While I fell in love with Feist's Metals record last year I made no secret of my dislike of A Commotion. It just sounded forced and weird but guess what? Mastodon might have turned that around for me. This is vaguely awesome and dude, the drums, the frickin' drums... Nice.
Showing posts with label Feist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feist. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Feistodon - A Commotion
While I fell in love with Feist's Metals record last year I made no secret of my dislike of A Commotion. It just sounded forced and weird but guess what? Mastodon might have turned that around for me. This is vaguely awesome and dude, the drums, the frickin' drums... Nice.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Record store day
Today was Record Store Day so I celebrated by going out and buying vinyl. I started the day by going to the Glebe Record Fair, probably Sydney's biggest vinyl event of the year. Technically, it's not an independent record store but a number of stores have stalls there so I reckon it's ok. If I had any illusions that vinyl collecting had become a cool thing to do in the last twelve months, I estimate that there was probably two or three times the crowd there this year than last and it was pretty hard to get around and harder to look through the bins. Even worse, the stall holders have gotten wind of it and there was very few bargains to be had as they'd jacked up the prices on just about everything - good on them for making money but the sheer joy of finding a bargain seems long gone. However, I managed to pick up the Cure's Japanese Whispers, Low's C'mon and Kraftwerk's the Man Machine pretty cheaply. Not a great haul but ok...
I then went to Redeye which is one of the few shops in Sydney that gets the Record Store Day special releases. Being in Australia, they get the records which are left over from the US and the UK so there often isn't a huge choice. I particularly wanted to get the Arctic Monkeys R U Mine 7inch (that song gets better and better), the Feist/Mastodon split 7inch and the Ryan Adams 7inch which featured two Bob Mould covers (here and here) - both great. Unfortunately, they'd sold out of the Monkeys and the Ryan Adams and Feist records weren't available in Australia (just checked ebay - the prices are already extortionate). In the end, I'd got there too late as the clerk said there was a line to get in at 9am, I think I was still in bed at that point. Still good news for the record stores though. Anyhow, I did pick up Mclusky Do Dallas on orange vinyl which is pretty sweet. Still a great album after all this time but my record store day was less fruitful than previous years. Whatever, I've got next year to look forward to.
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
The top 10 albums of 2011
Before I start my top ten, let's just have a quick discussion about some of the honourable mentions and disappointments of the year.
First the negative: I despised Bon Iver's 80's baiting self titled record and it seems I'm largely alone in this. Bon Iver fans carried on like a bunch of whiney Justin Bieber acolytes against anyone who didn't think it was the greatest record since Sussudio and to all those BI fans I'd respectfully like to tell them that their taste is in their arse (I think I just lost a lot of readers right there - oh well). Iron and Wine went in a similar direction but I couldn't even listen to that record all the way through - I lived through the 80's once and I ain't going back. While some people don't like fingernails on blackboards, the particular sound that makes me cringe is metal scraping on concrete or St Vincent (sorry Adam). I actually think her music is getting worse (if that's possible) and really don't understand the fuss. Post-rock took a hammering this year with a just ok Explosions in the Sky and a good but unmemorable Mogwai record (sorry boys and Katie, that EP is boring). Jane's Addiction's first album in eight years was unfortunately not worth the wait and thank the Buddha Ben Gibbard split up with that She & Him girl because the music he makes when he is happy is pretty poor. Too harsh? It's a blog, get over it.
In the positives, The Antlers and My Morning Jacket both produced amazing records. The Foo Fighters record had no other ambition other than to rock your socks and succeeded while the Black Key's late in the year El Camino was a transcendent blues rock triumph. The biggest surprise was how enjoyable the Beastie Boys latest record was after years of so-so output. Yuck and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart kept the grunge flame alight while Tycho provided escapist mood scapes for recreational drug users. My second favourite Australian album of the year was Seeker Lover Keeper, a supergroup that was an excellent addition to a year which had a slew of strong releases by female artists. Anyhow, enough gibber jabber, here's the list:
10: Low - C'mon
Known for their hushed slowcore aesthetic, Low's excellent C'mon record was where they embraced their inner-Neil Young and rocked the fuck out. The eight minute Nothing but heart should put to rest any ideas that Low are anything other than consummate musicians following their muse and this album is peppered with a number of highs. Sure it's still slow moving but it's slow moving in the way a lethal snake moves - deliberate and deadly and ready to strike when you least expect it, this is a great rock record.
