Heartbeats Accelerating (or, considering the content of most of these songs, Heartbreaks Accelerating) dates to Kate and Anna McGarrigle's best years.  Their writing draws from memories of youth, experiences as adults and parents, and collisions with mortality.  Their harmonies are complex, buoyant or delicate, and backed with quirky arrangements, often featuring strings or liberal use of the accordion, not exactly a front line pop music instrument north of the Rio Grande.  The best songs here are Heartbeats (more prominently recorded by Linda Ronstadt), Love Is (covered by Emmylou Harris), I Eat Dinner, and, my personal favorite since our last child just moved out of the house, I'm Losing You.  I listen to this CD and the later Matapedia and think it is too bad the sisters have over the last years faded somewhat into the background in their performances, ceding space to their (to my mind) less interesting children.