As January winded down, I was wandering around the Internet and wading through the eMusic archives and this month's Pitchfork reviews, I felt that January didn't bring much music worth talking about. I gave up and found an interesting artist on an eMusic "dozens" list named Cat Power, a.k.a. Chan Marshall. I downloaded her 2003 album You Are Free and became an immediate fan. Her sultry, affecting voice delivers somewhat cryptic lyrics that nonetheless bury themselves under your skin. She plays both the piano and guitar with a moody charm that is, though sometimes simplistic, refreshingly original.
Marshall has just released a new album on Matador Records, entitled The Greatest. Though it doesn't quite live up to it's title, The Greatest does randomly arrive at greatness.
Marshall has previously played it safe within the boundaries of indie rock. The Greatest is her seventh effort and is her most accessible to date, owing to the fact that she is joined not by indie musicians but by legendary Memphis session musicians. These guys are strictly professional and have supposedly played for the likes of Al Green, Neil Young, and Aretha Franklin. This professional accessibility - which evokes the label "Starbucks music" to one Blogcritics reviewer - might mean that the indie rock world snubs Marshall. If, however, Marshall does manage to break into the Starbucks scene, mainstream fans are likely to give The Greatest a warm reception.
The Greatest opens with a triumvirate of the album's best three songs (except for "Love and Communication", which I'll get into later). "The Greatest," about somebody's failed aspirations as a boxer, nails its intended mood with grace and perfection. A melancholy beat drags down the bittersweet, but endearingly elegant strings as Marshall croons "Once I wanted to be the greatest / Two fists of solid rock." The ballad crushes you under its sincere depiction, both lyrically and musically, of honest remorse and failure. "Living Proof" wipes away the mournful vibe of "The Greatest," picking up the beat and adding a constant whining organ. "Lived in Bars" begins slowly and carefully, but picks up mid-song, bursting into a celebratory ditty with repetitive horns and "sho-bops." These first three tracks establish the overall emotional mood of the album, a mood of bittersweet regret, disappointment and nagging - but comfortable - sadness. These three also showcase the Memphis band at its best.
Article comments
1 - Megan
I seriously doubt that any album with the lyrics: "I hate myself/ and I want to die" is going to be found in any Starbucks across America. I don't know, but for some reason, I just don't think a song like that is going to help make people buy coffee.
But anyway.
It's cool that you're getting into Cat Power. You should try her What Would The Community Think or Moon Pix. They're really good and better than this last one.
2 - Connie Phillips
Editor's note: This article now has another venue for success - and more eyes - at the Advance.net Web sites, a site affiliated with about 12 newspapers.
One such site is here.