Mercury

Mercury is an absorbing set of guitar instrumentals by Portland, Ore.–based Marisa Anderson. Over 16 succinct tracks, she touches a wide range of styles. Playing lap steel and electric and acoustic guitar, she mixes up twang, country blues, Appalachian influences, and open-tuned explorations that flow smoothly one to the next. Concise and never flashy, she dazzles with her dexterity and earthy feel. Her set-up is sparse. Using just an amp, a microphone, and her instruments, she conjures images of open landscapes and spacious skies on these tunes, many of which were recorded in one take. Aside from a boost to create some distortion, she uses no pedals. Still, it's remarkable how many different guitar tones she gets, ranging from intimate and rich to sharp and searing. Galloping one moment and gliding the next, Anderson's music has a cinematic and mysterious quality, and Mercury is a rich and evocative recording.