Roots

The latest releases reviewed.

KEVIN HOUSE World of Beauty Bongo Beat ****

Who is Kevin House and where does he get these folky minimalist fragments of sweetness? His biog goes: "Born in England/raised in Canada and the US in trailer parks, condominiums and houses/ wandered through abandoned forests/floated down strange rivers/ drew pictures of foilage/burnt finger with a car cigarette lighter. . . Wrote songs with departure heroes, hobo kings, fairground kids and women of tall ships/Painted on canvas."

The latter is important. House's visual art tunes into his songs and performance. Gentle, softly insistent, evocative, a little quirky, quietly memorable, interesting. It could be just him and his guitar/banjo, but there are layers in the background, brushed snare, distant electric guitar, tuneful piano. www.kevinhouse.ca JOE BREEN

Download tracks: World of Beauty, Lucia Zarate, Waterfall

RACHEL HARRINGTON The Bootlegger's Daughter Skinnydennis records ****

This album is like tuning into some obscure backwoods American radio station from sepia-tinted days of yore. There is an innocence, a willingness, an awkwardness and an honesty that shines through. Rachel Harrington was raised in rural Oregon, and her music inhabits that fertile space between folk, bluegrass and country. The voice can be a little hard, as on Shoeless Joe, but the epic Up the River shows her ability to tell a story with drama and conviction. Both of those songs are Harrington's own; in fact, she wrote eight of the 10 tracks. While some are stronger than others, all show great promise, with echoes of Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams and other classy touchstones. www.rachelharrington.net JOE BREEN

Download tracks: Sunshine Girl, Walk to You