Seattle quintet Fleet Foxes filter the spirit of baroque harmony, the Byrds, Joni Mitchell and a little Motown on their self-titled debut album.
Who: Robin Pecknold and his friend Skye Skjelset picked up guitar around the same time, immersed themselves in the music collections of their parents and delved into their own songwriting.
In 2006, they emerged as Fleet Foxes, eventually recruiting keyboardist Casey Wescott, drummer Joshua Tillman and bassist Christian Wargo, crafting their first demo and the songs that comprise this album.
About the album: Traditional folk, choral music, gospel, baroque and West Coast pop-rock are patched together across 11 tracks on Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop).
Lyrical inspiration is derived from nature and family, past loves and past lives.
"All we strove for with this record was to make something that was an honest reflection of who we are, citizens of the western United States who love all kinds of music and, above all else, love singing," Pecknold explains.
Indeed, despite all the instruments brought to bear, it is the human voice that is celebrated loudest here. And for good reason.
Highlights: Album opener Sun It Rises starts off with a group vocal that suggests one is listening to a church congregation from afar before the band members spread their wings with tense electric guitar lines and stacked harmonies; Ragged Wood provides greater movement courtesy of a country shuffle and clanky, dark guitar.
For those who like: The unexpected.
Canadian quintet the Acorn marry modern and traditional instrumentation on their introspective album Glory Hope Mountain.
Who: The Acorn began as a solo electro-acoustic project of Rolf Klausener in 2002, but has grown to include Jeff Debutte, Keiko Devaux, T.
Jeffrey Malecki and Howie Tsui.
They released the first album, The Pink Ghosts, in 2004, followed up with less instrumental EP Blankets! the following year, hit the road for a year of touring, then put out another EP, Tin Fist, in 2007.
The release of the latest album has garnered them plenty of critical praise, both in Canada and the United States.
About the album: Glory Hope Mountain is based on the life of Klausener's mother, Honduran-born Gloria Esperanza Montoya.
The title is a loose translation of her name and, similarly, the lyrics are anthropomorphic representations of her life, rather than direct biographical tales.
Recorded in a rented house in Ottawa, the album benefits from some musicology (Klausener studied Honduran indigenous music, which has connections to West Africa roots), yet its strength lies in its variety of instrumentation, from brass, gut-string guitars and tribal percussion to vocal chanting.
Highlights: First track Hold Your Breath begins sparingly with just voice and piano before a gently finger-picked guitar ushers in a grooving backbeat that adds a nice pulse to the song; elsewhere Crooked Legs is a good example of the group's ability to mix and match rhythms and textures, both old and new.
For those who like: Ry Cooder's musical studies of Central America, something a little different.
