Rian Murphy and Will Oldham: All Most Heaven

RIAN MURPHY & WILL OLDHAM: All Most Heaven (Drag City) ***

Fans of Will Oldham will no doubt be very pleased with a four-song EP that features him howling uncharacteristically over layers of well-produced pop music (co-written with Rian Murphy, esteemed producer of Silver Jews and Edith Frost, among others). Hipsters will love that it features Oldham doing a duet with Bill Callahan of Smog, as well as barely audible supporting performances by the likes of Laeticia Sadier of Stereolab, Edith Frost, and Archer Prewitt throughout the EP. Boy-musician types will jerk off to the fact that All Most Heaven was recorded by Steve Albini–in fact, the whole project is in some respects one big indie-rock circle jerk. Fortunately for those involved, the CD came out great: Oldham has never been more vocally adventurous than he is here, reaching ever-throatedly upward to accommodate an uncharacteristically dynamic set of well-written songs. "Song of All" is the final track, a tender, trademark Will Oldham song that makes the EP remarkable. The song rises to a dramatic crescendo toward the end, which could easily make one long for a quieter, more acoustic performance; but this is a different sort of project, and there’s a definite grace to it–which is what makes most of what Will Oldham does so special.