How many men with guitars does the world need? Well, the world seems to want more and more of them, if the success of albums by Bon Iver and James Morrison, among others, are anything to go by. J Tillman tends towards the former, in that lovely space occupied by artists such as Chris Bathgate, Will Johnson, Damien Jurado, Nick Drake, and maybe even Ryan Adams, where gently beautifully sad portraiture is the order of the day. Vacilando Territory Blues is a rather gorgeous take from someone attempting something more modern than rehash old blues forms - the stories come from the same place they always did, but Tillman gives them space to breathe and a non-pastiche treatment. His warm, affecting voice is like one of the acoustic instruments, with a lovely catch and gentle burr. Songs like Firstborn would fit happily on any of Ryan Adams' better albums - in an ideal world, J. Tillman would be held in the same reverence that the more variable Adams is today. If you need more reason, Tillman joined Fleet Foxes to help out just as they broke through in 2008...And here are a couple of mp3s from the record...
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