Cat Power

Cat Power more or less is Chan Marshall, sometimes solo, sometimes backed by a rotating cast of characters in her band. Although I find her albums to be truly spellbinding, I find her solo performances to be almost utterly unbearable. The studio captures her mournful, bluesy voice and packages it perfectly - a serving of sonic morphine that calms my soul on every listen. In her solo performances, you never know what to expect - when the muse smiles on her, everything seems blissful and perfect. Unfortunately, more often than not she is smitten with something resembling stage fright, and is unable to finish more than 3-4 songs without complaining about the sound, her performance, or telling knock knock jokes. So I'm sorry to report that as far as her solo shows are concerned, I'm very much Chan Marshalled out. Your best bet to enjoy an uninterrupted Cat Power live experience is either to dig up a recording of a stunning, uninterrupted solo show she did in Athens, Georgia in 2000, or to catch her when she tours with a full band - the other folks seem to keep her more on track.

Links of note:

Cat Power at Matador Records: http://www.matador.recs.com/cat_power/index.html.

Site for "You are free": http://www.catpowermusic.com.

Great fan site: http://www.moonpix.com.

My review, 1/13/00, Fais Do Do Ballroom, LA.

If you'd like, you can email me here: richard@hearingmusic.com.

Oh, and all content on these pages is copyright Richard Lewis.