Flophouse Jr. – Houseboat

Pro-Tools has finally been absorbed by the folk scene. This is the third or fourth album of what on any prior occasion would be straight-up singer-songwriter tunage but now drifts (in a good way) under layers of sounds built up and shifted amongst hard drives and bedroom studios. Vague musical sentiments grow whispier when they’re no longer anchored by the rules governing coffee houses. Jon Wood and Susan Young don’t push the envelope but their pretty tunes float freely through a pleasantly unexpected variety of sounds. (Terence Dick)

CD, Northern-Electric, www.northern-electric.ca