9: Wire - Red Barked Tree
In a pretty quiet year for quality punk and hardcore, post-punk lifers Wire showed the kids how to do it. Red Barked Tree sounded forward thinking, vital and an evolution of their sound while somehow sounding exactly like Wire should. For a bunch of men in their fifties, their message of environmental and financial destruction was no different from what they've been singing about for years but it seemed oddly prescient this year. Essentially, Wire were the occupy movement before the occupy movement existed but they are as astute and accomplished with their music as they are with their politics.
8: The Middle East - I Want That You Are Always Happy
The Middle East was a short lived band from Townsville whose debut album is nothing short of amazing. The record twists through a number of genres but with a solid indie-folk basis, it is unrelentingly moving without conceit or any self awareness. There is a beauty here that is strangely rare in Australian records and my bet is that being a younger band they grew up on a steady diet of Radiohead and Australian indie rock (for example, The Go-Betweens). Those reference points are obvious but not overwhelming and the Middle East walked their own oddly gorgeous step until they dissolved without a trace mid year.
7: Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread
I came late to the Ty Segall party but was floored by this record which sounds like some classic rock nugget that got lost somewhere in the 70's but oddly timeless at the same time. The psyched out tales of domesticity and love are all the better for the ramshackle instrumentation and off kilter delivery. However, what shines through is the heart in these songs, there is real love here in both songwriting and delivery which makes Goodbye Bread one of the most joyous and fun records of the year.
6: Feist - Metals
It's probably poor form to say an artist sounds better because their latest album sounds more like someone else but I'm the king of poor form so there you go. On Metals, Feist has edged closer to the soul sound Cat Power that has been mining for the last few records and she's all the more brilliant for it. Feist's voice is at times sensual, angry and powerful in a way that is absent on The Reminder. If anything, there is a lot of fight and retribution on this record and that passion bleeds through the speakers. Further, I'd say it's one of the most beautifully orchestrated and produced records of the year with a production that is as broad as it is intimate but what shines through most is the singular and expansive passion of Laslie Feist herself.
5: Tom Waits - Bad As Me
Tom Waits has always sounded like some rough hemmed circus barker from the depression era and thanks to the fucked world banking system, Waits is finally in time with his dark obsessions. As such, he sounds reinvigorated and devilish on Bad as me railing against the man, the wars we needlessly fight and general bad behaviour all round. Many of the narratives in this record are based on the poor man's point of view where hope is somewhere else (Chicago apparently), the hard times are hardest and darkness stalks every street. Somehow Waits sounds ebullient and focussed despite the material, a pure force of gravel voiced revelry, but most of all, this album is endlessly entertaining and fun to listen to. Waits hasn't sounded so vital in years and reminds us that he is one of the most singularly unique artists still releasing records today.
4: Wild Flag - Wild Flag
We all know that gender politics in music suck arse but Wild Flag (like Sleater-Kinney before them) blow all that 'pretty good for a girl band' shit out of the water - they are great band period. With so many big name rock bands failing to make a connection this year, Wild Flag just kicked down the door and announced where the party is happening. What's great about this record is that many of the songs themselves are about being in love with music which as music fans is something we can all relate to. The songs range from nuggets era break downs to White Rabbit-esque psych freak outs (Glass Tambourine) but they are never less than captivating and soulful. Easily the best rock album of the year by a mile.
3: James Blake - James Blake
Nothing splits the kids in the room like a record that on first listen is either revelatory or incomprehensible. To me, coming somewhere between Antony's sense of otherworldly melodrama and For Emma, Forever Ago's hushed aesthetics, James Blake's music is simultaneously unsettling, spellbinding and gorgeous. While it's not impenetrable, James Blake ultimately rewards repeat listens and the music slowly reveals its inherent complexities and subtleties. While the auto-tuned vocals, tilted loops and sparse instrumentation may seem alien, the record is extremely intimate and affecting as if the technology between the music and listener acts as bridge to the soul rather than a deterrent. If anything that exactly what this is, 21st century soul music.
