The work of Scottish singer-songwriter Alasdair Roberts has always been deeply indebted to Scottish and Celtic folk traditions. He’s even recorded complete albums of traditional British Isles tunes. Yet with his latest release, Spoils, Roberts proves that these timeless and ancient forms can be the foundation for some gloriously odd and inventive musical architecture. Most of the songs on Spoils are textured with a mix of rock band instrumentation (electric bass, synthesizer, electric guitar) and traditional and antique sounds from baroque and 19th-century guitars, harpsichords, hurdy-gurdy, dulcimer, flute, and glockenspiel. But the overall effect of the blend is more subtle than jarring, and the crafty arrangements never get in the way of Roberts’s classically tinged melodies, his striking voice, or his brilliant wordplay. In fact, for all the instrumental texture, it is Robert’s twisting song structures, full of tempo shifts and instrumental drops and breaks, that are most revealing of Robert’s experimental inclinations and eagerness to deconstruct British Isles folk. For all the unexpected turns, there’s a lot here to keep the more traditionally minded folk-rock fan engaged. “You Muses Assist,” for instance, is a dusty shuffle that wouldn’t be out of place on the Grateful Dead’s Workingman’s Dead. But the real payoff with Spoils is the richness and invention that reveals itself over repeated listens, and the delight at realizing how much life remains in the oldest folk realms for those willing to tinker with the forms. (Drag City, dragcity.com)