Joanna Newsom ‎– The Milk-Eyed Mender

This album garnered much attention in the UK after arguably the best, or should that be most sweet, track from it, "This Side Of The Blue", was featured in an award-wining advertising campaign from ad-agency Mother for mobile phone operator Orange, which ran from mid-2006 into the beginning of 2007, starting in cinemas, then due to it's presumed success, continued onto TV.
In cinemas, it usually ran just before the film was due to start, as it had the rather strange tagline for a mobile phone company, 'sometimes things need to switch off, for people to switch on ...good things can happen when your phone's off' ?! (...surely the opposite to what any mobile phone company would want you to actually do to your phone, me thinks).
The content of the advert featured a fictional story of an account of what had happened during the New York City blackout that really did occurred in the city on the afternoon of Thursday 14 August 2003.

Joanna Newsom, a former member of San Francisco group The Pleased, releases here a debut solo record that effortlessly blends the genres of pop and folk together using her trademark instrument the harp, as well as her rather interesting voice, as it's centre. The excellent single, "Sprout And The Bean", is also included on the release.

You'll either like what you hear here, or you'll despise it outright. Me, I happen to like it, as it has something original to add to a commercial music world one often feels is overrun with blandness and conservatism. Just try before you buy with this one, that's all I advise.