2: PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
After the puritanism and austerity of 2007's White Chalk, PJ Harvey turns war correspondent reporting on the ills of modern England. While she speaks of the past, the record ruminates on the cultural shifts and complexities of the modern state but its focus extends beyond ol' blighty into a more universal narrative and can be easily understood outside of this context. However, it is a peculiarly British record. I returned to my childhood home in England this year and saw the disarray of country - the sense of what it is to be English in the face of cultural and social change. This is the struggle at the heart of Harvey's narrative, not just the literal war the UK is engaged in but the battle for British identity. As always, Harvey's gift as a lyricist is that she can get to the truth of any topic with raw verve and insight but here it is particularly frank and brutal:
Withered vine reaching
From the country that I love
England, you leave a taste
A bitter one
The music itself is deceptively simple but closer examination reveals layers of vocals, samples and sounds that almost seem incidental to the music itself but subtly enriching from a measured distance. To me, this is a deeply personal album that speaks to a sense of identity I share with my family and my English community but it is a candid exploration of this without sentiment or mercy. England does indeed shake and wither under Harvey's pitiless examination and the result is this exceptional album.
1. Gillian Welch - The Harrow And The Harvest
The first time I heard this record I knew it would be my favourite of the year and with each subsequent listen, this became clearer and clearer. Gillian Welch and partner David Rawlings have created a master work which has rewarded fans who have patiently waited eight (count them, EIGHT!) years since her last record. There is a pared down asceticism on this record that could have been the musical equivalent of Lars Von Trier's Dogme 95 manifesto: two voices, two instruments and simple production with no bells, whistles or artificial flourishes. In lesser hands such confined instrumentation could have been a handicap but Welch and Rawlings create whole worlds that are haunting, dangerous and gorgeous. Some of the songs sound as if they have been could have been written a hundred years ago and rediscovered on some crackling old 78 but it never feels like a hokey journey in nostalgia or simple folk or country.
The narratives here are ultimately explorations of adult issues and themes of betrayal, love, loss and change dominate the album. These are tales that come from experience, the exuberance of youth long dimmed and the weariness of life underpins each of these tracks. Welch's voice is an exquisite instrument, her phrasing and tone is flawless and is ably supported by Rawlings' sympathetic backing vocals. Rawlings guitar playing is particularly great on this record, elevating the simplest songs and almost a running counterpoint to the vocals such as on The Way it Is. At the centre of the record though is fantastic songwriting and at a brief ten songs, each one is memorable but also plays a part in the larger narrative of the album. Like any great record, I feel that your understanding of it will change as you change and there is a lifetime of enjoyment ahead of anyone who embraces this record. It is an album that is ageless but will stay with you long after you switch off your stereo.
--
First the negative: I despised Bon Iver's 80's baiting self titled record and it seems I'm largely alone in this. Bon Iver fans carried on like a bunch of whiney Justin Bieber acolytes against anyone who didn't think it was the greatest record since Sussudio and to all those BI fans I'd respectfully like to tell them that their taste is in their arse (I think I just lost a lot of readers right there - oh well). Iron and Wine went in a similar direction but I couldn't even listen to that record all the way through - I lived through the 80's once and I ain't going back. While some people don't like fingernails on blackboards, the particular sound that makes me cringe is metal scraping on concrete or St Vincent (sorry Adam). I actually think her music is getting worse (if that's possible) and really don't understand the fuss. Post-rock took a hammering this year with a just ok Explosions in the Sky and a good but unmemorable Mogwai record (sorry boys and Katie, that EP is boring). Jane's Addiction's first album in eight years was unfortunately not worth the wait and thank the Buddha Ben Gibbard split up with that She & Him girl because the music he makes when he is happy is pretty poor. Too harsh? It's a blog, get over it.
In the positives, The Antlers and My Morning Jacket both produced amazing records. The Foo Fighters record had no other ambition other than to rock your socks and succeeded while the Black Key's late in the year El Camino was a transcendent blues rock triumph. The biggest surprise was how enjoyable the Beastie Boys latest record was after years of so-so output. Yuck and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart kept the grunge flame alight while Tycho provided escapist mood scapes for recreational drug users. My second favourite Australian album of the year was Seeker Lover Keeper, a supergroup that was an excellent addition to a year which had a slew of strong releases by female artists. Anyhow, enough gibber jabber, here's the list:
10: Low - C'mon
Known for their hushed slowcore aesthetic, Low's excellent C'mon record was where they embraced their inner-Neil Young and rocked the fuck out. The eight minute Nothing but heart should put to rest any ideas that Low are anything other than consummate musicians following their muse and this album is peppered with a number of highs. Sure it's still slow moving but it's slow moving in the way a lethal snake moves - deliberate and deadly and ready to strike when you least expect it, this is a great rock record.
