The Best of Gloucester County

iTunes Review

Daniel Smith has manifested several iterations of his musical id so far (Danielson, Danielson Famile/Family, and Brother Danielson), and certainly there will be more to come. On this, the eighth album from the unpredictable gospel-loving artist, Smith enlists Jens Lekman and old friend Sufjan Stevens while some of the Smith siblings take a break, and he creates another strange and wonderful tableaux of nü-folk-pop. Sounding a little like a carnival has overtaken the revival under the big tent, The Best of Gloucester County stays true to Smith’s sensibilities: you leave the party not quite sure if you were awkwardly “dancing” to a new-millennium hymn or to a psychedelic freak-out; rudely eavesdropping on someone’s early mid-life crisis, or listening to some cleverly crafted indie-pop. If you found previous Danielson outings too difficult (or exhausting), hang on: The Best of … has a more restrained, focused feel to it, and Smith’s odes to lawn mowing, nature and old friends have a more palatable, friendly finish — though the collection has an inarguably lysergic, pointillist vibrancy. Stay weird, Daniel. Stay weird.