As a rule of thumb, I avoid acoustic home recordings like the plague—I went to college too, and know all too well what the sound of one man in an empty room with a guitar can do to a person’s nerves. But along with Devendra Banhart’s curious records, this latest effort from Philly’s Brother JT may have turned me around on these kind of records (well, maybe just theirs). But while Banhart’s music has endeared itself to me because of the acid-damaged fragility of his songs and voice (in a nutshell, I just want him to be happy playing his music), Brother JT’s material, while wrapped in an equally gentle psychedelic tone, has a strong melodic foundation, which makes them eminently more substantial and palatable than Banhart’s or any of his lysergically inclined peers.

I also like the fact that the psych flavoring in his songs is distinctly British in taste--as you can hear snatches of Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks circa Arthur wafting around his slow-shuffling, bluesy melodies and impenetrable but heartfelt lyrics.

Off Blue settles into a muzzy-headed groove towards what old folks would call the end of Side One (around Track 7), but wafts back on track on a bed of bright and buzzing fuzztone for “Song for Everyone” and the drowsy but catchy “When In Rome.” With the occasional gloom of spring just around the corner, the autumnal vibe of Brother JT’s songs might just make the perfect soundtrack for the next long, grey weekend you plan to spend in bed.

—Paul Gaita