Keepin it real is integral for a folk artist, so big ups to Phoenix (by way of Las Vegas) singer-songwriter Jacob Smigel for realizing that nothins realer than the messages on an old answering machine. His new album, Hope This Passes the Secretary, weaves Smigels lo-fi, often minimalist indie folk style with snippets of found audio from thrifted answering machine tapes, and wraps it all up in what feels like a heartfelt mixtape composed just for you. If the sensitive tunes dont make you shed a tear, the desperate heartbroken boys voice wishing that the answering machine had a hug mode on it so his beloved could get a free hug could.
Sat., Jan. 16, 8 p.m., 2010