Cat Power

On December 24, I finished all of my Christmas shopping and headed into Borders to pick up a CD for myself. Cat Power's "The Greatest" jumped out at me because I'd remembered her performing the title track on "Jools Holland". The show had left me amazed at her gorgeous howl of a voice, and she'd made an impression. After listening to the album over and over in awe, my impression was solidified. "She's like a darker, more soulful Feist," I told myself.


How utterly incorrect I was.

The famous Jools Holland vid that awed my ears.

I was completely ignorant to Chan Marshall's past. Had I known that "The Greatest" is the sound that came after Chan emerged from a long tunnel of darkness, my perceptions of the artist "Cat Power" wouldn't have been so... wrong. When I downloaded the earlier works of Cat Power, expecting the music to be in the same vein of the soulful "The Greatest," I was a bit shocked at just how sad pre-"Greatest" really is. On the albums "The Greatest" and "Jukebox," I desire nothing more than to curl up in Chan's vocals and drift away to a peaceful sleep. Listening to the albums "Dear Sir," "Myra Lee," "What Would the Community Think," "Moon Pix," and "You Are Free," however, makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and cry. It's not that the songs aren't beautiful, for they are, and quite a few leave me entranced. But I'm also hit by all of the sorrow and pain reflected in the repetitive guitar lines and in Chan's delivery-- her voice reflects this emptiness and hopelessness that draws you into her half-glass-empty world. Yet after some research, I find that Chan's glass always used to be full; that is, up until around five years ago, she struggled pretty heavily with alcoholism, as well as depression and suicidal thoughts.


Her lyrics scream of all three of her issues, and I've assembled a handful of her more self-disparaging songs with the heaviest of statements.


ICE WATER
"I feel just like/ Some great big disease."
Chan's lyrics, though self-depreciating, are pretty relatable at times.


COLORS AND THE KIDS
"I could stay here, become someone different/ I could stay here, become someone better"
Apart from this line, where I imagine her throwing her head back and shouting to the sky, this song is filled with a conversational whisper.


ENOUGH
"They can't find/ Enough to take from me"
When Chan sings this song, I almost think it's about all that is expected from artists-- how everybody wants a piece of what the artist has. But Chan is so down that she feels she has nothing to give.


GOOD CLEAN FUN
"Hey, I'm run down on my luck/ Hey, can I have something from you/ It seems I have nothing to give/ It seems you have nothing to give"
She not only feels that she has nothing to give as an artist, but also feels as though she has nothing to offer just simply as a person. No one has any desire to help her out, either.


METAL HEART
"Losing a star without a sky/ Losing the reasons why/ You're losing the calling, you've been faking/ And I'm not kidding/ It's damned if you don't and it's damned if you do/ be true 'cause they'll lock you up in a sad sad zoo"
This song always makes me picture a person's downward spiral. He or she really has nothing left but their own depression, and they're a bit afraid they'll be caged, possibly in a madhouse.


NOT WHAT YOU WANT
"I am not what you want/ There's no telling how long I'll be here"
Chan pretty much yells the whole way through this song, and it makes me cry.

CROSS BONES STYLE

"Oh, come child, in a cross bones style/ Oh, come child, come and rescue me/ 'Cause you have seen some unbelievable things"

Though Chan is singing of horrors unseen by her listeners, the video pretty much kicks some 90's ass. She looks rather content as she enters her trance-like dance and as she rollerskates around. Yet the video, while Chan stares head on into the camera accompanied by the odd collection of back-up dancers, is indescribably creepy. The tune definitely cannot be described as happy, while the video can't be described as sad. What's weird, though, is that the video perfectly complements the song.

After playing all five albums on repeat for the past three days, I kind of want to die. She's emitting such an amount of pain and depression that is transferred directly to the listener. As beautiful as Chan Marshall's voice is, I don't know why I keep putting myself through all this misery. But I don't despair too much, for I know that Chan emerges from her black hole and finds a bit of light. Comparing her older live performance videos to her current ones show a significant change in demeanor; for one, she is engaged with the audience, and she has happiness in her eyes. I've read articles (as well as many Youtube comments) in the past few days, claiming that Cat Power was overall a better artist as a depressed and suicidal alcoholic. This ignorance made me laugh. Of course her music doesn't sound the same as it did when she was struggling with heavy, personal problems. She got sober, she got happy, and her music reflects her change one-hundred percent. She needs to be appreciated as the gorgeous phoenix that she is: yes, she burnt out for awhile, but she reached back up to greatness, and both sides are beautiful.







