Indigo Girls
1200 Curfews

After scoring a hit with Closer to Fine, the Indigo Girls gradually refined its craft, the culmination of which occurred on the stellar set Swamp Ophelia.  Capitalizing upon the attention it recently has received, the duo saw fit to re-imagine its catalogue via the concert set 1200 Curfews, the bulk of which improves upon its early material.  There's more than two hours of great acoustic music here, including a couple of excellent cover songs.  Most notably, Emily Saliers does a wonderful rendition of Joni Mitchell's River, and its interpretations of Bob Dylan's Tangled Up in Blue and Neil Young's Down by the River are laden with new meaning. 

As far as the Indigo Girls' own material is concerned, every song is really an amazing performance.  Highlights include Strange Fire, which features an infectious acoustic guitar solo, as well as an impromptu radio program version of Power of Two, an extremely inspired rendition of Galileo, and a haunting dobro/pennywhistle/ acoustic guitar arrangement of This Train Revised.

The liner notes for 1200 Curfews are also of interest to fans.  Both Saliers and partner Amy Ray add handwritten comments and reflections on each of the songs contained in this compilation.

1 Star:   Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!