FedEx just dropped off a box of LPs from Acoustic Sounds that I ordered a few days ago, so I'll be reporting on those LPs as I listen to them.

First up is the Cowboy Junkies' The Trinity Session , named for the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto, Canada, where they recorded the tracks on November 27, 1987.

The 'they' mentioned above is Alan Anton, Margo Timmins, Michael Timmins, and Peter Timmins, and they recorded The Trinity Session in a nice church acoustic using a single Calrec Ambisonic microphone that they all crowded around while Margo sang and the others played, much like an old bluegrass band would do in an on-stage performance.

I heard once the Junkies did the recording on a portable Sony Datman digital recorder with the microphone plugged directly into it, but I don't really know if that's true. Whatever the case is, I had forgotten how terrific this album is, and I'm scratchin' my head wondering why it took me almost twenty years to get back around to listening to it again.

The overall mood of the album is dark and melancholy, with Margo's voice in a huge and - literally, because of the Church - natural acoustic that fills up my living room some of the best country music I've cocked an ear to. I suppose that the fact that it was recorded in a church is fitting, as listening to it on the BIG Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs produces a near religious experience of musical intensity that is best described by ... "My God ...". Yeah, it's that awesome.

The version I bought is the Classic Records 200 gram remaster and its a honey - $35 at Acoustic Sounds. It's an easy recommendation, so if you don't have a copy you might want to snap one up before they disappear off the face of the Earth, and then give it a listen and prepare to be raptured into the heavens as the music washes over you.