Nat Baldwin

When Nat Baldwin croons that he's "so busy, so busy thinking about kissing you," locked in harmonic partnership with his bowed double bass, it's easy to realize your day has just gotten much better. From his beginnings as a Wesleyan acolyte of Anthony Braxton through wonderful collaborations with other alum like violinist Jessica Pavone and his stint as bassist for Dirty Projectors, it's clear that Baldwin is overqualified to simply "rock out." Luckily, it's with the same sort of ecstatic invention as the late Arthur Russell that he spins seemingly simple pop themes into lyrical elegies full of woodwind accompaniment and manic scherzo breaks. It's truly an album that you didn't even realize you were missing, until now.