Hurray for the slushpile, which gave up Patrick Park

I found this EP in a pile and put it on for a lark. I think, that day, I played 30 seconds each of about ten records and ripped two of them. Patrick Park's We Fall Out of Touch was one (the other one was by a psychedelic hip hop collective called the Difference Machine, which I may write about at some point, if I ever get a handle on it). Now, having lived with it for a week, i cannot fathom why this guy is not better known. It is, quite simply, one of the best singer songwriter records I've heard this year.

Park has been around for a while. His wiki page lists six EPs and five full-lengths, dating back to 2003. He's played shows with My Morning Jacket, Seawolf, Grandaddy, Beth Orton, Liz Phair and Shelby Lynne. His producer, Dave Trumfio, has worked with Wilco and My Morning Jacket. Yet for a singer with kind of cool, clear assurance, for a songwriter with this subtle a sense of melody and arrangement, he seems to have left remarkably little internet trail. The only coverage I can find of this really remarkable EP is in Broadway World, of all places.

But never mind that, We Fall Out of Touch is the good stuff, and if I need encouragement next time I plough through the no-name pile, I'll just have to remember that that's how I found this one.