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For a record fraught with anxiety over fatherhood and Fatherhood, currency and country, the loss must have felt poetic. Thanks to support from Taylor's current champions Paradise of Bachelors, this reissue (strengthened with a few extra tracks not found on the original CD or vinyl releases) is lucky to see the light of day at all. Whatever trouble it may have been to get a re-release in order was worth it, though – Bad Debt is a record that deservedly occupies a special space in the Hiss Golden Messenger discography. 

If you're just coming on board with the group thanks to last year's well-received Haw, it's worth noting how Bad Debt sounds nothing like that (or 2009's Country Hai East Cotton, for that matter). Typically, Taylor works with longtime collaborator Scott Hirsch and an assorted cast of old friends to flesh out the sound at a full-band level in the vein of Neil Young or more contemporary alt-country groups like Low Skies and Revival. A release like Lord I Love the Rain shows another, more intimate side of the sound: Taylor's subtle twang and acoustic guitar are bolstered only by an additional guitar here or a footstomp for a beat there. 

Bad Debt is Hiss Golden Messenger's ultimate reduction. Recorded at the kitchen table of Taylor's rural home in Pittsboro, North Carolina, these songs are powered by the startling intimacy of a restrained acoustic guitar perpetually threatening to wake up his one-year-old son in the adjoining room. Save a touch of remastering by Anthony Puglisi and some well-placed vocal echo, there's not much more to it sonically. You'll recognize the sound if you're a long-time Iron & Wine fan or among the legion of Nebraska diehards. 

As a result, it's hard to miss Taylor's songwriting skills at this distance and it's even harder to miss his general headspace. "Bad Debt is about my God: That is, whether I have one, and whether there is a place for me in this world," he said upon its original release in 2010. But God isn't the fountainhead even if the lyrics are soaked in religious language. This is a spiritual record on a broader scale, one man disentangling internal and external knots all at once. 

Big Themes on a little record rarely come off as anything but trite or hokey, but Taylor elevates the songs from the "majesty of mud" with an awareness of pace and personality. Songs range from two to five minutes and there's a little black humor to lend levity to proceedings. "Hey everybody, did you hear the news / Jesus shot me in the head" he sings almost cheerily between goodbyes to his loutish friends on "Jesus Shot Me in the Head." There's the other side of that coin on "The Serpent is Kind (Compared to Man)." Plenty of betrayal and redemption tales wind their way through lyrics there and elsewhere. 

Musically, "Balthazar's Song" could be a waltz with additional aid from a backing band while songs like "Super Blue (Two Days Clean)" fly by. There's also color in the ambient sounds of rain on "No Lord is Free" or the slides of his fingers on "Roll River Roll." There are so many enjoyable moments on Bad Debt that pointing out one in particular to cherish is futile. You should have your own. 

As a final thought, it's fitting that Taylor lead Songs: Molina in their recent handful of shows paying tribute to Jason Molina. Like Molina, Taylor resists easy imagery and lazy couplets without sacrificing accessibility. When it comes to the spiritual, Bad Debt is a worthy addition to a lineage that preaches the complicated records resonate strongest. 

Nebraskan / Parisian duo The Berg Sans Nipple released their schizophrenically dance-referencing post-rock LP Build With Erosion earlier this year on blackmaps, Clapping Music and Team Love Records.

Occupying a middle ground between the likes of Tortoise, Do Make Say Think, Jimmy Giuffre and Steve Swallow, Build With Erosion explores the huge collective talents of the cross-Atlantic band members, borrowing elements of electronica, jazz, psych-folk, sound-collage, even (instrumental) hip-hop.

Listen to Build With Erosion in its entirety below.

Hiss Golden Messenger - O Little Light