You Are Free - Cat Power

[deep]

Is anyone else listening to this artist?

She will never win a grammy.

If you like norah jones don't bother with this.



excerpt from review:

The first track on Chan Marshall's sixth album as Cat Power, "I Don't Blame You," should help listeners understand better her struggles as a popular musician, and perhaps ease the frustration of some who have attended a Cat Power performance only to be bewildered by Marshall's uncomfortability in the very medium with which she has chosen to express herself.

The track finds her plaintively milking a minor-chord riff on the piano while vocalizing empathy with a tortured and bored rock star who seems to be going through the motions to please his fans. "You were swinging your guitar around / 'cause they wanted to hear that sound / but you didn't want to play / and I don't blame you." The song's Cobain-esque subject ends up taking drastic measures to put distance between his humanity and the caricature that celebrity has created, but in a poignant bridge, Marshall makes a key observation about the relationship between an artist and his/her fans: "they never owned it / and you never owed it to them."

It's uplifting, this realization that the struggle between artistic integrity and rock-star fandom doesn't have to be destructive. Marshall doesn't blame the song's subject for his inability to cope, but she appears to have fared better in real life, keeping fame at arm's length by remaining her own person, and not letting celebrity's pitfalls force her into playing songs she doesn't want to or making music to please anyone besides herself.

This mixture of revealing honesty and defiant self-confidence pervades the majority of You Are Free, an affecting and unforced 14-track album that stands as arguably her most diverse and rewarding effort to date. It is especially welcome in the context of Marshall's trying live performances of recent years, in which it sometimes seems she is giving up on her music, occasionally in mid-song (see NATN's recent interview for her take on this). But the vibrant musical buffet offered on You Are Free strongly negates any such thoughts.

 

[u2popmofo]

Thanks for posting about Cat Power. I posted about them on my short-lived Indie thread.

I'd never heard of them until MTV.com was streaming the new album for a week or so. Great stuff.

My only "issue" is that it's kinda like PJ Harvey-lite. I dont mind that much though, cause I like PJ Harvey.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

I've been wanting to buy this album.

 

[no disk]

I saw this cd at the music store this afternoon and almost bought it. big mistake, now i must go back.

 

[u2popmofo]

I've been wanting to buy this album.

I like the pic. I've been listening to All My Life (the song) a lot lately. I want to get that album! That has to be one of my next buys I think.

 

[Bonochick]

FYI, she's on the cover of February's issue of Harp magazine...I just got my copy yesterday.

 

[u2popmofo]

What kind of magazine is Harp? Indie stuff?

I subscribe to Magnet, I really recommend it to music fans. They cover all the bands you never really hear about. Pretty cool.

 

[Calluna]

Another thread I was planning to start! I've been a Cat Power fan for years now and have all her albums. I went out and got this album the day it came out and I love it. You are Free and He War are stand-out tracks. Chan sounds alot more optimistic on this latest album compared to her previous release, Moonpix. Perhaps this is partly because of her recent move to the big city.

I must disagree with u2popmofo's statement that Cat Power is "PJ Harvey lite." I'm not really sure what gave you this impression because to me she is coming from a completely different place. Is it just because they are both powerful female performers?? Anyway, you are of course entitled to your own opinion but I don't get that and I think her music is too complex to be defined in such simplistic terms.

 

[u2popmofo]

I must disagree with u2popmofo's statement that Cat Power is "PJ Harvey lite."

If you read the rest of my post you'll see that I LIKE Cat Power.

What reminds me of PJ Harvey - the voice, the sound. I'm suprised you dont see any similarities. Sounding like PJ Harvey definitly isnt a bad thing, actually it's a compliment from me.

It's not that big of an issue for me, if she sounded too much like PJ Harvey, I wouldnt like her music. But I do, so obviously that isnt the case. I need to get the album..

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

I need to get into the artiste. I first heard of (and not, heard) her extremely interesting cover of the Rolling Stones' Satisfaction but never followed up. Doesn't she have Eddie Vedder guesting on her new album?

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Yes, Eddie is guesting.


And thanks, popmofo! I have always been a huge Foo Fighters fan, but I'm embarrassed to say I don't own any of their albums. That WILL be corrected this weekend.

 

[Calluna]

u2popmofo-
I did read the rest of your post and I understand that you like Cat Power. I am a PJ Harvey fan too but I guess my beef is that when you call an artist 'such and such lite' it gives the impression that they are not as heavy or serious as the real thing, or a knock-off of the original. I understand that it was not your intention to come across like that but the statement rubbed me the wrong way and I felt compelled to say something about it. And no, I don't really see the similarities between the two performers other than the fact that they are both powerful female artists. But that's just me.

All that aside, I think you should go out and get the new album and perhaps even Moonpix as well.

 

[u2popmofo]

All that aside, I think you should go out and get the new album and perhaps even Moonpix as well.

Good call. I really like the song they did a video for from Moonpix, I cant think of what it's called right now. Video was kinda odd though.

 

[MonaVox]

This is so weird because I just heard of Cat Power last week and have been downloading songs since then. I reallly like "Fool."

 

[Kieran McConville]

The video and song you'd be thinking of from Moonpix is Crossbones Style, which is pretty cool indeed. I'm pleased that this is possibly the first Catpower thread to get more than 0 replies. She's starting to make an impact.

I have to say her covers album is pretty damn good also, and agree that whereever she is coming from, it's not the same place as PJ Harvey. I can't really think of any point of reference.

 

[u2popmofo]

I just got this months Spin, there's a short article on Cat Power and an album review. They gave them 8 out of 10. Pretty good, same score they gave Zwan!

 

[MonaVox]

Finally got this CD earlier this month....can't stop listening to it. Been trying to learn to play "Good Woman...."