Let's get this over with: John Fahey, John Fahey, John motherfucking Fahey.

Whew. Now that we (along with everyone else who has ever written about Harris Newman) have established that Newman's haunting not-quite-folk is heavily influenced by the genre-bending Beatle of acoustic music, we can talk about the album. As with his 2003 solo debut, steel string acoustic is the primary instrument on Accidents with Nature and Each Other -- and it's one of those records that makes you marvel at how much can be done with a guitar. The first third of it is all Newman, and features some very impressive displays of fingerpicking in diverse arrangements. "The Butcher's Block" starts off slowly and picks up speed, circling bluegrass territory; the muted, vaguely ominous opening of "Cloud City" (almost the only part of Accidents that seems like a fitting place for vocals) quickly crescendos into a driving gallop. It intensifies from there, adding notes like a game of Simon that actually results in something listenable.

Newman's residence in Montreal and involvement in that scene might not explain the Dust Bowl ambiance that colors much of his music, but it does account for the eerily echoing sonic haze over "It's a Trap (Part I)" and "It's a Trap (Part II)" -- tracks on which short notes are exchanged for long and a desert-like sunniness is traded for fog. Toronto's Sandro Perri contributes atmospheric lap steel on "Lake Shore Drive", and Godspeed You! Black Emperor percussionist Bruce Cowdron appears on a few tracks. "Lords and Ladies", the disc's first song containing actual drums, begins with muffled rhythms and intermittent cymbal shimmerings, eventually graduating to an intensity that's twice as satisfying when contrasted with the remainder of Accidents' relative restraint.

"Lords and Ladies" might be pretty (post-) rocking, but "A Thousand Stolen Blankets to Keep You Warm at Night", directly before it, is arguably one of Accidents' high points. Newman hits the ground running with passionately buzzing strings, his bass thumb keeping up a steady syncopated thrum as the higher notes twang out a tense melody above. The album does have its almost soothing lulls, such as the meditative "Stopgap Measure", but for the most part it's determinedly disquieting. If you're smart, you won't look for too much linearity -- you'll just let Ol' Twinklefingers' meandering, beautiful melodies take you where they will.