Moenie And Kitchi [CD]

I really have enjoyed this album and look forward to hearing more from Gregory and the Hawk. I love the mix on this album and it works so well as a whole. The music is gorgeously textured. You know those albums that you listen to the subtleties and the music is just so rich and beautiful that you just get the shivers! Well, for me, this is one of them. Her voice is so perfect for this music. The balance is perfect. PLEASE!!! KEEP YOUR STUDIO TEAM! Perfection! I really hope she/they get recognition for the beautiful work on this album.
Other Favorites of mine include: Elliot Smith, Nick Drake, Alexi Murdoch, Iron and Wine, Deb Talan, ...you get the idea? Well, Gregory and the Hawk fits in nicely!
I have since purchased all of her other albums and it is so cool to hear her simpler acoustic songs, which are wonderful as is, and then hear the more "finished" studio work. Studio versions often times get'over-tracked' but thankfully, not on this album. WOW! The rhythms are absolutely amazing. What a great job! I have listened to this album a hundred times and it has become the soundtrack for the past year or so. I SO LOVE this album! I also play guitar and happily, some of her alternate tunings are providing new avenues for exploration.
"Wild West" was the song that attracted me at first, but there are so many wonderful songs!

Meredith Godreau did right by naming her solo project 'Gregory and the Hawk', as it does indeed remove her, somewhat, from the sea of female singer-songwriters that currently litter the musical soundscape. From the album cover to the song titles, almost everything screams out 'generic female independent release', but this album also does have its many charms. It won't be remembered or widely purchased, or even listened to for free, but then again, not many albums are that lucky anymore. That said, its good to see these young performers believe in the 'album' concept - nothing here could possibly be a 'single' in the commercial sense, which is something that is well appreciated.

Think of a more watered-down and lazy version of Isobel Campbell's "Amorino" from 2003 and you would be spot-on. Meredith's squeaky-clean vocals are almost suffocatingly saccharine, which immediately make this record inaccessible for a whole lot of folks. Its an acquired taste, for sure, and if you liked Bon Iver, you might warm up to this girl eventually. But its quite a task. The simple guitar strumming and occassional off-kilter vocal is hypnotizing in patches, and completely revolting in others. For example, a simple sounding track such as "Wild West" starts off like one of those slower Dido songs, but really harmonizes and comes into its' own at the end of it.

Sombre set-pieces permeate this landscape. The luminous "Stone Wall, Stone Fence" is firmly in the dark, gothic genre of music (very reminiscent of Orion Rigel Dommisse, who is also better than Gregory and the Hawk, by the way). When Meredith decides to become a little experimental, then it works better, especially on this song, as it combines more gloomy elements of musicianship with a truly affecting vocal. At times you are convinced that Meredith knows how to use her voice effectively to convey emotion - yet at others you feel as though she seems rather lost with the material.

Also somewhat muddled are the message and cohesive form of the album. Its random and rather poorly structured, in many ways, but through this emerges some sort of coherence. Its fascinating - this album should technically NOT pull you in for a repeat visit, but it does, and much like "For Emma Forever Ago", you'll find yourself reaching for it repeatedly. Yes, its not perfect, and from a songwriter perspective it is lacking in many respects, but it does have that *special* something that most young female singer-songwriters (Colbie Caillat, A Fine Frenzy, Regina Spektor) have strived for but failed.

Check this out if you are well versed with the works of Belle and Sebastian. I find that most fans of "Veckatimest" by Grizzly Bear take very well to this particular album. Even within the independent music community, this is somewhat of an oddity and a rarity, and for that reason alone, you might want to pick it up.

Four Stars.