folk/world
R5 Productions' first mind meld with World Café Live offers something small, somber and quietish via José González (pictured), Juana Molina and Psapp. González? The boy's a lollipop he's so sweet, rippling through the acoustic flutter of flamenco with his open-tuned guitar stylings and a mumbled brand of Argentinean folksy balladry so quaint, it's as if he's barely there. But that voice. It's lilting, yes. But dusky and darkish, like Nick Drake's. And the melodies that pockmark his buoyant new CD, Veneer (Mute U.S.), leave indelible holes on your soul. Much of the sameif you reverse "boy" for "girl," "acoustic" for "glitch-tronic," "folk" for "bossa-blip"can be said of disarmingly charming fellow Argen-teen Juana Molina and her softly spun new, second CD, Son (Domino). And if you combined those Latin lovers as a model for something luscious, lavish and London-born, you'd have Psaapthe Brit duo of Galia Durant and Carim Clasmannwhose Stereolabby stabs at Brazilian folktronic suppleness with dime-store brass and tin-can percussion can be adored quiet and clear through their new CD, The Only Thing I Ever Wanted (Domino). And it is. The only thing you'll want. Save José and Juana.
Sat., July 1, 7:30 p.m., $15-$17 (plus $4 processing fee), World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com.
—A.D. Amorosi