Joining the many hybrids of alt. country, here's an album that's almost chamber country. Black Prairie is a side project for three members of the Oregon group the Decemberists, bringing that group's dobro and accordion into a largely instrumental mix that, as founder Chris Funk puts it, "bridges the music of Clarence White and Ennio Morricone". The album's unhurried rhythms and graceful playing evoke big skies and tumbleweed, while Paris, Texas-style twang and Appalachian folk take some sharp turns into east European klezmer. A charming creation.