A pop classicist of the first order, singer/songwriter Patrick Bloom readily evokes mid-period Paul Simon with his sweet, liquid tenor and seemingly effortless lilting tunefulness; that cozy sonic neighborhood remains home base for much of his third solo disc, but he is not chained to it.

Taking its name from Bloom's flexible, elegant backing band, "Ghosts of Radio" picks up where his excellent "Moses" left off, further exploring wistful, deliciously melancholic memory with a cinematic eye for detail and a poet's touch.

Bracingly punctuated with deft guitar figures by Eric Straumanis (whose playing delights throughout), the opening "Minnesota" is a loping, easy-rolling folk-rock gem, while "Union Suit" approximates Simon massaging a Neil Young country-rocker.

The war-torn, elegiac "Prophetstown" yields to a bemused, bittersweet "Rosalie," whose hints of The Band's music hall sensibilities escalate into full "Basement Tapes"-era junk-trap glory on the hilarious "Red Dodge Dart."

"Idle Signs of Summer," with its colorful, daft'n'randy small-town vignettes and infectious chorus, is a minor masterpiece, the feisty, slightly nutty "Oh My Soul" conjures a Terry Adams (NRBQ) fever dream, and the closing "Baltimore" celebrates a peculiar spin on Death's release.

Front to back, it's a richly appointed, masterful record.