Lost in the Trees - Time Taunts Me

Ari Picker (of Chapel Hill’s The Never and The B-Sides) extends his musical umbrella to cover his Lost in the Trees project—songs of a much more experimental and orchestral nature than what his more well-known indie pop persona would suggest. Time Taunts Me pits seven tracks against a plethora of instrumentation, including guests from Picker’s other projects as well as from Vibrant Green and the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Songs are constructed on a folky, acoustic foundation and then treated with sprawling piano and string arrangements, and for the most part it’s a laudable effort. The hip hop beat of “Lost in the Snow” opens the disc on a strange note, but that oddity shortly dissipates and the song segues into low-key, near-classical movements. Sometimes the songs seem to wander aimlessly, but Picker’s shooting straight enough to warrant checking this out. [www.trekkyrecords.com]