Time (The Revelator)

Brought out of the cultural boondocks by the success of the Coen Brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and its subsequent soundtrack, bluegrass is as close to the center of pop culture as it’s ever likely to get. Gillian Welch, who co-produced and performed on the Brother soundtrack, plays a version of bluegrass that includes elements of country, folk, and the blues. It’s hardly traditional, but it feels timeless. Her third album, aptly-titled Time (The Revelator), is a low-key affair, but although it’s just her, her frequent collaborator David Rawlings, and a mess of stringed instruments, the sum total is overwhelming. The most important instrument in the mix is Welch’s devastating voice. Bled through with a run-down sadness that seems immeasurable, she not only makes wonderfully strange tunes like “My First Lover” and “Red Clay Halo” sound like they crawled down from the Appalachian foothills, but she puts a sting in harrowing ballads like “Revelator” and “Everything Is Free” that’ll make you want to crawl right back up into those same hills.