EVAN MILLER “Twelve Canons” (Night People)

Iowa City main man E. Miller returns for another plate of pensive, six string memory ballads. He sounds even more serious and stately here than on Three Spells for Six String Guitar, if that’s possible. The Takoma Records legacy still hangs heavy in the air over these sessions, and few-to-none of his fixations seem to have shifted. Which, of course, is perfectly okay, as he’s definitely one of the spryer young handiworkers on today’s Fahey/Basho block. But if – as they say – every (Jack) Rose has its thorn, the only semi-needling such detail worth mentioning might be the vague sameness about the songs on Twelve Canons (except for the one with singing, duh). But whatever. I like things that are the same, as do many folk folks. Sick orange-on-red Shawn Reed screenprinted cover of two bucks clashing antlers beneath a levitating skull with bleeding eyes adds a key sheen of menace to the otherwise homebound/daydreamy proceedings.