Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Release Date: 11/14/2006
In the years since their biggest early act,
the Decemberists, made the jump first to
Kill Rock Stars and then to
Capitol Records, the tiny Portland, OR, indie
Hush Records has quietly turned into one of the most consistently interesting small labels in the
country. Although
Hush has its share of
pop bands (
Norfolk & Western, featuring ex-
Decemberists drummer
Rachel Blumberg; the flat-out terrific
Parks & Recreation), the label has also developed an impressive stable of
folk and
country-tinged
singer/songwriters, including
Casey Dienel,
Shelley Short, and now,
Laura Gibson.
Gibson's second album and first for the label (her 2004 debut,
Amends, was self-released),
If You Come to Greet Me is a textbook
Hush release.
Folk-based but not in the self-consciously "weird" tradition of the
Devendra Banhart wing of the current
folk-rock revival, these nine intimate songs are centered on
Gibson's close-miked nylon-string guitar and warm, appealingly scratchy voice. (Imagine
Joanna Newsom singing much lower than her trademark
Betty Boop register, and more assuredly on pitch.) However,
Gibson's backing band on this album is the core of
Norfolk & Western (
Blumberg on drums and vibes,
Peter Broderick on various stringed things and musical saw,
Cory Gray on piano and trumpet, and leader
Adam Selzer on electric guitar and samples;
Selzer also co-produced and mixed), and the album has the same rich
alt-folk vibe as their own recent releases, like a less trippy and emotionally fragile
Neutral Milk Hotel. The resulting combination of
singer/songwriter directness and subtle but exquisitely detailed
chamber pop arrangements gives
If You Come to Greet Me greater musical depth than many similar neo-
folk albums.
~Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
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