9: Wire - Red Barked Tree
In a pretty quiet year for quality punk and hardcore, post-punk lifers Wire showed the kids how to do it. Red Barked Tree sounded forward thinking, vital and an evolution of their sound while somehow sounding exactly like Wire should. For a bunch of men in their fifties, their message of environmental and financial destruction was no different from what they've been singing about for years but it seemed oddly prescient this year. Essentially, Wire were the occupy movement before the occupy movement existed but they are as astute and accomplished with their music as they are with their politics.
8: The Middle East - I Want That You Are Always Happy
The Middle East was a short lived band from Townsville whose debut album is nothing short of amazing. The record twists through a number of genres but with a solid indie-folk basis, it is unrelentingly moving without conceit or any self awareness. There is a beauty here that is strangely rare in Australian records and my bet is that being a younger band they grew up on a steady diet of Radiohead and Australian indie rock (for example, The Go-Betweens). Those reference points are obvious but not overwhelming and the Middle East walked their own oddly gorgeous step until they dissolved without a trace mid year.
7: Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread
I came late to the Ty Segall party but was floored by this record which sounds like some classic rock nugget that got lost somewhere in the 70's but oddly timeless at the same time. The psyched out tales of domesticity and love are all the better for the ramshackle instrumentation and off kilter delivery. However, what shines through is the heart in these songs, there is real love here in both songwriting and delivery which makes Goodbye Bread one of the most joyous and fun records of the year.
6: Feist - Metals
It's probably poor form to say an artist sounds better because their latest album sounds more like someone else but I'm the king of poor form so there you go. On Metals, Feist has edged closer to the soul sound Cat Power that has been mining for the last few records and she's all the more brilliant for it. Feist's voice is at times sensual, angry and powerful in a way that is absent on The Reminder. If anything, there is a lot of fight and retribution on this record and that passion bleeds through the speakers. Further, I'd say it's one of the most beautifully orchestrated and produced records of the year with a production that is as broad as it is intimate but what shines through most is the singular and expansive passion of Laslie Feist herself.
5: Tom Waits - Bad As Me
Tom Waits has always sounded like some rough hemmed circus barker from the depression era and thanks to the fucked world banking system, Waits is finally in time with his dark obsessions. As such, he sounds reinvigorated and devilish on Bad as me railing against the man, the wars we needlessly fight and general bad behaviour all round. Many of the narratives in this record are based on the poor man's point of view where hope is somewhere else (Chicago apparently), the hard times are hardest and darkness stalks every street. Somehow Waits sounds ebullient and focussed despite the material, a pure force of gravel voiced revelry, but most of all, this album is endlessly entertaining and fun to listen to. Waits hasn't sounded so vital in years and reminds us that he is one of the most singularly unique artists still releasing records today.
4: Wild Flag - Wild Flag
We all know that gender politics in music suck arse but Wild Flag (like Sleater-Kinney before them) blow all that 'pretty good for a girl band' shit out of the water - they are great band period. With so many big name rock bands failing to make a connection this year, Wild Flag just kicked down the door and announced where the party is happening. What's great about this record is that many of the songs themselves are about being in love with music which as music fans is something we can all relate to. The songs range from nuggets era break downs to White Rabbit-esque psych freak outs (Glass Tambourine) but they are never less than captivating and soulful. Easily the best rock album of the year by a mile.
3: James Blake - James Blake
Nothing splits the kids in the room like a record that on first listen is either revelatory or incomprehensible. To me, coming somewhere between Antony's sense of otherworldly melodrama and For Emma, Forever Ago's hushed aesthetics, James Blake's music is simultaneously unsettling, spellbinding and gorgeous. While it's not impenetrable, James Blake ultimately rewards repeat listens and the music slowly reveals its inherent complexities and subtleties. While the auto-tuned vocals, tilted loops and sparse instrumentation may seem alien, the record is extremely intimate and affecting as if the technology between the music and listener acts as bridge to the soul rather than a deterrent. If anything that exactly what this is, 21st century soul music.
2: PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
After the puritanism and austerity of 2007's White Chalk, PJ Harvey turns war correspondent reporting on the ills of modern England. While she speaks of the past, the record ruminates on the cultural shifts and complexities of the modern state but its focus extends beyond ol' blighty into a more universal narrative and can be easily understood outside of this context. However, it is a peculiarly British record. I returned to my childhood home in England this year and saw the disarray of country - the sense of what it is to be English in the face of cultural and social change. This is the struggle at the heart of Harvey's narrative, not just the literal war the UK is engaged in but the battle for British identity. As always, Harvey's gift as a lyricist is that she can get to the truth of any topic with raw verve and insight but here it is particularly frank and brutal:
Withered vine reaching
From the country that I love
England, you leave a taste
A bitter one
The music itself is deceptively simple but closer examination reveals layers of vocals, samples and sounds that almost seem incidental to the music itself but subtly enriching from a measured distance. To me, this is a deeply personal album that speaks to a sense of identity I share with my family and my English community but it is a candid exploration of this without sentiment or mercy. England does indeed shake and wither under Harvey's pitiless examination and the result is this exceptional album.
