Demons

And when I say "made in heaven," I don't just mean that figuratively. The great singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt is no longer with us, having ended his own life on Christmas Day of 2009. Although Vic was an atheist who had no use for notions of an afterlife, his wonderful, idiosyncratic music lives on. He was an icon to both lovers of Americana and admirers of his drive to create despite disabilities (an accident at age 18 paralyzed much of his body). He collaborated with an amazing spectrum of performers, including Cowboy Junkies (on their 2007 album "Trinity Revisited"), Bill Frisell, Widespread Panic, Van Dyke Parks, Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, and Billy Bob Thornton (with whom he acted in the film "Sling Blade"). His songs were covered by the likes of Madonna, R.E.M., Garbage, Cracker, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Soul Asylum. But leave it to our alt-country neighbors to the north to pay him a fitting final tribute. This album is the second of what the Junkies are calling their "Nomad Series." They cover Chesnutt's oeuvre in a classic, low-key, instantly recognizable style. Michael Timmins' guitars, both acoustic and electric, buzz hypnotically as his sister Margo dreamily sings and whispers the dark, introspective lyrics. Piano, organ, bass, drums, mandolin, and other instruments join in to cast a subtle, mesmerizing, often disturbing spell. The first two tracks, "Wrong Piano" and "Flirted with You All My Life," kick things off with anthemic ballads, the latter addressed to death itself. After this the CD settles down into a subdued groove for three acoustic cuts, "See You Around," "Betty Lonely," and "Square Room." The latter song, about a suicidal alcoholic, is one of the bleakest musical statements ever recorded. The album's temperature rises on the grungy "Ladle," falls on the haunting songs "Supernatural" and "West of Rome," and rises again on the rocking "Strange Language," which together with "Wrong Piano" is one of my favorite songs on the album. The penultimate track, "We Hovered with Short Wings," is quiet and sad, while the final cut, the lovely, horn-backed "When the Bottom Fell Out," is prefaced by a recording of Chesnutt himself making an off-color crack at one of his own live performances. This is revelatory music making, a respectful, moving, and truly worthy addition to the Cowboy Junkies' 25-year body of work. Highly recommended.

I'm a huge fan of the late singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt. His voice and "stylings" were highly distinctive--his vocals having perhaps some kinship with Bob Dylan, and his guitar playing, due to his partial paralysis, bearing resemblance to pretty much no one. With such unique sounds, despite excellent lyrics and songwriting, there's some concern that another artist might ruin the songs. Cowboy Junkies demonstrate forcefully on this CD that this need not be the case, and that their take on such songs as "Supernatural" and "When the Bottom Fell Out" are just as potent, just as haunting as they were in the original. If anything, for those who might have been a bit put off by some of Chesnutt's less-than-mainstream-sounding quirkiness, Junkies might have sufficiently smoothed out the sounds to make them accessible to a wider audience. I'll never not listen to Vic in the raw. There is pain and whiskey and gravel in that throat, and the fumbling caress of uncooperative fingers on frets, that no one can or should imitate. But "Demons" consists of songs one could actually put on in the background to a rainy Sunday afternoon and just let wash over you. Vic's voice was never that...forgiving.

