COWBOY JUNKIES

RENMIN PARK

2010-06-25

Guitarist Michael Timmins spent three months in China where, among other things, he spent countless hours recording the day to day sounds of the intensely packed public spaces and listening to all manner of local musicians. By incorporating some of the sounds into these tracks and by covering two of the musicians, Zuoxial Zuzhou (ZXZZ) and Xu Wei on "I Cannot Sit Sadly by Your Side" and "My Fall" respectively, Timmons has crafted his own memento of the trip. While the disc preserves the dense, almost narcotic, haze that finds its way into most of the band’s work, the street sounds, kid’s voices and other sonic textures make for an interesting change of pace from the normal bill of fare. Even so, this isn’t the type of disc that will fire up a party. Think dim lights, incense and blissed out Hot Topics clerks and you’ll be closer to the overall vibe. The most accessible cuts are "Stranger Here", "Renmin Park (revisited)" and "My Fall" which are positively buoyant compared to the rest of the disc, albeit in a Cowboy Junkies kind of way. Made for rainy days, late nights or for those times where darkness fits better than sunshine. Smitty