As a world-renowned celebrity blogger, I get my share of perks. Free trips to exotic locales, fancy designer hats, and a lifetime supply of Little Caesar’s crazy bread. (Have I mentioned yet today how delicious Little Caesar’s crazy bread is? I’m legally obligated to mention it every day for the rest of my life. It would be a chore if them sticks weren’t so crazy delicious!)

One of the best perks I get is free music. I would rather have free music than the fanciest fancy designer hat in the world. I don’t even wear hats. But I do listen to music, and I would much rather get my free music the legal way, from the labels, than through other avenues which I don’t know about because I’m a law-abiding citizen who would never engage in illegal activities that might besmirch the fine reputation that Little Caesar’s has earned through their delicious food products and their fast, efficient service.

Through some stroke of good fortune, I happened to land on the mailing list for Paper Garden records, an independent label that I had never encountered. One day while avoiding work I opened one up one of their emails and discovered that it contained a download link to a full album and a polite request for a review. I am a big fan of politeness in all its forms, so I decided to give it a listen. What I discovered was an excellent, subtle pop album that’s remained in rotation for the last month–a not insubstantial feat when you consider the last month also saw excellent releases from some of my favorite bands (Midlake, Los Campesinos!, Beach House, and the new Joanna Newsom which I actually haven’t heard yet because I’m still waiting to get it in the mail because I’m so indie I bought it on fucking vinyl. Still crossing my fingers that her video collection will come out on Betamax.)

The Paper Garden album in question is Shady Retreat by an artist named Peasant. I had never heard of Peasant, but here’s what I learned from the press release that they (politely) included with their email: Peasant is a single gentleman with the name of a band, a not-unusual phenomenon in our topsy-turvey indie-rock world of up-is-down. It was a smart move, because I probably would never have listened to it if it had been marketed as the new album by Damien DeRose (Peasant’s actual name). I would assume a Damien DeRose album would sound like Robin Thicke or something. A Peasant album, on the other hand, would sound exactly like what it sounds like: a nice, lonely kid strumming his guitar for the birds on a dusty road that leads to greater fortune. The overall sound is in the pastoral vein that’s all the rage among the kids lately, but the songs have a nice pop edge that is more appealing to my particular sensibilities than the meandering jams of your Fleet Foxes or your Grizzly Bears. It’s a short record–10 songs clocking in at 28:24, with only one track stretching beyond the 4 minute mark–but a little restraint is always highly appreciated, particularly to someone with my intense crazy bread-eating schedule.

The feel of the record is established with the opening track “Thinking,” a pleasant meditation on meditation with a rhythm-track as driving as a rhythm-track can be that’s composed solely of shakers. The lyrics are kinda just gobbledy-gook (I don’t go out and get someone/and I don’t read until I’m thinking/and I don’t go out in the cold … at least, I think that’s what he’s saying, no lyric sheet), but my favorite band of all time (The Pixies) mostly sang gobbledy-gook too, and as long as the words fit well with the music, that’s just fine in my book. Most of the songs follow a similar sonic template of slow to mid-tempo rhythm guitar backed by subtle touches of organ, piano, and the occasional snare drum or woodblock. DeRose’s nearly-whispered vocals are soft and sweet, with self-provided falsetto backing vocals that blend well with the melody lines. There are no particular stand-out tracks, but the album works as a piece, and each individual song supports the overall vibe that makes this a great late-night listen. Peasant will inevitably be compared to Bon Iver, but for my money, Shady Retreat has a higher success rate than For Emma. The highs may not be quite as high, but nothing here dips below B+ territory. Overall, an impressive achievement for our young hero.

Shady Retreat is the kind of album that really deserves to reach a wider audience than may be possible in the indie-label world. Paper Garden is doing a great job of pushing it, but I know from my own experience that independent anything is at a decided disadvantage when it comes to marketing capabilities. According to their website, though, he’s had a track featured on The United States of Tara, so maybe he’ll be the lucky recipient of the famous Diablo Cody bump that made Jennifer’s Body such a huge cultural phenomenon. Ha ha, just kidding, that movie was terrible. I never saw it.

On the Awkward Scale of Pizzas, I give Shady Retreat by Peasant … 4 1/2 pizzas!