I have been listening to the Cowboy Junkies since I was about 13 years old. Well, perhaps, I should clarify, I took up listening to the Cowboy Junkies when I was thirteen years old, and have owned every album they have made from Whites off Earth Now to Miles from Home. I have seen them live (they were fantastic), and tried to read and listen to every interview with the band that I could possibly get my hands on. Then the 2000s came and I kind lost interest in them, though I have always counted Black Eyed Man as one of the top five albums ever recorded, better than Abbey Road in mind, but maybe not as good Tapestry by Carol King. Anyway, the decade past and I never played one Cowboy Junkies song. I still admired them as a band, but there has been so much great music put out between 2000 and 2010, I really didn't work to keep up with what the Cowboy Junkies were up to. I know they rerecorded The Trinity Sessions, and I have meant to purchase it, but I have yet to get around to it. Anyway, one musician I fell in love with during the last decade was Vic Chestnutt. What a sweet, insightful, thoughtful soul and it breaks my heart to think of all the Demons he must have carried around inside of him during his short, tragic life. He is such a fantastic writer and singer and given that he could only really play 3 chords on his guitar, he played the hell out of the thing. So when I learned the Cowboy Junkies recorded some of VC's music, I had to get the CD. The Cowboy Junkies, and Margo Timmons in particular, have this very lovely way of taking another musicicans' song and making it their own without outshining the original artist. For example, their interpretation of Townes Van Zandt's "To live is to Fly" is phenomenal, but when Townes sings it, it is also a beautiful song, albeit a bit more melancholy than Margo's version. I think that the Cowboy Junkies have produced something very similiar with Demons. If you didn't know that these songs were performed by another musician you may think that it is absolutley amazing that the Cowboy Junkies could have written so many good songs for one album. But if you are familiar with Vic Chestnutt's work, Demons does not leave the listener thinking, "Wow, the Cowboy Junkies have performed these songs so much better than Vic ever did." Perhaps, it is because Margo has a very insightful way of providing a woman's perspective to these male penned tunes that make them this way. I am really not sure. There are definatley some differences between the Cowboy Junkies now and the Cowboy Junkies of my youth. In some songs, Margo sounds a little like Natalie Merchant, which isn't necessairly a criticism, but her voice has definately changed. Perhaps, it has grown/matured, maybe it has aged. I would suspect a little of both. Still, the music is still so lush and beautiful, just as it was when they were young'uns. I know that if the Cowboy Junkies had not been performing Vic Chestnutt songs, I likely would not have purchased this album, but I am really happy that I did. It is special and I hope that the Cowboy Junkies tour in support of it. If they come my way again, I think I would really enjoy seeing them live, at least one last time.

Between the wondrous austerity of Vic Chesnutt's words and the beauty of these translations there is "no" which is better? Hearing these selections is a new kind of experience, and demands a renewed appreciation. If there is anything wrong with the words, musicianship, or recordings, it is because of our failures. This is a masterpiece.

My thoughts on this new trend by the CB's is that these 4 series discs need repeated listening to appreciated fully. I wonder why they did not issue the 4 discs in a set ...or is this arriving down the road?

One other reviewer summed it up nicely: Cowboy Junkies have the uncanny ability to cover songs by other artists and interpret them --- transform them --- into compositions that sound like their own. Such is the case with this impressive album, all covers of songs that the late Vic Chestnut wrote. I have to admit that I've never listened to an entire Vic Chestnut album; a sin which I hope to rectify in the near future. But Cowboy Junkies obviously hold him in high regard and that reverence is obvious in these tunes. At first they don't knock you out. But really, what Cowboy Junkies album does that the first time around? This is a band that sneaks up on you, adds on layers, sinks into your soul, and then you're hooked. This album does all that and more. Beautiful tunes with power, and lyrical depth that leaves you breathless. Fans of Cowboy Junkies and Vic Chestnut should both enjoy this one. Get it.

People seem to almost be waiting for the Cowboy Junkies to fall into a state of disarray... HA! No such luck! these guys are so on top of their game that they almost scare me! These guys know so much about great music and how to make you feel it that they truly are turning into (in my opinion) one of the greatest artists of the past 30 years..... The album is moving, deep and done (in my opinion) better than Vic Cheshnutt's versions PERIOD! AMAZING! Margo and the band are so in tune with what "should" be with this music it almost makes me sick.... I can't appreciate a band more..... They are so very very real and so very very talented.... Worth every penny!!!!

I love the music of Cowboy Junkies, their melodies, excellent playing and intelligent, insightful, poetic, sometimes morose lyrics. I also appreciate the clean, uncluttered sound of the band and the obvious care taken when recording their music. So it puzzles me that a band which puts so much effort into creating such clear and beautiful recordings would let all that go out the window when time comes to master their discs. This recording, like so many others, suffers from the ravages of the loudness war. There's obvious brickwall limiting, audible clipping distortion and harshness in the sound that I'm certain isn't present in the studio tapes. I wish artists like Cowboy Junkies would take a greater interest in the quality of their consumer product. Making a great-sounding Studio Master tape is certainly appreciated, but the fans don't get to hear the studio master; we only get to hear mass-produced CD's and/or digital downloads. It's a real shame to have all the effort invested in great sound ruined at the near-last stage in the production chain by nonsensical CD mastering practices. If I want more loudness, I can simply turn the volume knob that's present on every playback device ever made. If, however, I want less distortion and compression, I have nowhere to turn.