J MASCIS Several Shades Of Why (2011 UK 10-track CD album - In the quarter century since he founded Dinosaur Jr, J Mascis has created some of the era's signature songs, albums and styles. But 'Several Shades Of Why', recorded at Amherst, Massachusetts' Bisquiteen Studios, is an album of incredible beauty, performed with a delicacy not always associated with his work. Nearly all acoustic, the album was created with the help of a few friends. Notable amongst them are Kurt Vile, Sophie Trudeau [A Silver Mount Zion], Kurt Fedora [longtime collusionist], Kevin Drew [Broken Social Scene], Ben Bridwell [Band Of Horses], Pall Jenkins [Black Heart Procession], Matt Valentine [The Golden Road], and Suzanne Thorpe [Wounded Knees]. Together in small mutable groupings, they conjure up classic sounds ranging from English-tinged folk to drifty, West Coast-style singer / songwriterism. But every track, every note even, bears that distinct Mascis watermark)