It certainly is a testament to the popularity of an artist when they can release two live albums within a five year period. True, the first one was the unplugged performance with her former bandmates-- 10,000 Maniacs, but I can't think of another performer, at least recently, who's put out two live albums.

As you may know I'm something of a fan of Miss Merchant, I bought her latest studio effort, the somber masterpiece Ophelia, just before moving into a new house, and without that album I don't think I would've made it through the grueling renovation with my sanity. It was my favorite album of the year and will most likely find a spot on my "Best of the Decade" list to come in the next Inde.

Live In New York finds Natalie in top form, but as with all live albums or compilations you're at the mercy of song selection. With the exception of "Wonder," the opener, all of the songs have the same dark and melancholy tone (which worked like magic on Ophelia, but doesn't play as well live.) In fact the song "Ophelia" is the only song representing the album Ophelia, and that was a disappointment, because the title-track is my least favorite.

She doesn't bring anything new to the table for her covers of Bowie's "Space Oddity," or Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush," but they're both such incredible songs that you can't go too far wrong. The album's high point is a knock-out rendering of her greatest song, "Dust Bowl," from the 10,000 Maniacs' Blind Man's Zoo. An achingly poignant tale of a single mother struggling to make ends meet. If I wrote that song, I'd just kick back the rest of my life, confident in the knowledge that I was the coolest bastard in the world.

All in all, it runs a little sluggish and same-ish. But if you're a fan don't let this stop you--I'm just being an overcritical pain in the ass.