The Greatest

I've had this album in my computer for about a month. Sorry to say but I'm not very female-centric in my music tastes. I do love Amiee Mann, Lhasa, Neko Case, Julie Doiron and Feist but that is about it. It's just the sub genre of music I have chosen to be obsessed with doesn't have a lot of female artists. I have however been a big fan of Cat Power ever since she came out with You are Free. Since then I went back to her covers album to find an amazing album of reworked classics. On her new album she went to Memphis and with the help of some of the best soul and R and B musicians from the 60's and 70's proceeded to record an album. This is all well documented and you will read about it on the Matador site and in every review. She's notorious for her terrible live shows two of which I've been unfortunate enough to have attended. I think I fell asleep on a table at the crocodile show in Seattle.

On album though, now this is a different story. In this forum she doesn't have to worry about all of us sweaty indie slobs eyeballin' her. That would give me performance anxiety I'm sure.

So lets get to it...

This is the album that all the Neil Young fans of After the Goldrush and Zuma should pay attention to. This is so analogue, so crunchy, munchy, fluid, and just so timeless it just can't be ignored. It's for 16 year olds who haven't yet heard of The Band or Dusty Springfield and for 46 year old who know those by rote. I think it is quite a stunning achievement and this surpasses anything she has done thus far. Her contributions on her last album were great but there were a few duds on that record. Having said that I played that damn You are Free for a good 6 months before I put it on the shelf. I burnt out on that one just like I had on Belle and Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister and the entire Pavement Catalog.

The sonic wonder of this album and my current mental state are so congruitous it's almost freaky. When things align in such a way you must write about it so you'll remember that there is still the possiblity for epiphanies in one's usually-dull existence. The songs are so well constructed yet so free of the modern radio sheen that you realize you are getting something accessable but unconventional, a rarity these days. To get to some specifics: the piano playing, the background vocals, non-cheesy horns and all that gorgeous reverb create a world that we seldom hear anymore. To quote Marshall McLuhan: "the medium is the message". Some say this is her Adult Contemporary album. I say to them take another listen cause there's more depth and soul in this little cd than a thousand Norah Jones'.