“Year In The Kingdom” unravels some kind of galactic wilderness. J.Tillman’s sixth album lyrically borders on the mystic; proffering a transcendent union, an effortlessness. Strange and honest, this song cycle inhabits it’s own idea-scape; one seemingly obsessed with wrestling death. These are afterlife dialogues of a mysterious future. Celestial badlands.

Unknown to just about everyone, Tillman started recording in April, tracking most of the instruments during the two week session himself. Hammered dulcimer, banjo, recorder, cymbals of varying size and wheezing air organs all feature heavily and lend Year in The Kingdom it’s bizarre scale, conjuring tidal shifts with tiny movements. The string arrangements, performed by Jenna Conrad, as well as transposed from Tillman’s sung direction, were intended to rest on chords almost counter-intuitively, bringing to bloom complex, de-contextualized tones. Most noticeable upon first listen, however, is the production itself. While most of Tillman’s records evidence some shambolic home recording, YITK is undisturbed throughout. Out up front of the mix, and dry as a bone, Tillman’s voice is featured in a way unlike any of his previous records.

Year In The Kingdom sounds liberated; it is far and away Tillman’s most joyful work. Created with little input or context, it is seemingly disinterested in communicating much else than a meditation for the few who allow themselves to listen with an open heart.

Tracklisting
1. YEAR IN THE KINGDOM
2. CROSSWINDS
3. EARTHLY BODIES
4. HOWLING LIGHT
5. THOUGH I HAVE WRONGED YOU
6. AGE OF MAN
7. THERE IS NO GOOD IN ME
8. MARKED IN THE VALLEY
9. LIGHT OF THE LIVING

Professional Reviews
Spin (p.88) – “[H]is arrangements — solemn, intimate, dulcimer-fortified — sound suited for a campfire in a cathedral.”

Q (Magazine) (p.117) – 3 stars out of 5 — “[A] sombre affair….[With] Tillman’s quiet, quivering voice carrying the song cycle about the death of love, and well, just death.”

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Fleet Foxes – Self Titled

With their self-titled full-length Subpop debut, Fleet Foxes have made an impressively confident and beautiful set of indie-folk tunes. While singer/guitarist Robin Pecknold’s warm, evocative voice clearly brings to mind My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, his tight vocal harmonies with other members of the band evoke vintage Beach Boys (”He Doesn’t Know Why”). And although the group’s gentle instrumentation and lo-fi aesthetic affectionately acknowledge 1960s/’70s british folk, they steer clear of self-consciously quirky “freak folk” meanderings, and opt instead for wonderfully crafted chamber-pop (”White Winter Hymnal”). One of the finest indie releases of 2008, Fleet Foxes casts an undeniably enchanting spell.

Produced by Phil Ek, whose many production credits include recent albums by The Shins and Band of Horses.

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.82) – 4 stars out of 5 — “A lower-dosage Animal Collective, the Foxes stuff their free-form songs with rich, swirling melodies; bellowing clouds of organs…and bells and assorted stringed instruments…”

Rolling Stone (p.90) – Ranked #11 in Rolling Stone’s 50 Best Albums Of 2008 — “[T]he prettiest album of the year, and the warmest.”

Spin (p.108) – 4 stars out of 5 — “FLEET FOXES is warm and cathartic, with all the hopefulness of a balmy summer night.”

Spin (p.52) – Ranked #5 in Spin’s “40 Best Albums Of 2008″ — “Fleet Foxes distinguish themselves from the vintage-vinyl crowd by infusing their rootsy retro-pop moves with a sense of mystery…”

Entertainment Weekly (p.71) – “‘Ragged Wood’ moseys in on breezy harmonies, transforming the folk rock to beach pop in the pick of a high, tensile guitar string.” — Grade: A

Magnet (p.102) – “‘Ragged Wood’ begins with a shuffling twang, but before settling too deeply into the standard top-down AMericana, the song downshifts into a loose, lovesick midsection whose eventual peak feels as natural as it does surprising.”

Q (Magazine) (p.101) – 4 stars out of 5 — “[T]he quintet win solely on the strength of their complex but unaffectedly lovely songs….A pure pleasure.”

Mojo (Publisher) (p.73) – Ranked #1 in Mojo’s “The 50 Best Albums Of 2008″ — “A musical tonic of our times; a reminder of what humanity is capable of.”

Blender (Magazine) (p.72) – 3.5 stars out of 5 — “Fleet Foxes go for a somber, bombed-out hippy vibe, with acoustic guitars and five-part harmonies filling ‘White Winter Hymns’ and ‘Blue Ridge Mountains.’”

Paste (magazine) (p.65) – “[W]hat we take away from the album is less a collection of specific moments and more of a feeling. It’s like watching the sun rise over distant mountaintops, over and over, familiar and captivating all at once.”

Clash (magazine) (p.126) – “From the a capella opening to ‘White Winter Hymnal’ and the mature folk sensibility of ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song,’ this album heralds the arrival of an interesting, seductive and confidently singular sound.”

Clash (magazine) (p.64) – Ranked #25 in Clash’s “The 40 Best Albums of 2008″ — “Blending the sweetness and innocence of ’60s AM radio gems and Californian harmonies with shimmering, wide-open guitars, Fleet Foxes are a truly special band…”