Black Twig Pickers: Ironto Special

Beautifully hand-rendered, Old Weird America folk.

Part of a gang of Virginian musicians -- including Pelt, Spiral Joy Band, and the late, great Jack Rose -- who cross drone and psychedelia with folk and blues modes, The Black Twig Pickers are the traditionalists of the scene, whittling away at an increasingly idiosyncratic vision of old-timey music. They're good at loose, rangy porch-front jams but really excel when reeling out lone melodies on fiddle, as on "Walls Of Jericho" and "Ducks On The Pond." Think The Anthology of American Folk Music upholstered for the 21st century.

-- Jon Dale, Uncut