PS: I'd totally been pronouncing her name, "Chan," as it looks. Then I read an article that taught me it's pronounced "Shawn." This reminded me of when I kept calling Bon Iver "Bawn Eye-Verrrr."* It's supposed to be Bone ee-VAIR, I believe.


*I still do this even though I now know better.

Let's rejoice for a spot of free time with some Bad Romance with a side of Peach, Plum, Pear

In the past month, two new female artists have come into my life. One is a superstar pop-icon who's pushing the envelope and blowing up the charts. The other is a gorgeous harpist with a not-so-gorgeous voice who made waves a few years back on the freak-folk scene. Both are, for the most part, polar opposites of each other. Yet I inexplicably love each of them, and each has turned into a new obsession.

The pop-star I am referring to, of course, is Lady Gaga, my new and favorite guilty-pleasure. I remember when I first heard about Lady Gaga-- she made a cameo on "The Hills" (a past guilty-pleasure) a few seasons ago. Lauren of "The Hills" was helping Lady Gaga with some funky, shiny, spacey get-up, and I just remember thinking, "Who the hell is this weirdo?" I didn't really give her another thought, because I figured she would disappear back into obscurity. Yet she soon appeared on So You Think You Can Dance as a guest and later on American Idol to sing another hit. I just kept dismissing her, though. I saw her as another pop-artist flooding the charts with the same dance-beats we hear over and over. This first impression remained with me for awhile, even while her singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" were sky-rocketing. Truth be told, I don't listen to much radio, for I prefer to pop in CDs. I suppose this is why I haven't really learned about Lady Gaga, and what she's all about, until recently.

When I did figure out what her whole shtick consists of, I kind of fell in love. I was taken by surprise, too, for I pretentiously reject much of pop-music (though I have recently been trying to get over this mindset, telling myself that there is no bad music, there is only better music). I got a taste of her persona when she was on the cover of Rolling Stone, and when she performed her startling performance of "Paparazzi" on the VMAs. But I still thought she just was being weird, in her bubble suit and her red-mesh-face-mask with that red Alexander McQueen crown, to gain fame What happened to change my mind? SNL.

Before the episode aired, I was sooo skeptical about what her performance was going to be like. I was still hung up on my pre-conceived notions of her-- that she was putting on an oddball act in order to gain attention.

And then she performed her first song.

As Lady Gaga started, wearing a fantastic red unitard that makes her look like a superhero, I became intrigued. I remembered the song as the one she'd performed at the VMAs, and I had to admit it was catchy. Soon she's belting out all her lines-- I guess when I'd judged her, I assumed she was another girl who couldn't sing. Yet she's incredible the whole way through, and I also secretly want to be able to do her little knee-gyrations she starts during the first chorus. After she plays her keytar and starts to freak out on the left side of the stage, I was fully loving the performance.



The first performance definitely left a good taste in my mouth. What made my new, pro-Lady Gaga feelings even better was the silly skit, with Andy Samberg and two bubble-suits, that had me completely in giggles. Of course, I'll giggle at anything Andy is in, but I still loved that she was laughing at herself.







But then, Gaga hit it out of the park.

I will say that I was completely taken aback at the bionic-woman/Saturn outfit, and she has a major wardrobe fail when she goes to sit down at the piano (you can even hear the audience giggling at this point, but she's great and totally goes straight into the performance). "Bad Romance" acoustic style is adorable, yet it's her biographical rendition of "Poker Face" (and her piano transition into it) which had my mouth completely gaping open. The piano is great, the singing is great-- but I was really struck by her authenticity, which contradicts her entire bizarre look. Here is this woman, wearing this crazy metal suit, looking as surreal as can be, yet she's singing about riding subways and knocking back beers with friends and eating hotdogs on the street.






After SNL, I was completely a fan. I YouTubed (love how that's become a verb, like "Googled") all of her music videos and watched them over and over. I downloaded a "Walmart exclusive" studio performance iPod app. And now, The Fame, Special Edition, and The Fame Monster, Deluxe Edition, are on my iPod. "Just Dance," the song I'd first written off, is now one of my favorites, along with "Speechless," a new, Queen-esque ballad. I listen to her pretty much everyday, and find any excuse to go into the intro of "Bad Romance."

Folks, Lady Gaga has truly eaten my heart and my brain.


