Blake Miller - Togeather With Cats [Exit Stencil Recordings - 2007]Together with cats brings together some of this blossoming 19 year old singer songwriters best tracks recorded over the last year. Set primal in folk genre, but weaving in soulful blues traces, aged pop and sparing use of electronics on a few tracks. All the tracks start with an acoustic guitar and Millers tuneful 70’s hazed vocal base, though sometimes just those two elements are left alone. Miller usual layers up the track with extra guitar strums, vocal layers, lite percussive matter, subtle noise recordings, Slide guitar, violin and subtle electronics here and there. But it never becomes too dense or crowded the tracks tuneful and ragged folk hearts are always aloud to shine brightly. It’s a fairly pleasant and memorable collection of tunes,though I would have like to have seen Miller taking some more textural and experimental risks, as some of the tracks just drift by a little indiffently.
A satisfying enough collection of lo-fi hazed folk tunes, that I’m sure will be enjoyed by those who enjoyed tuneful if not partially daring folk pop caft.    Roger Batty
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