or anyone familiar with Phil Elvrum’s Microphones or Calvin Johnson’s Olympia-based label K Records, the name Karl Blau should at least ring a bell. For years, with the exception of a 1997 CD and some cassettes, Blau has been something of a peripheral player on the Olympia indie-pop scene, quietly collaborating with Elvrum and a host of others. Elvrum named a song after him on It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water, and earlier this year Blau received his most attention yet as he wrote his own solo part for the guest-star-studded title track to the Microphones’ Mount Eerie. Clothes Your I’s finds the longtime session man finally breaking free and striking out on his own in a more high-profile way, which is why it’s so surprising that this album, coming virtually out of nowhere, is so good.


Of course, comparisons to the Microphones are inevitable, given Blau’s past, and the reference is appropriate anyway: his lo-fi compositions and abstract poetry never deviate far from Elvrum’s singular aesthetic. But for those of us who’ve latched on to each new Microphones record like it’s our next shot of heroin, more music in the same vein (so to speak) can’t be a bad thing.


Indeed, the very fact that Blau can so effectively mine the same territory as his frequent collaborator without seeming like a shallow copy is enough to recommend this record. On “Computer” and the fantastic “Sunsign,” Blau comes across like Elvrum on a particularly bad day, all moody atmospheres and low-key moaning; the thick back-and-forth guitars, mildly sinister horns, and female backing vocals on the latter song can’t help but remind of Elvrum’s production. Elsewhere, the similarities are only cosmetic, as on the summery pop of the opener “Pendulum” and the dark, driving acoustic guitars of “100,022,” and Blau frequently finds his own voice amid the Microphones-like ambience.


“Down in You Go” rips off the melody to Beck’s “Tropicalia” but somehow betters it, freeing it from the oppressive death-grip of sheen that’s dragged down all of Beck’s recent work; Blau’s song has the earthy hesitancy and laidback mood -- if not the actual sound -- of the real tropicalia. “Fasten Me To You” is even better, a low-key piano ballad spiced up with whining classic rock guitars and Blau’s calming vocals. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and for once sounds quite unlike anybody else. Indeed, as the album goes along, the Elvrum references slip away almost entirely, as if Blau was slowly stumbling along from his past into a very promising future of his own making. The sparse balladry of “I Hold You” and the driving singalong “Bid-R-Bunch” close out the album on a strong note, diverting Blau towards the path of originality he’s clearly capable of traveling alone.


Clothes Your I’s is a great record that captures an artist in the midst of finding his own voice. When Blau is aping the Microphones, he’s great, matching Elvrum on his own turf. But when he slips into his own style, he’s even better, foretelling a time when someone will be able to write a review of a Karl Blau without mentioning that Microphones guy even once.