Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests Of

Deluxe double LP pressed on 180-gram red vinyl!

The bonus LP features demos, remixes and B-sides

Album download included, gatefold jacket

What may be the best album of 2007, hands down, by the most under-accorded American musical genius. Real murmurs, believable ones, came with Josh Ritter's 2006 album, Animal Year, suggesting that the Idahoan is today's Bruce Springsteen, today's Bob Dylan. He's never sounded more the part than on Historical Conquests, the follow-up to Animal.

Ritter's tripping over his syllables and allusions on the opener, "To the Dogs or Whoever," dropping biblical and historical images like a fresh-faced Dylan. Except here, Ritter throws in an organ-fueled ride, cymbal-crashing, drum-hefty clatter. It's majestic, and it's only the first three minutes. Recorded between stints on a never-ending tour, Historical reflects Ritter on the road, quick witted, a master of phraseology and of imagery. Ritter leaps into rapid-fire lyrics that reference Joan of Arc, Calamity Jane and Florence Nightingale, all of whom seem to be struck together in the belly of a whale. As the follow-up to The Animal Years, The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter is his most adventurous, fresh, and freewheeling work to date.