Joanna Newsom & The Ys Street Band

One wonderful thing about Newsom is that you can take her music lyrically or musically, or both. It's up to you, depending on how you like your music, or what kind of mood you're in when you return to any of her perfect albums of intricate music brocade. Her vocals chirp, whistle, and sing like a bird, her lyrics explore subverted faery and mythological themes (even in the mundane), her music expresses poetic beauty in the form of her liquid harp.