Cat Power - The Greatest
Author: Mikey I. McClelland
Release Date: January 24, 2006
Label: Matador
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The fact that Chan Marshall is being compared to Norah Jones speaks volumes. That's not even to imply that Jones' sultry workings should be held up on high as the pinnacle of vocal achievements, only: do you remember how many albums she sold?
The buzz humming around Cat Power's 2003 Matador then-pinnacle You Are Free seemed to be less the beehive variety and more the high-wire, high-voltage kind that pushes a hard-working act over the edge. Quite a few indie folk have made it to such great heights as of late--Bright Eyes, Death Cab, and of course The Postal Service have all flirted with the mainstream currents. Should we add Cat Power to that list?
Add Cat Power to that list. Gone are the sparsely decorated, folky echos of Free and Moon Pix. Forgotten are the references to bands like Azure Ray, or Belle & Sebastian; such name-droppings might have left the average iTunes prowler in the dark. At least, the average iTunes prowler looking to spend money on a band not yet heard-of.
When Marshall (aka. Cat Power) returned to her home town of Memphis to record The Greatest, there was a sound she had in mind. To flesh it out, Marshall employed Al Green's guitarist and songwriter Mabon "Teenie" Hodges to outfit the guitar-work on the album. His brother, "Flick" Hodges joined up as well. Fellow Hi-labelmate Steve Potts grounded the sound on drums. It was the lush sound of 1970's Hi Records, full and sexy, that Marshall had in her head, and boy did she ever work it out.
The Greatest is unlike anything Cat Power has put on tape to date, largely a result of the lush arrangements the band put together, filling in the spaces and empty air that made previous Cat Power tunes so ear-catching. On those earlier albums there was so much aural space to spare and yet somehow Marshall's voice filled it up even in absence, as if her quirky and oddly off-beat personality was hanging there heavy in the silence. You need not want any more--Chan Marshall has left little to chance and invested every bit of her voice marvelously.
Cat Power's Greatest has the twang of Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose (fittingly engineered by the same Grammy award-winning man, Stuart Sikes), and the curiosity of, well, Cat Power. And this is where the likening to Norah Jones comes in so handy. The average Adult Contemporary listener might not blink twice while staring at a screen describing a Cat Power album despite the legions of unseen loyalists lining up for a download. Yet, drop a name like Jones and their eyes perk up. It's a fantastic opportunity for Chan Marshall and Cat Power to make a big, big move. Who knows, maybe Cat Power's Greatest is anything but.
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