textura

Albums
Vieo Abiungo
Monty Adkins
Anduin
Asonat
Aspidistrafly
Bersarin Quartett
Black Eagle Child
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Bryter Layter
bvdub
Celer
Claro Intelecto
Cock And Swan
J. Crunch & H. Nakamura
G. Davis & F.-Marie Uitti
Gareth Dickson
Dictaphone
Roger Doyle
Ex Confusion
Fear Falls Burning
Greg Haines
Konntinent
Nina Kraviz
Listening Mirror
Markus Mehr
Matt Northrup
Orcas
Oxia
S. Peters & S. Roden
Pjusk
Quicksails
Riverz End
School of Seven Bells
Yoshinori Takezawa
Manuel Tur
Robert Turman
WhoMadeWho

Compilations / Mixes
Photek

EPs
Evy Jane
Father You See Queen
Tevo Howard
Jitterbug
MayMay
Mr. Beatnick
Tony Ollivierra
Shaula
Spargel Trax

Cassettes
56K
Windmill • Waterwheel

MayMay: MayMay
flau

Though short at sixteen minutes, MayMay's enchanting self-titled EP nevertheless makes a strong impression. Laurel Simmons is the figure behind the MayMay curtain, and for the recording, the Portland-based songwriter enlisted Heather Woods Broderick, Raúl Pastor Medall (aka Rauelsson), and Nicholas Archibald Marshall as help-mates for the five songs.

MayMay's music bespeaks a well-tuned instrumental ear, given the subtle touches that add such vibrant colour to the finger-picked guitar-and-vocal core of the songs. In “Born A Fable,” for example, subtle accents of shaker percussion, glockenspiel, and melodica add to the song's acoustic guitars and haunting vocals, while the folk splendour of “All Is Still” is elevated by the addition of strings and glockenspiel to its acoustic guitar and soothingly soft vocal. “If It Remains Light” sounds especially home-recorded in being the most stripped-down of the five songs and in allowing the faint chatter of birds to inhabit part of the song's background.

With the songs' arrangements so elemental, any flaws in her vocals would be glaringly exposed, but there's no cause for concern on that count, as Simmons' singing is a thing of beauty throughout this blink-and-you'll-miss-it release. Fragile in tone and emotionally affecting, Simmons' pastoral folk songs breathe with a quiet and natural warmth that makes them feel as if they were recorded on a late summer afternoon in her backyard.

April 2012