Jozef van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch + Matteah Baim

Any Jim Jarmusch buff will tell you that the man has great taste in music. Take the original scores for Stranger than Paradise and Dead Man, or the killer lineup (the Stooges, Sleep, Raekwon) he put together for the 2010 ATP New York fest. But curating isn’t the same as performing, so what a happy surprise it is that Concerning the Entrance Into Eternity, a new record that pairs Jarmusch’s guitar with Jozef van Wissem’s lute, is one of the young year’s most engaging listens. Van Wissem plucks out stately, cyclical themes, which Jarmusch wreathes in tastefully harnessed feedback. Support comes from singer-songwriter Matteah Baim and an unnamed guest artist from the mighty Drag City roster.