to get his due.(Righteous Babe)Vermont-based Anaïs Mitchell takes us on a mesmerizing, melodic voyage with, the perfect follow-up to the ambitious folk-opera of. Certainly it's more intimate, stripped down and accessible, but it's every bit as enchanting.is easily one of the most heartbreaking, insightful, impassioned, complex and delightful releases of the year. There's a meaningful story behind every song, but it is the title track, where she unfurls a disquieting portrait of pastoral America, that serves to really anchor the record. Part social commentary, part literary poetry, Mitchell is so sublimely genuine on all her songs you're made to believe she is recounting childhood memories. Her distinctive voice — innocent, mournful and fragile — mirrors her captivating storytelling.further solidifies the gifted wordsmith's upcoming place among today's most celebratedfolk heavyweights. It will surely be considered an essential Anaïs Mitchell record for years to come and an excellent — albeit late — entry point for anyone who has not been following her career.(Merge)For all of the dreamy strangeness that each Lambchop album possesses, once their codes are cracked, they become a world that one wants to be totally consumed by. It often takes some serious listening to reach that point, but on, Lambchop's Zen country (for lack of a better term) came across as magnificently as it ever has. Much of that had to do with the band's guiding force, Kurt Wagner, using much of the album to address the suicide of his close friend and fellow singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt. It was a death that could partially