Town And Country

Chicago’s Town & Country did something relatively simple, incredibly effectively – a minimalist chamber ensemble, featuring guitar, trumpet, double bass, piano, and harmonium, exploring how much could be done with very little. Their debut album feels like their most exacting and most pared-back – there is often next-to-nothing going on here, but what does happen can feel oddly momentous, such as the tangle of brass and weeping strings that floats over the purring harmonium of “Crossings.” There are some cat’s-cradle constructions for flinty folk guitar, too, which eventually tussles with plangent plucks on the double bass. Despite its minimalism, it’s full-bodied acoustic music, reminiscent perhaps of Arthur Russell’s classical compositions, or a decelerated, snoozing John Fahey working alongside early Michael Nyman.