Audio Mixer: Scott Solter.

Recording information: Baucom Road Studio, Monroe, NC (03/2007-09/2007).

Issued in 2008, ALL TOGETHER finds the Philadelphia-based indie-pop act Pattern Is Movement staying true to its singularly spare and oddly melodic sound. Led by Andrew Thiboldeaux, whose plaintive singing at times recalls Antony Hegarty (Antony & the Johnsons), the ensemble creates an intriguing aesthetic, often with little more than voice, keyboards, and percussion, as on "Trolley Friend" and "Jenny Ono."

Pattern Is Movement's latest album is one of those things that's starting (sadly) to be a relative rarity -- a winsome avant-pop album with rock roots that actually is a treat instead of an overfrosted wedding cake. The fact that the opening "Bird" starts off sounding like a sample from some dreamscape '60s kids show but is in fact a full original is a wonderful treat; one gets the sense that the two-man band actually wants to keep people guessing from the start. Throughout All Together that feeling of a soundtrack to an unsettled but still welcoming Technicolor world continues, part Joe Meek concept album and part funhouse ride. It's probably no surprise that Andrew Thiboldeaux's main credit is "beauty" rather than "vocals," as there's a real sense of that quality throughout -- not in a twee way as often understood, but almost in that breathlessly rich sense Mercury Rev last conjured up on See You on the Other Side. (Though in amusing contrast, bandmate Chris Ward is credited as "beast." Perhaps unsurprisingly some of the least involving moments occur when his work is toned down or kept well in the background.) The layering swell of keyboards and tones on "Peach Trees" is one prime moment, while the kettle drums and starburst twinkles on "Sound of Your Voice," not to mention the horn fanfares (mock or not), all add to the joy. ~ Ned Raggett