, 's duet record with fellow American music maverick , followed months after his freewheeling, jam-heavy double album . This record (once a double LP, now a single CD) wasn't recorded live and the songs run a little shorter, but it shares the same sort of loose spirit and easy-rolling eclecticism as the two, essentially backed by , run through a mess of and . The latter makes up for the second half and its appropriately a little more subdued feel, but it's earthier than and it makes a good companion for the irresistible first half, which is often cheerfully rowdy (particularly on the dynamite opening triptych of ) and convincingly bluesy on the and mid-tempo groovers like the excellent Both are known as sharp interpreters of other people's material, and teamed together, they might not reinvent these songs (though they come close on ), but they infuse a lot of sound and spirit into these songs. It's a little bit too laid-back and easy to qualify as a no-holds-barred classic (particularly on the second half), but that mellow charm is precisely why it's a small, priceless gem for any serious fan of either singer. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine