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Zach Tillman makes compelling alt-folk under the moniker Pearly Gate Music. He  has a new session up on one of our favorite websites: Daytrotter. He’s also sharing a new song off of a tour EP.

MP3: I Was a River (live)

Pearly Gate Music’s self-titled debut LP will be released on May 18 by Barsuk.

Magnetic Fields

Realism

Nonesuch CD

In a sharp turnaround from Magnetic Fields’ previous LP, the boisterous, thoroughly amplified Distortion, their latest release, Realism, contains a liner note caveat: ‘no synths.’ Realism brings the unplugged aesthetic to Stephin Merritt’s wittily acerbic songs – with stirring results.

“You Must be Out of Your Mind” is a classic example of Merritt’s simultaneously humorous and poignant lyrics – a paean to jilted lovers everywhere, exhorting them to avoid their former partners like the plague. A small sampling, “You think I’ll run, not walk, to you, Why would I want to talk to you? I want you crawling back to me, down on your knees, yeah, Like an appendectomy, sans anesthesia…” Ouch!

Meanwhile, “We are Having a Hootenanny Now” celebrates the bluegrass/alt-folk signatures employed throughout the album with a rousing verse, rollicking chord changes, and a dialing back of Magnetic Fields’ ironic propensities in favor of a moment of musical jocularity.

But don’t expect Merritt to refrain from tongue-in-cheek witticisms for long. “Everything is One Big Tree” allows for irony to reign supreme once again; complete with a second chorus in German!

Realism is required listening – It’s been in heavy rotation since its arrival here at 218 Augusta St.!

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Sadly, the band’s not letting any of this material out for preview, but RCRDLBL has been kind enough to share a couple tracks from their preceding releases.

MV & EE

Barn Nova

Ecstatic Peace CD

Sometimes one picks music that imitates the landscape outside. If I was going that route during yesterday’s blizzard, John Luther Adams might have been just the ticket. But instead, I found myself yearning for other seasons; other temperatures.

MV & EE, being Vermont natives, probably know all about wishing to banish away wintry cold with dreams of summer’s charms. Perhaps that’s why one of the most evocative songs on their latest CD, Barn Nova, is entitled “Summer Magic.” It winds a circuitous pathway between hazy psych folk and solo-laden indie rock, including deliberately blurred atmospherics, amiably underscored singing, and numerous guitar jams. “Get Right Church” employs extended swamp rock grooving and psych blues soloing in an extended outing with considerable swing.

Barn Nova features several extended cuts like these, but MV & EE are also capable of pithy conciseness where necessary. I particularly like the taut and twangy “Feelin’ Fire,” a mid tempo ballad with rusticated edges and a loping groove that unfold a considerably charming musical landscape in a scant two minutes.  The album’s closer, “You Feel,” is similarly compact, but contains a plethora of soulful guitar riffs in counterpoint with keenly melodic bass guitar: a wealth of information in a piece that’s over almost as soon as its begun. Whether tackling larger musical structures or crafting adroit miniatures, MV & EE continue a winning streak as collaborators on Barn Nova.

Hoots and Hellmouth

Holy Open Secret

MAD Dragon Records CD

Hoots and Hellmouth

Holy Open Secret

To date, Philadelphian alt-folk band Hoots and Hellmouth are probably best known for bringing together the twang of countrified alt-folk with jam rock stylings. One can certainly detect this juxtaposition on “Rest of the Industry,” the leadoff track on their second LP, Holy Open Secret. It’s palpable in the exuberant sing alongs “You and All of Us” and “Watch Your Mouth,” which also have a tinge of punkabilly brashness in their howled calls and responses. And “What Good are Plowshares (if we use them like Swords)” adds a bit of acid jazz organ to the fulsome mix.

While the stirring, exuberant side of their music-making is compelling, indeed uplifting, there are other facets to Hoots and Hellmouth. The group is capable of eloquent delicacy, even poignancy, on ballads such as “Family Band” and “Three Penny Charm,” and warm, banjo-laden fluidity on the ragtime-inflected “Dishpan Hands.” Foot-stomping though their uptempo numbers may be, one is equally engaged by these contrasting modes of music-making; it gives Holy Open Secret artistic depth, stylistic range, and abundant appeal.

MP3: Daniel Rossen: Waterfall

MP3: Friday Hyvonen: Jesus was a Crossmaker

(Links courtesy of American Dust and Stereogum)

Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill

Various Artists

American Dust CD

Judee Sill (1944-79) was not a prolific recording artist; the singer-songwriter released only a couple of proper studio albums before leaving the industry (a number of compilations and reissues are out there as well). But she was an influential figure for folk artists willing to take on spiritual themes in a secular era. Her lyrics feature an off-kilter yet fervent take on motifs from Christianity (her one hit – “Jesus was a Crossmaker”). But there’s a concomitant spaceyness that sets her work far apart from more mainstream religious pop artists.

Crayon Angels features both established and emerging indie artists performing some of Sills’ best known songs. Highlights include a one-two punch at the beginning of the album; Ron Sexsmith’s honey-voiced take on the title track and Beth Orton’s spare, affecting piano ballad rendition of “Reach for the Sky.” Also stirring are Grizzly Bear’s singer Daniel Rossen, whose version of “Waterfall” alternates impressive walls of vocals with more simply adorned voice-guitar verses, and Frida Hyvonen’s rousing “Jesus Was a Crossmaker.”

Princeton captures the psych-folk flavor of “Where the Valleys Are Low,” pitting carnival keys against baritone vocals in a sweet-tart send-up. The Bye Bye Blackbirds give “There’s a Rugged Road” a countrified cast, bringing suave harmony singing and pedal steel to the mix.  Meg Baird’s “When the Bridegroom Comes” recalls Dixieland jazz with a brass band accompaniment.

Sure, like most comps, not all of the tracks are winners. However, Crayon Angels features a number of well-crafted musical tributes to an underappreciated songwriter.

Ruby Throat

The Ventriloquist

Sleep Like Wolves (Ryko)