he underwhelmingness of both Rivulets’ and Marc Gartman’s music is almost equally forceful—which makes their split EP successful in regards to flow. The listener is faithfully guided from one soft-spoken songwriter to the next—an honest move. But besides an aural similarity, Rivulets and Marc Gartman are also frequent collaborators. Both are connected to the loose conglomerate of artists which includes Duluth’s Low, Aarktica and Pale Horse and Rider’s John DeRosa and Silber Records owner, and artist in his own right, Brian John Mitchell.

Rivulets is the moniker for Alaska-cum-Minneapolis native Nathan Amundson. His self-titled debut saw his minimalist-folk under layers of murky production by Alan Sparhawk of Low. Debridement, Admundson’s 2003 release, highlighted his musical connections, bringing in more than several friends to play on the record, featuring Mimi Parker of Low and Jessica Bailiff.

This split with Gartman finds Amundson, for the most part, on his own. Gone is Sparhawk’s production; gone are the myriad guest musicians. Beyond the two reprisals of the standout track from Debridement, “Cutter”, the first a new version with the haunting vocals of Jarboe (Swans) added, and the second a remix by Aarktica, the songs seem to falter in terms of production. The three new tracks were co-recorded by Amundson in Ohio. “Keep You from Harm” is the best of the three, if for the simple fact that Admundon doesn’t attempt to replicate Sparhawk’s production style. Over a minimal acoustic melody and subtle backup vocals by Jessica Bailiff, Amundson sings “You don’t care that I drive a rusty car / You don’t care that I drink a little too much”. “Wind is Howling” tries too hard to elicit a haunting atmosphere with fuzzed ambience and a squealing dilruba in the background. To make matters worse, the last three minutes consist of what is, I guess, supposed to be a haunting gale blowing through the woods. It may have worked if it wasn’t nearly as long as the actual song itself.

Gartman’s contribution is a nice introduction to his piano based work. “Hats and Wools” highlights his storytelling, in this case, a nostalgic reminisce about mothers and mix tapes. “Roswell” shows that his instrumental work is just as good, if not better than his Neil Young-on-piano tunes. “Luf Kanh Brhak Ur Hrt” opens with the live chirping of birds and has Gartman at his best vocally and melodically.

Fans of either artist should consider purchasing the record for sheer completist sake; others may want to look into the artists’ previous full lengths for more consistently quality material—though it is almost worth the price alone for the version of “Cutter” with the always mind-blowing Jarbo on backup vocals.