"Megafaun don't just catalog American musical languages, they breed them", writes  Pitchfork. Megafaun was built by Joe Westerlund and brothers Brad and Phil Cook from the ashes of DeYarmond Edison, the group they had formed in their native Wisconsin with longtime friend Justin "Bon Iver" Vernon.

They're part of that rare crop of young artists driven by an unquenchable thirst for a wide range of sounds and styles. While very much at ease with several strains of American folk music, they're masterfully reinventing tradition by infusing it with radically alien elements, inspired by anything from free jazz to 50s experimental electronics. They've performed over 250 shows in the US since '07, and have done live collaborations with new Crammed labelmates Akron/Family, with minimalist composer Arnold Dreyblatt & more.

Gather, Form & Fly can be described as an ode to death, love, musical history (from blues to musique concrète), community, tradition, melody and experimentation. Or, more simply, as a magnificent album of melodic folk music, strong and original.