of 2000-04". Pitchfork. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/40568-the-top-100-albums-of-2000-04-part-two. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
31. ^ [15]
32. ^ [16]
33. ^ [17]

External links

• Drag City, album entry in label catalog
• Lyrics, from review site