1. Gillian Welch - The Harrow And The Harvest
The first time I heard this record I knew it would be my favourite of the year and with each subsequent listen, this became clearer and clearer. Gillian Welch and partner David Rawlings have created a master work which has rewarded fans who have patiently waited eight (count them, EIGHT!) years since her last record. There is a pared down asceticism on this record that could have been the musical equivalent of Lars Von Trier's Dogme 95 manifesto: two voices, two instruments and simple production with no bells, whistles or artificial flourishes. In lesser hands such confined instrumentation could have been a handicap but Welch and Rawlings create whole worlds that are haunting, dangerous and gorgeous. Some of the songs sound as if they have been could have been written a hundred years ago and rediscovered on some crackling old 78 but it never feels like a hokey journey in nostalgia or simple folk or country.
The narratives here are ultimately explorations of adult issues and themes of betrayal, love, loss and change dominate the album. These are tales that come from experience, the exuberance of youth long dimmed and the weariness of life underpins each of these tracks. Welch's voice is an exquisite instrument, her phrasing and tone is flawless and is ably supported by Rawlings' sympathetic backing vocals. Rawlings guitar playing is particularly great on this record, elevating the simplest songs and almost a running counterpoint to the vocals such as on The Way it Is. At the centre of the record though is fantastic songwriting and at a brief ten songs, each one is memorable but also plays a part in the larger narrative of the album. Like any great record, I feel that your understanding of it will change as you change and there is a lifetime of enjoyment ahead of anyone who embraces this record. It is an album that is ageless but will stay with you long after you switch off your stereo.
--
Thursday, December 15, 2011
The top 20 songs of 2011 Part 2: 10-1
10: Polymers are forever - Future of the Left
This song could be about anything but I think it's mostly about how great the word polymers sounds when Andy Falkous sings it. FOTL have long peddled in the obtuse where words seem less to be about a narrative but how they sound and the intent behind them. While it starts off as a stilted grind, the song collapses into a blissed out outro featuring the mantra:
Old stones collected in plastic bags on a bloody isle
Then placed in rows on the ocean floor, your friends Polymers
Whatever that means is far beyond my comprehension but it really doesn't matter because this song is all shades of awesome.
9: The Undiscovered First - Feist
Feist's Metals album is an intense rush of joy, sorrow and heartbreak where her voice finally delivers on its promise with some real sting and pain in her delivery. Reading the lyrics to The Undiscovered First, you'd think it's about finding some new facet of love but the delivery is pure pain. It appears the undiscovered first is an until now undiscovered new low in a relationship which drives the somewhat disturbed undercurrent of the song. The song positively explodes mid way through with a chain gang thump and a guitar so woozy with distortion and rage, that it is bleeds pure emotion.
8: Pumped up kicks - Foster the people
Easily the best song about hipster genocide this year, this was an inescapable pop monster built around a bass line which is as addictive as crack. It's an easy song to fall in love with because it is undeniable - that's it - undeniable. Whether you're a three year old girl or a eighty seven year old dude in a coma, you like this song. It is undeniable - nothing more needs to be said except there is whistling and that's ok. (I've since heard this was released in 2010 - I'm a moron but can't be arsed re-writing the list so suck it up pedants).
7: The Wilheim Scream - James Blake
The strangest thing about this song is how conventional the lyrics are. Love and confusion embodied by the notion that the protagonist is falling again into another bad situation. I say this conventionality is strange because everything else about this song is far from conventional. Working on a less is more aesthetic, the music is more of a suggestion than substance while notes and sounds hang in the air like a slow motion film of a child being thrown into the air. Blake's voice rises and falls like Antony's cyborg brother but nothing else sounds as close to a broken heart than this.
6: Exile Vilify - The National
I think I've listened to this song more than any other this year just by virtue of it being one of my girlfriend's favourite songs of 2011. Thank the Buddha it's such a beautiful song that I never tire of because I've heard it about a 1000 times. Released as a single to coincide with the console game Portal 2, it is an excellent song that it stands tall next to the highs of 2010's High Violet and doesn't feel like b-grade material tossed for a quick buck (which a song for an xbox game sounds like the definition of). The National are probably the best band in the US at the moment and while this may be a questionable soundtrack for a game where you defy physics with a portal gun, there is no doubting the feeling or quality of this gorgeous tune.
