What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians?
A drummer.

How can you tell if the stage is level?
The drummer is drooling from both sides of his mouth.

How can you tell when a drummer’s at the door?
He doesn’t know when to come in.

Poor old drummers, they are always the butt of the joke. So here is Joshua Tillman to strike a blow for drummers everywhere.

Tillman is the drummer and backing vocalist from 2008’s band de jour Fleet Foxes. This is his fifth solo album, though only his second UK release and on the back of the success of Fleet Foxes, Tillman is finally getting the notice he deserves.

Tillman’s music is very different to the rich reverberating sound of the Fleet Foxes, it is stark in comparison. The Foxes are all about choral exuberance, whereas Tillman is a lone traveller lost in a barren terrain with only his trusty guitar for company. As the title suggests, the blues are alive and well here. The blues are part of the journey and Tillman does not rail against it, he embraces it. He has the voice of Hemingway’s Old Man in his battered fishing boat. His weather-beaten, world-weary tones are thick and woolly.

Tillman’s band mates Casey Wescott and Christian Wargo contribute to the album and occasionally there is a hint of the Fleet Foxes sound, particularly during the harmonies in Firstborn. Incidentally, Firstborn is one of the best tracks on the album. It is typically sparse but while some other tracks sound a little lacking, in this instance it works perfectly.

The arrangement and lyrics on Vacilando Territory Blues are sparing, each note and each word is deliberate, carefully selected and purposeful. Tillman’s sound is somewhere between Nick Drake and Iron and Wine. However, every now and then the album starts to flag and lose its impetus – tracks such as Vessels are in danger of getting lost. The album boasts a few livelier tracks to jolt it back into action. Steel on Steel and New Imperial Grand Blues have a raw bluesy edge and some welcome decibels. Above All Men is a more uplifting number, more lyrically buoyant and resplendent with piano, guitar and strings.

Introspection is the byword with Vacilando Territory Blues. It is an album about learning to embrace loneliness. Reflective, existential and wistful, Tillman’s music belongs to the night time. It’s one for long solo journeys through foothills and mountains; one for insomniacs.

Release date: 26/01/09
Artist website: www.myspace.com/jtillman
Label: Bella Union

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