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music reviewsBILL BACHMANN—FOLK-N-ROLLER(Flight of the BumBillB Records)Sometimes you know exactly whatyou’re going to get just by looking at analbum’s cover. And one glance at Folk-N-Roller, with its friendly picture of singersongwriter/multi-instrumentalistBill Bachmann tucked under theblanket beside an acoustic guitar with an electric guitar in his hands, orat song titles like “Kill That Other Beer” or “The New Hip Song” andyou know you’re in for some irreverent fun.Barely stopping to catch his breath from track to track, Bachmannserves up a collection of wry tunes that may put the listener at risk ofinjury from persistent toe-tapping or air guitar plucking.It’s not all breakneck comedic fun, of course. “Your Old Man” is apoignant reverie about a father-son relationship that isn’t far off fromNeil Young’s classic “Old Man,” though perhaps a bit more sentimental.“Too Late” also brings the tempo down, with lyrics about lost love and asolemn musical arrangement to match.But the vast majority of Folk-N-Roller is plucky fun, like the ode tosweets—or rather avoiding sweets— “Candy Man,” or the artist’s owninfectious theme song, “B-A-C-H-M-A-N-N,” with its fiddle-drivenclever puns and inside jokes.Folk-N-Roller is Hudson Valley roots music at its best, the perfectsoundtrack to boat rides along the Hudson, drives through the Catskillsor good times with friends on the front porch. —Crispin Kottwww.billbachmannmusic.comLAURENCE JUBER—LJ PLAYS THE BEATLESVOL. 2(Acoustic Music Resource Records)Laurence Juber was a member of Wings, though not until 1979 and onlybriefly as Paul McCartney split up the band two years later. It’s likelyJuber played a bunch of Beatles songs with McCartney during his timewith Wings, though it’s still a little strange that he’s just released asecond volume of amiable acoustic versions of their music.Juber is a skilled musician, and his nuanced approach to songs like “YouCan’t Do That” and “Dear Prudence” are more enjoyable than not.But the whole thing sort of smacks of cheapness, and it’s a shame. Ifyou broke up with a significant other, and they kept showing up andsinging your favorite songs, would you give them a pass just because theydid it proficiently, or would you close the blinds and pretend youweren’t home?Putting that aside, LJ Plays the Beatles Vol. 2 is still an interestinglisten for two reasons: the songs of the Beatles are still the songsof the Beatles, and they’d sound great if played by an orchestrawielding nothing more than shotguns and kazoos. The otherreason the album works, at least a bit, is that Juber is so damngood on the guitar. As with most Beatles covers, you’re not goingto prefer anything here to the originals. But then again, soloacoustic versions of “Please Please Me” or “I Am the Walrus”might be just what you need sometimes. And if that’s the case,you could do worse than seeking this album out. —Crispin KottBREAKFAST IN FUR—BREAKFAST IN FUR (EP)(Analog Edition Records)Let’s say for the sake of argument that Breakfast in Fur laid a totalstinker with their self-titled EP, filled it with unlovable and unlistenablecrud and walked off scot-free. They’d still be the only band in the shorthistory of the chillwave movement to release music that didn’t use asnapshot found in the bottom of a shoebox at a yard sale as its cover art.So that’s good news.And the other good news, the best news actually, is that Breakfast in Furis really quite good. Full of gauzy vocals, found sounds and samples,and kitchen sink melodies, the EP is a hopeful sign of very good thingsto come.“Shine” sees the New Paltz collective in interplanetary Phil Spectormode, while they spill deeply into the shoegaze realm of My BloodyValentine with the shimmering “A Quiet Place.”If there’s anything negative to be said aboutBreakfast in Fur, it’s that it’s just much too short.Hopefully the band has a full album in themand will get around to it sooner than later.Breakfast in Fur is available to download forfree on Bandcamp, and can also be purchasedon CD. —Crispin Kottwww.breakfastinfur.tumblr.comwww.laurencejuber.com30 | rollmagazine.com