On "Flowering Spade," the indie-folk man becomes required listening for anyone with the reasonable love/hate view of Will Oldham and his ilk. Call him anti-anti-folk: Hayes' stuff mixes some sepia coloring from '70s-era Laurel Canyon into the sweetly bent aesthetic of today's lo-fi.
Flowering Spade, Sean's 5th Album & first album recorded in a studio gathered amazing players from SF, LA, and NYC to make this diverse album come together. Almost all of the basic tracks were recorded live in the studio, with horns, accordion, marimba and background vocals overdubbed later.