''The Milk-Eyed Mender'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American singer-songwriter

Joanna Newsom Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Northern California, Newsom was classically trained on the harp in her youth and began her musical career as a keyboardist in the San Francisc ...

, released on March 23, 2004, by Drag City.

Background

Newsom wrote all the songs on the album except for "Three Little Babes", a traditional Appalachian song by

Texas Gladden Texas Anna Gladden (' Smith, March 14, 1895 – May 23, 1966)

. According to the liner notes, Newsom plays "a Lyon & Healy style 15

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

, a

wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

electric piano, a

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

, and piano." A bandmate in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

band

The Pleased The Pleased was an American pop rock and indie rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 2002 and active in California until their disbandment in 2006. Description The band featured prominent " freak folk" musicians and producers Joanna Ne ...

Noah Georgeson Noah Georgeson is an American musician, producer, engineer, mixer and solo recording artist. Georgeson's debut album '' Find Shelter'' was released through Plain Recordings on November 28, 2006. Early life and education Born in San Anselmo, ...

, 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 Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

, Devendra Banhart, and

Vetiver ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to ''Sorghum'' but shares many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such as ...

, along with many others. The song "Swansea" was covered by the band

Bombay Bicycle Club Bombay Bicycle Club are an English indie rock band from Crouch End, London, consisting of Jack Steadman, Jamie MacColl, Suren de Saram, and Ed Nash. They are guitar-fronted and have experimented with different genres, including folk, electron ...

and featured on their sophomore album '' Flaws'' in 2010. The song "The Book of Right-On" was both sampled from and reprised by Newsom on

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

' 2010 release ''

How I Got Over "How I Got Over" is a Gospel hymn composed and published in 1951 by Clara Ward (1924–1973). Notable recordings of this work have been made by Mahalia Jackson (1961, winner of the Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance in 1976), and t ...

'', the refrain forming the backbone of ' Right On', the album's ninth track, and covered by bluegrass

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

Sarah Jarosz Sarah Jarosz ( ; born May 23, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter from Wimberley, Texas. Her first album, ''Song Up in Her Head'', was released in 2009

on her 2013's album ''

Build Me Up from Bones ''Build Me Up From Bones'' is the third studio album by American folk and bluegrass singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz, released on September 24, 2013 on Sugar Hill Records. It was recorded and mixed at Minutia Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, by G ...

.''

Critical reception

''The Milk-Eyed Mender'' received widespread critical acclaim from contemporary music critics, earning Newsom several accolades that same year and by the end of the decade. MacKenzie Wilson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album a favorable review, stating, "Newsom's childlike voice brings an unstudied grace to an innocent setting of songs, and such quirkiness is hard to find among most guitar-driven indie acts. Delicate harp arrangements are nicely sprinkled among specks of pianos, organs, and a harpsichord, only adding to the fascination that is ''Milk-Eyed Mender''. Newsom exists in several musical spheres, one being a member of

, while not forgetting how wonderful it is to live in a warm place that leaves you bright-eyed and hopeful for only what is good in life." ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' ranked it at #28 on its best albums of the decade list, and in 2009, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' named ''The Milk-Eyed Mender'' the 47th greatest album of the 2000s. The website also named "Peach, Plum, Pear" the 197th Greatest Song of the 2000s (decade) and "Sprout & The Bean" the 229th. ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' named the album the 83rd best album of its decade. ''The Milk-Eyed Mender'' was also ranked number 76 inside ''

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, a ...

's'' greatest records of the 2000s (decade) list. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''The Milk-Eyed Mender'' has sold more than 200,000 copies in the U.S., despite not charting.

Accolades

End of year *#1 – Dusted End of the Year: 2004 *#5 –

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

's Best Albums of 2004 *#5 –

College Music Journal CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

Top Albums of 2004 *#8 – Sonic's Top Albums of 2004 *#8 –

Gaffa ''Gaffa'' (stylized as ''GAFFA'') is a free Nordic music magazine with local editions in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''Gaffa'' is Denmark's largest and oldest music magazine. It has been published since 1983 and has 320,000 print readers and ...

's Top Albums of 2004 *#10 –

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

's Top 50 Albums of 2004 *#11 –

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' () is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. Now it is a monthly again, since 2021. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's primary focus, though every issue in ...

's Top Albums of 2004 *#12 –

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

's Top Albums of 2004 *#17 -

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

's Top 40 Albums of 2004 *#20 –

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

's 2004 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll *#20 –

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

's Top Albums of 2004 *#20 – Rough Trade's Top Albums of 2004 *#21 – No Ripcord's Top Albums of 2004 *#25 – BOOMKAT's Top Albums of 2004 *#28 –

Dagsavisen ''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...

's Top Albums of 2004 *#37 – Americana UK's Top Albums of 2004 *#40 -

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

's Top 40 Best Albums of the 2004 *#45 – Rock de Lux's Top Albums of 2004 *#48 –

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

's Top Albums of 2004 *No Order -

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

's Top 50 Records of 2004 *No Order -

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Top Albums of 2004 End of decade *#28 -

's Best Albums of the '00s *#35 - Q's Best Albums of the '00s *#47 -

's Top 200 Albums of the '00s *#83 -

's Best of the Aughts *#88 - Treble's Best Albums of the '00s *#162 - Under the Radar's Best Albums of the '00s Other *#54 – Porcy's Top 100 Albums of 2000-04 *#54 –

's Top 100 Albums of 2000-04 *#89 -

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

's Top 100 Indie Albums of All Time

's ''100 Best Indie Rock Albums of All Time''.

Track listing

Personnel

* Joanna Newsom – vocals, harp, harpsichord, acoustic piano, wurlitzer electric piano * Noah Georgeson – producer * Emily Prince – artwork * Alissa Anderson – photography

References

External links

Drag City
album entry in label catalog

from review site {{DEFAULTSORT:Milk-Eyes Mender, The 2004 debut albums Joanna Newsom albums New Weird America albums Drag City (record label) albums Albums produced by Noah Georgeson