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And now, for a transition, into the "freak-folk" sounds of Joanna Newsom.

Like Lady Gaga, I (sort of) got into Joanna Newsom through SNL. Really, I was Googling Andy Samberg, because I love him, and a recommended search was Joanna Newsom. A little bit of Internet-digging taught me that Joanna is actually Andy's apparent-girlfriend, and I immediately hated her for stealing my favorite funny-man (in my mind we had brilliant plans together) and for being such a gorgeous, 1960's model-esque pixie. But after doing another quick search (I friggen love the Internet) I was surprised to find that Joanna is a musician.

Immediately, I headed to Youtube, and the first video I found was this:





Holy harp. I didn't expect her to be playing a ginormous harp, nor did I expect her to play it so beautifully. "Damn," I thought, "this chick is actually talented. And she's cool. *Enormous Sigh*." She had won my approval, even in those first few seconds, where she opens with the line, "I slept all day," sung in such an alluring way that taking a nap suddenly sounds like most fun activity you could be doing. (Then I remember I hate sleeping.) This first line is still my favorite of all the lyrics, ranging from insane to intellectual, that Joanna sings.

The video is extremely well-done. How I wished to roam through the wilderness with her wearing wonderful boots and flowy old-fashioned dresses. I wanted to play with boats in a stream and climb trees and draw animated chalk-board drawings. It was the perfect video for me to be introduced to, because the next few videos I watched would truly unveil her unique singing style.

I'll admit, I was tested by songs such as "Sadie" and "Inflammatory Writ," both songs which feature the original Joanna Newsom warble. I still can't make it all the way through "Three Little Babes," because the voice and the electric keyboard just do not mesh. But when I found "Cosmia," I was floored-- and had an entire different take on that voice of hers.






Joanna's songs had been growing on me for some time, but when I found "Cosmia," I was pushed over the edge. The music-- her voice, the harp, the string arrangement, the winding melody-- just all came together in the most perfect way. I wasn't too fussed about her shrill tone, for I love Bob Dylan, and Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, both warble-y singers in their own right. Yet in this video, I felt as though she was a young child, coming to sing to the world with the wisdom of an old woman. Or maybe she sounded like an old woman in a childlike state. I don't know, but she was certainly some strange hybrid of the two, and I'm fascinated by her. I could truly listen to "Cosmia" for an entire day, and not even move from where I'm sitting, because it is that gorgeous. I didn't even mind when my father entered the room as I was playing the song, and obnoxiously announced, "Who stepped on Fred's [our cat's] tail?" I just rolled my eyes, because I know what he's missing out on. He was more correct, when trying to insult her again, when he stated, "She sounds like she should be on some off-Broadway show." Well, her songs are masterpieces, so, not a bad idea, really.

Now Y's and The Milk-Eyed Mender are on my iPod, and I have entered the art of Joanna Newsom. Just recently, I read a blip about her in Rolling Stone's end of the year special. She was featured in an article about the genres that will die out with the end of the decade. "What genre are they talking about?" I wondered. And then they referred to her as a freak-folk princess, and lumped her in the same category as Devendra Banhart, which made me snort. Yeah, because when I watched that first beautiful video, I definitely thought, "This girl is so freak-folk." I didn't even know that was a legitimate genre. And though I am loving Devendra's new album, I completely wouldn't lump the two together. I don't even see similarities-- Devendra is unique, but Joanna is just her own breed. Never have I heard an artist like her, at least not one who's made it into popular culture. But they've apparently performed together, or she's opened for him, or something, which obviously warrants her being thrusted into this silly sub-genre. (I dislike super-specific sub-genres, for they are often simply coined to explain what people don't really understand. I don't believe anyone can really put their finger on Joanna Newsom, or a great abundance of other artists, for that matter). She appeared in MGMT's Kids video, as well. Does that make her a throwback to David Bowie's psychedelia? Nope.

For now, I'm hoping she releases a new album soon, because it's been a few years. At the moment, though, I'll just torture my family by playing her music, and Lady Gaga's music, for that matter, at an obscene level. I think I will make a Joanna Newsom/Lady Gaga playlist, just so I can have some contrast to my life, and I shall blast this playlist through the walls of my room and throughout my house. This will be a great couple of weeks, or at least until I move onto my next obsession. Right now, though, I'm glad I'm obsessing over two awesome female artists who are kicking ass and pushing the envelope in their own original styles.