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Apr 27, 2011 Web Exclusive By Jim Scott

While two people hardly constitute a super group, when the two personalities in question are as strong as Thao and Mirah, egos still need to be put aside in order to make the project work. Unlike Monsters of Folk, to use one recent example, Thao & Mirah does not sound like a series of songs written by one member or another. In fact, Thao and Mirah have done such a good job of marrying their styles that the album feels like one piece, not a patchwork of two artists trying to coexist.

Thao and Mirah go one step better, making the record actually feel like two people making music together in a room; there’s an intimacy to Thao & Mirah that is hard to describe. Take the excellent “Little Cup” for example. It finds its percussion out of whispers (it works) and a softly strummed guitar. Mirah’s vocals are so soft spoken, that the whole affair sounds like a secret. It’s wonderful.

But this isn’t to say Thao & Mirah is a quiet or staid affair. The opening “Eleven” rolls along with crazy bottle-knocking percussion and electrified handclaps. The lyrics leave something to be desired (“My love is love/Don’t let it go away”) but the song has such infectious energy, it’s entirely too easy to love and difficult to let go away.

Part of this energy must come from the two-week-long recording session. There’s something to the fevered quality of Thao & Mirah that captures a point in time rather than trying to get each and every take perfectly right. It’s an organic album and not without its flaws, but warts and all Thao & Mirah is like getting the soundtrack to a friendship, and that is worth much more than studio perfection or flawless songwriting. (www.thaomusic.com, www.myspace.com/cmonmirah)

Author rating: 7/10