Master and Everyone

Oldham made his name with a perverse streak, a quavering voice and a taste for storytelling that could be broadly termed hillbilly gothic. Master and Everyone, however, is a steady and intimate affair in which he takes on a more conventionally lovelorn persona. It's hard to say whether this directness equals honesty, given that Oldham's tricksy games with character are a match for those of Dylan at his most duplicitous.

Still, Master and Everyoneis an uncommonly engaging album. The musical settings are as minimal as anything Oldham's tried since 1994's Palace Brothers. But there's a certain warmth and quiet confidence that's new, aided by the presence of various bits of Lambchop (including producer/ambient guitarist Mark Nevers) as Oldham's latest back-up band. And, in spite of Oldham claiming he left off a few songs for fear people would like them too much, "The Way", "Wolf among Wolves" and the title track are among the strongest this curmudgeonly genius has ever released. He's still untrustworthy, still spellbinding. --John Mulvey