Gwyneth & Monko – Gwyneth & Monko

Gwyneth & Monko – Gwyneth & Monko
2011, Gwyneth & Monko

Gwyneth Moreland and Michael Monko return this week with their first full-length album, Gwyneth & Monko.  The follow-up to last summer’s Good Ol’ Horse EP reflects a somewhat darker aspect to the duo’s music, a blend of the sharp Americana style they’ve displayed in the past and a slightly more serious approach as songwriters that has developed over the past year on the road together. 

Gwyneth & Monko opens with “Found In Benson”, a simultaneously joyful and melancholy piece that manages to be repetitive and mundane.  The juxtaposition of moods is the most intriguing part in what is arguably a weak opening track.  “Consumption” is a prairie ballad about tuberculosis and the lives it stole or left broken in one family.  Mournful and dark, this is an example of Moreland’s finesse as a lyricist and is among the best song craft on the album.  “Hand In The Fire” is fairly average for songwriting, but shows off the distinctive nature and beauty of Moreland’s voice in perfect relief.

Gwyneth & Monko go for a vaguely bluesy blend of Appalachian folk and gospel on “Blood Of The Lamb”, capturing a musical moment that is memorable both for the song for the haunting beauty of Moreland’s vocal.  “Summer Bliss” and “Get In The Sun” are bland and forgettable, although the latter finds Moreland sounding a bit like a young Stevie Nicks (although with better enunciation).  “The Raven” takes off on the Edgar Allan Poe tale in a Cowboy Junkies-style arrangement.  The sound is nice, but doesn’t necessarily work here.  Margo Timmons has an amazing voice, but Moreland is a different kind of vocalist, and this low energy approach just doesn’t work here.

“Eloise” is a song of heartbreak; written from the perspective of a man who has been forsaken by the only one he ever loved.  The lyrics and arrangement are solid, but the vocal makes the song stand up and walk.  “Can’t Stay Long” is in the same class as “Blood Of The Lamb”, blending great energy with a plus arrangement and a standout vocal line.  “Song Of The Robin Redbreast” is aesthetic and sweet, and leads into a wax cylinder recording of “Pine Box Sailor”.  This last seems more an exercise than anything else, experimentation in sound.  While the recording is messy, it’s inarguable that Moreland, in particular, sounds right at home.  The wax recording brings out some of the qualities in her voice you might hear in a live setting, and gives you an idea of how good she really is.

Gwyneth & Monko show flashes of the energy and panache that made their debut EP, Good ‘Ol Horse, such a pleasure to find, but Gwyneth & Monko fails to live up to the resultant expectations.  There are a couple of examples of what the duo is capable of as songwriters, but as a whole the songwriting is somewhat lackluster.  The effort is saved again and again by the voice of Gwyneth Moreland.  She is one of those vocalists who can make a bad song listenable and a good song great.  Moreland gives life to several songs on Gwyneth & Monko that are otherwise mundane.  Michael Monko is steady at helm on the instrumental side, providing solid arrangements for Moreland to play against, but the sense of inspiration the duo have showed previously just never quite establishes itself here.  Gwyneth & Monk have grown as songwriters, and that’s always a positive.  If they can keep that growth and re-infuse some of the energy they’ve shown previously they’re going to do great things.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Gwyneth And Monko at www.gwynethandmonko.com or www.myspace.com/gwynethmoreland.  Gwyneth & Monko is available digitally from Amazon.com and iTunes.

Cowboy Junkies – Demons: The Nomad Series Volume 2

Cowboy Junkies – Demons: The Nomad Series Volume 2

2011, Razor & Tie/Latent Recordings

Cowboy Junkies was formed back in 1985 by siblings Margo Timmons (vocals), Michael Timmins (guitar, songwriting) and Peter Timmins (drums) along with bassist Alan Anton.  Twenty-six years on and the original foursome are still together, with occasional help from friends.  Cowboy Junkies broke into international prominence with their second album, The Trinity Sessions back in 1987, led by their smash hit cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane”.    While the Cowboy Junkies haven’t seen a lot of chart action outside of their native Canada since that time, they have developed an almost rabid following on three continents.  In 1998 the band went back to their Indie roots, releasing fourteen albums since that time on their own imprint, Latent Recordings.  Cowboy Junkies’ latest effort, Demons: The Nomad Series Volume 2 is a collection of the music of Vic Chestnutt.  Chestnutt had played with Cowboy Junkies over the years, and the album seems a sort of memoriam to him from the band.  Demons hits shelves virtual and real on February 15, 2011.

Demons opens with "Wrong Piano", a pretty and ethereal interpretation that finds Margo Timmins shedding the perfect blend of dark and light in her vocals.  The roiling arrangement is at one peaceful and disturbing, with the lead guitar setting out an arrhythmic musical heartbeat driven by sadness.  "Flirted With You All My Life" is a love song to death.  Chestnutt's songwriting is dark and compelling, casting his courtship with the afterlife as a romance.  "See You Around" is perhaps one of Chestnutt's most brilliant songwriting moments.  The melancholy melody drips with an insolent brilliance, and Margo Timmins takes the song as her own.  The gorgeous arrangement is crowned with synth as a haunting counter voice to Timmons.  This is a wow moment.

"Betty Lonely" is articulate but drawn out to interminable lengths.  The performance is solid and the vocals are entrancing, but the song itself is just too deep in pathos for all but the most sunless souls.  "Square Room" is a pretty, pragmatic folk tune with many layers.  Written from the depths of alcoholism and loneliness, Timmons explores Chestnutt's delineation of dreams that might have been.  "Supernatural" has a gorgeous melody buried deep in a sorrowful arrangement that will surprise you.  The Cowboy Junkies manage to bring out the tragic beauty in this tune more clearly than Chestnutt's recording, but lose none of his muted sense of awe.  "West Of Rome" is dark, mournful and moribund, but beautiful in its deficit of light.  This one moves slowly and may wear on some listeners, but the song has an esoteric beauty that's strongly enhanced by the string arrangement.  Demons closes with a trio of songs, "Strange Language", "We Hovered With Short Wings" and "When The Bottom Fell Out" that fail to live up to what's come before.  The performances are all solid, but you'll get the sense that these were chosen more to fill out the album than for any sense of inspiration.

Cowboy Junkies have never been known for taking things lightly.  Their musical history is one of minimalism and beauty.  Playing on the instrumental/writing genius of Michael Timmons and the soul-melting alto of Margo Timmons, Cowboy Junkies have inspired an entire generation of down-tempo and mellow artists to reach for new heights.  All of those qualities are present on Demons, blended with the disturbed and occasionally brilliant songwriting of Vic Chestnutt.  Sometimes this mix is pure genius, and sometimes it just doesn't work so well.  Even in the moments that don't quite mesh, Cowboy Junkies manage to bring out the best in the songs presented here, but folks who are diehard fans of either Chestnutt or Cowboy Junkies might get a little lost along the way.  In its best moments, Demons is haunting.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Cowboy Junkies at www.cowboyjunkies.com,  www.latentrecordings.com/cowboyjunkies or www.myspace.com/cowboyjunkies.  Demons drops on February 15, 2011.  You can pre-order the album on CD, on Vinyl or as a Download from Amazon.com.Check out Cowboy Junkies tonight (February 9th) on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.