The atmospheric banjo leads toward these warm piano chords before the song really picks up. These are the opening strains of the Acorn’s No Ghost as “Cobbled from Dust” leads off an album which shares a lot with Southerly. It’s an ethereal AltFolk—rich, enveloping, and with just enough groove to leave you leaning forward in your seat as you wait for the song to develop to that point.
“Restoration” clicks along with an AltCountry lilt. Similar to Justin Beckler’s blues-drenched folk, “I Made the Law” comes out of a country blues corner while the electric guitar charges forward with great crashes. You might expect a song named “Bobcat Goldwraith” to be a throw away, but it actually has a tender guitar line, an inspiring tom tom rhythm, an anthemic chorus, and a drum circle-like feel.
Southerly: Champion of the Noisy Negativist EP
Speaking of Southerly, earlier in 2010 Krist Krueger’s project released Champion of the Noisy Negativist, a 5-song instrumental EP. Haunting as it starts with “Trials,” the EP then turns melancholic with the title track. “Repercussions” vamps on Krueger’s piano with its hopeful strains amid drum machine static. While not created in the cut-and-paste sound sample way of Decomposure, there’s a way in which these songs are crafted with the same looping feel.
The Acorn
Bella Union
Southerly
Self Group
