Absolutely essential
5
By K. Griggs
Featuring songs written during a retreat in Northern Norway, 11 Old Songs is a bit of a departure for Phil Elverum. The bulk of this home-recorded album features a single overdubbed cheap casio keyboard as accompaniment. This might sound gimmicky, but in execution it actually works out to be quite lovely, if sweetly strange and otherworldly. Elverum is perhaps best known for his unconvential recording techniques and skillfully crafted sonic textures, but here the focus shifts to his skill as a lyricist, and he's more than up to the task, presenting songs which rank among his finest, with "Great Ghosts", "The Dead of Night", and "I Say No" being among the highlights. Think Will Oldham as produced by Ariel Pink--it's dark but ultimately uplifting.
