Icelandic label Bedroom Community gets off to a flying start in 2008 with this mightily impressive full-length from American songsmith Sam Amidon, who here reinterprets a selection of traditional Appalachian folk songs with help from friends like Valgeir Sigurthsson, Ben Frost, Eyvind Kang and Nico Muhly. This follows on from the Plug Research/Birdwar-released But This Chicken Proved False-Hearted, but finds Amidon's own performances (on guitar, banjo and fiddle, in addition to his singing) resituated within a sprawling, orchestral context. Consequently, there's an argument to be made that Amidon himself isn't really the star of the album: these traditional songs are transformed by Muhly's incredible arrangements - and the remarkably lavish, hi-fi productions are so huge, you could quite happily get lost in them, with only Amidon's voice to guide you out at the other end. About that voice: it's something that's bound to divide opinion. In some ways it sounds a little lazy, a little under-annunciated, but the folksy simplicity of his delivery functions as a counterpoint to the symphonic wall-of-sound backdrop supplied by the supporting cast. It's worth pointing out that these songs don't simply feel as though they've been swollen up by all this extra instrumentation, but that they've been rewritten to some degree, with pieces like 'Saro' and 'Wild Bill Jones' taking on the upscaled sophistication of a Nick Drake recording or a Jimmy Webb ballad. A lovely piece of work that's HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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