Heather's Adventures in Lesotho

I have been an Indigo Girls fan since my freshman year at SUU. I was introduced to them by my cooler, older friends on the debate team. Listening to them always reminds me of long van rides to debate tournaments around the West Coast. Especially 1200 Curfew. That will ALWAYS be my favorite Indigo Girl album. Tess bought it for me for my birthday in 1996 – just a few months after starting at SUU. 1200 Curfew also reminds me of drives from Cedar City to my parents house because I listened to those CDs every time I made that drive and could sing along to the entire thing – including harmonies and melodies.

Don’t ask me why, but I got on an Indigo Girls kick this week. Actually, I’ll tell you why. I’ve been going through a massive listening and purging of my music collection – rating every song in my collection. It’s HUGELY nerdy of me, I know. I got to the Indigo Girls and then got side tracked by the iTunes Essentials list dedicated to them. I LOVE iTunes Essentials and like to use them to put together my own playlists. This then led me to their two most recent albums that I did not already own: Staring Down the Brilliant Dream and Poseidon and the Bitter Bug. (As a side note: I have every Indigo Girls song on the iTunes Essential list. From Basics to Deep Cuts. That’s how big of a fan I am.)

Getting on to the review now … The album is very similar to 1200 Curfew – a bunch of disparate live performances put together into one compilation. It is primarily songs from their more recent albums, with a few classics like “Kid Fears” and “Closer to Fine.” In fact, “Closer to Fine” is the only song that is on both 1200 Curfew and Staring Down the Brilliant Dream. As an Indigo Girls fan, I am totally digging it. I think the Girls are best live because their musicianship comes out loud and clear. Like the guitar solo on “Go.” Not traditionally one of my favorite Indigo Girls songs, but man I really enjoyed it on this album. Right now my most favorite track is “Come on Home.” I’ve also discovered a couple of new favorites including “Salty South” originally on Poseidon and the Bitter Bug and “Three County Highway” from Despite our Differences. All in all, totally loving the album. It has totally side tracked me from my purging and rating binge and is getting a lot of play.