5: The Magnifying Glass - The Joy Formidable
There are songs that move you, songs that make you think and then there are songs that make you just want to smash shit up. This is a blink and you'll miss it maniacal monster that riffs on your primal impulses and unleashes a visceral high. Forget the analysis and just embrace the rock.
4: Hell broke Luce - Tom Waits
Whatever Tom Waits has been drinking and smoking over the past few years has been incredibly beneficial because Bad as me is his best album since Mule Variations. If he's been smoking anything it's righteous indignation and it's never as furious or as funny than on Hell broke Luce, a primal growl of a song railing against the banality and human cost of war. An unholy clatter of drums, sideways guitars and Waits' ringside bark, this is the sound of a great artist inspired, angry and hungry for change.
3: Romance - Wild Flag
Romance is not about some people getting gooey before a shag but the romance between a listener and the music they love. Fortunately, given the subject matter, Wild Flag have managed to create a perfect song which is easy to adore in so many ways. Carrie Brownstein breaks out as the sidewoman role in Sleater Kinney to become a fully fledged rock Goddess ready to kick your head in with great tunes while the rest of the band rides the soulful groove with aplomb. Awesomeness follows...
2: Human Error - We Were Promised Jetpacks
Pathos is sometimes a hard thing to capture in music but somehow this song drips with it. The giddy rush of the guitars somehow ripples with the confusion and denial that comes with the mistakes we make and even on reflection, we just fail in the same way over and over again. The key line here repeated over and over "I'm not sure I've been here before" when it feels like a fait accompli. As the verse states:
If I was a writer, I'd write my opinions
And save them for later
Just to see how wrong I could be
The song just barrels along and as such there is no need for solos, apologies or foresight, the drama unfolds like life - quickly and without compromise.
1: Future Starts Slow - The Kills
Effortlessly cool and instantly memorable with a riff that will haunt your dreams, The Kills reach the cumulative sum of all their work in this one track. For so long there seemed to be a little bit of style over substance to their albums but Future Starts Slow has a swagger, menace and gravity that is bracing. The song itself mines the treacherous territory of co-dependent relationships and whether it's a lover, a friend or a bandmate, you can't live with or without them. Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince's vocals intertwine in a sinuous and sensual way and fuck me, that guitar line is the best of the year.
--
Monday, November 7, 2011
Feist - Metals review
Feist's last record The Reminder was a huge success but I have to admit it did little for me. I did listen to it and while I'm overly familiar with the singles (which seemed to be used in every ad imaginable for the last few years), I just found it a bit light and never really returned to it. I say this just because I am shocked by how much I love Metals. During the intervening years since The Reminder, it seems as if Feist has lost a little of her preppy spark, maybe had her heart broken and maybe been listening to a lot of soul albums as Metals is all the better for it. That indie-soul sound that Cat Power has mastered on her last two records is all over this record and while she doesn't quite have the smokey intensity of Chan Marshall's voice, Feist sounds strong and soulful here.
The opener The Bad in Each Other is built on a little blues riff that explodes into a glorious half-time chorus while the exquisite torch ballad Caught a Long Wind showcases Feist's strength as a vocalist - knowing when to hold back and when to unleash her voice in a way that compliments the song. Feist's singing is tasteful and restrained and while the album covers a lot of heartbreak, it never seems like a chore or overly dramatic, it is merely beautiful. For me the best track on the album is The Undiscovered First with its goosepimple inducing chain-gang thump finale and slightly unhinged feel.
There are a couple of missteps though, the frenzied crush of A Commotion sounds like it was more fun to record than listen to and once you realise that the vocal hook in Bittersweet Melodies is identical to Don't Go Breaking My Heart, it is impossible to unhear. Further, some of the lyrics and sounds are occasionally a little to close Cat Power's and while they may be referential shout outs (I have no idea), as a Cat Power fan I tend to find them distracting. Don't get me wrong, these are minor quibbles on an excellent record and one that took me by surprise - engaging from the first listen and probably one of the best of the year.
(PS if you're like "Metals! Hellz yeah!" and then went "Feist! Pfffft whatever!", I'm about to write about the new Anthrax album for tomorrow. You're welcome).
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