CAT POWER – THE GREATEST (MATADOR RECORDS)
This is the Cat Power album that I once gave to my mother for a birthday present. I figured the country tinge of proceedings might appeal to her. I was wrong.
Initially well received by me, I personally now find this record a tough sell. Perhaps it was just representative of a time where a red haired potential loved one was driving me insane as this record came coupled with You Are Free to shoulder/soldier me through the season.
Having left it alone for a couple of years returning to it now, having seen her doing these songs badly live, I can’t help but find too much of this record flabby and indulgent. The tone is too downbeat to stomach. Right from the off as Chan cries into her beer it fails to convince me that these emotions are still real within her world.
It is with “Livid In Bars” that she loses me. There is nothing more unattractive than a female wino (and this is coming from a person that lives in Essex). This track is overblown and as far removed from attractive as an orchestration can get. I do not believe the person behind this song is necessarily looking to better themselves via these means. Drink aware.
Before I get onto the good stuff I need to rant about the bad stuff. “Empty Shell” is country music hell to me. Why would anybody choose to listen to music like this? Likewise the crooning of “Where Is My Love” also fails to convince. If this is your front no wonder your “love” has fucked off. And don’t fake being upbeat as with on “Islands” which ultimately is slide guitar hell. “After It All” then performs a similar kind of feat for bar room piano and whistling in song. Stop!
From here saving the day comes half a record of great songs. Firstly there are the traditional Cat Power standards in the form of “The Moon” and “Hate” which sound distant, disturbed and distracted in the manner of her old classic material. Here I feel convinced that there is more going on beneath the surface. These are songs that sound like tears, like crying fits waiting to happen. You can almost touch the desperation. Here she achieves the modern blues that made her career viable.
As far as upbeat tracks go, the potentially cheesy horns of “Could We” manage not to spoil proceedings as a breezy gallop engulfs the record and demonstrates that Chan does indeed have a happy place sometimes.
Likewise “Willie”, despite being sad in nature, is fairly upbeat in execution and issues a healthy dollop of empathy that sees the listener siding with the characters of piece hoping for success, victory and all the best. This represents and describes a tough life/existence I can associate with as the haunting clarinet points towards a peaceful conclusion eventually.
The highlight of the piece arrives in the form of “Living Proof”. I have to concede the song is enhanced by the video of Chan as Britney being crucified in a hip hop world with a high school mentality that is not easy on females, often unkind and unsympathetic to their plight. On this song everything comes together, everything goes right. The track represents the expression of an optimistic and forgiving person, hopeful that things are going to improve within a relationship when it does not necessarily appear forthcoming in the distance. The slog and vocal yearn for some kind of sign and direction proves a pained declaration and thankfully the presence of a warm Hammond adds an air of optimism against the elements. With “Living Proof” Marshall manages to construct easily one of the finest songs from her songbook.
The record concludes/climaxes with the epic “Love And Communication” with its descending tone which serves as a recap of the album that just passed. As the song drops further, chiming strings and subtly dark guitar couple with strangely upbeat keys as yet more declarations of affection are expressed and drowned in sound. It is a song that expresses as many questions as it does conclusive observations but perversely it ends proceedings on a fairly upbeat note, much in the face of such failure for motion and connection.
The Greatest is an incredibly frustrating piece of work, regularly promising to be great but also often slipping into too many traps that hold it back.
A whole lotta love.
Thesaurus moment: emote.
Cat Power
Matador Records
This is the Cat Power album that I once gave to my mother for a birthday present. I figured the country tinge of proceedings might appeal to her. I was wrong.
Initially well received by me, I personally now find this record a tough sell. Perhaps it was just representative of a time where a red haired potential loved one was driving me insane as this record came coupled with You Are Free to shoulder/soldier me through the season.
Having left it alone for a couple of years returning to it now, having seen her doing these songs badly live, I can’t help but find too much of this record flabby and indulgent. The tone is too downbeat to stomach. Right from the off as Chan cries into her beer it fails to convince me that these emotions are still real within her world.
It is with “Livid In Bars” that she loses me. There is nothing more unattractive than a female wino (and this is coming from a person that lives in Essex). This track is overblown and as far removed from attractive as an orchestration can get. I do not believe the person behind this song is necessarily looking to better themselves via these means. Drink aware.
Before I get onto the good stuff I need to rant about the bad stuff. “Empty Shell” is country music hell to me. Why would anybody choose to listen to music like this? Likewise the crooning of “Where Is My Love” also fails to convince. If this is your front no wonder your “love” has fucked off. And don’t fake being upbeat as with on “Islands” which ultimately is slide guitar hell. “After It All” then performs a similar kind of feat for bar room piano and whistling in song. Stop!
From here saving the day comes half a record of great songs. Firstly there are the traditional Cat Power standards in the form of “The Moon” and “Hate” which sound distant, disturbed and distracted in the manner of her old classic material. Here I feel convinced that there is more going on beneath the surface. These are songs that sound like tears, like crying fits waiting to happen. You can almost touch the desperation. Here she achieves the modern blues that made her career viable.
As far as upbeat tracks go, the potentially cheesy horns of “Could We” manage not to spoil proceedings as a breezy gallop engulfs the record and demonstrates that Chan does indeed have a happy place sometimes.
Likewise “Willie”, despite being sad in nature, is fairly upbeat in execution and issues a healthy dollop of empathy that sees the listener siding with the characters of piece hoping for success, victory and all the best. This represents and describes a tough life/existence I can associate with as the haunting clarinet points towards a peaceful conclusion eventually.
The highlight of the piece arrives in the form of “Living Proof”. I have to concede the song is enhanced by the video of Chan as Britney being crucified in a hip hop world with a high school mentality that is not easy on females, often unkind and unsympathetic to their plight. On this song everything comes together, everything goes right. The track represents the expression of an optimistic and forgiving person, hopeful that things are going to improve within a relationship when it does not necessarily appear forthcoming in the distance. The slog and vocal yearn for some kind of sign and direction proves a pained declaration and thankfully the presence of a warm Hammond adds an air of optimism against the elements. With “Living Proof” Marshall manages to construct easily one of the finest songs from her songbook.
The record concludes/climaxes with the epic “Love And Communication” with its descending tone which serves as a recap of the album that just passed. As the song drops further, chiming strings and subtly dark guitar couple with strangely upbeat keys as yet more declarations of affection are expressed and drowned in sound. It is a song that expresses as many questions as it does conclusive observations but perversely it ends proceedings on a fairly upbeat note, much in the face of such failure for motion and connection.
The Greatest is an incredibly frustrating piece of work, regularly promising to be great but also often slipping into too many traps that hold it back.
A whole lotta love.
Thesaurus moment: emote.
Cat Power
Matador Records
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