Shambling indie pop may be rather passé these days, but The Pastels have skilfully rebranded themselves and their associates as something akin to naïve artists. Central to this endeavour are Maher Shalal Hash Baz, a sprawling Japanese group who record for the Pastels' Geographic imprint and who pivot on Tori Kudo, a potter and former terrorist currently operating as a kind of whimsical Sun Ra. Recorded in East Kilbride, Blues Du Jour captures Kudo's haphazard troupe at their most accessible and endearing. Typically, their songs are sketchy and conversational, with the hesitant strums and seasick horns often closer to improvised jazz than amateurish indie. Amid these 41 spontaneous, unfailingly pretty tracks (23 last less than a minute), though, are some perfectly-formed marvels, not least "What's Your Business Here Elijah?", an Old Testament potboiler given new life by Kudo's ingenuous charm.

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