No Earthly Man

Formerly leader of the quirky Scottish alt-folk outfit Appendix Out, Alasdair Roberts maintains a similarly difficult to peg style on his third solo album. Abandoning his idiosyncratic songwriting for the moment, Roberts chose a selection of eight familiar Scottish folk songs ranging from "A Lyke Wake Dirge" to "The Cruel Mother." With the help of arranger Isobel Campbell (ex-Belle & Sebastian) and producer Will Oldham (Palace, Bonnie Prince Billy, etc.), Roberts turns these straightforward-enough tunes into disorienting soundscapes filled with Campbell's ghostly cello, unearthly wails, and various unsettling noises underneath his own vocals and guitar.