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G uitarist and singer Chan (pronounced "Shawn") Marshall—
and whomever else happens to be performing with her at
the time—is Cat Power. The native Atlantan has collaborated
in the studio over the past few years with Sonic Youth drummer
Steve Shelley, guitarist Tim Foljahn, performed countless solo gigs
and released several albums.
There is a humid, haunting quality to Chan Marshall's music.
Like a slow fever dream where the mind's ghosts play out scenes
of regret and longing, Marshall's sound is a disorienting swirl of
sense and emotion. It's mostly her voice that does it—a steamy
coo that carries stumbling phrases over wandering finger pickings.
It's one of the most
beautiful voices in
pop music—mature
and straightforward
without any diva-
esque trills or indie
queen shrieks—but
it isn't a comforting
voice. It's creepy.
There are excep
tions of course ("The
Colors And The
Kids"), but for the
most part, there is
always an under
lying tension in her
voice that keeps any
Sarah McLachlan-
esque warmth and
gushing at bay. For
example: the song
"Moonshiner" off of
her 1998 album,
Moon Pix (Matador),
recorded in Australia
last December with two thirds of The Dirty Three. After a series of
gentle, similarly phrased verses, there's an aggressive guitar line
and then Marshall belting out the lines, "You're already in hell!/
You're already in hell!" followed by a stow chord change and *hen
Marshall softly lamenting, "I wish we could go t: hell." It's eerie
in a way that few things are anymore. It brings to mind the mystic
naivete of Rimbaud with his unchecked emotional outbursts, fas
cination with hell, guilt, and subsequent aching for heaven.
The best example of Marshall's talent is, strangely enough, her
most recent release The Covers Record (Matador). Up until Moon
Pix, she had been trying to fit into some sort cf Steve Shelley-
crafted, indie-rock mold (there's still some residue of that on
Moon Pix) but for The Covers Record, Marshal is a straight-up
chanteuse. She slowly and softly covers songs from Nina Simone,
Smog, Moby Grape, Lou Reed and most notably, The Rolling
Stones. While her take on "Satisfaction" isn't the best song on the
album, it is the best example of Marshall's ability to tum mascu
line strutting into spiritual fatigue. The famous riff and chorus are
gone, and in their place is the plodding, mumbled confusion
buried deep in the heart of the song. The verses build on each
other until Marshall seems totally lost in a crowd of confident,
strident passersby. With the wrong shirts, the wrong cigarettes
and the wrong mannerisms, she can't seem to do anything but
moan, at the climax of the song, "And I'm trying. And I'm trying."
She doesn't so much change the song as channel it, almost as if
she's trying to play it straight, but this slow, agonizing way is the
only way the music can come through her. Whatever or however,
it's one of the most affecting things out there.
Travis Nichols
Cat Power's performance is part of the Digital Club Network
Festival—a four-day "cybercast" series in which dozens of national
bands are broadcast live over the web from clubs across the country.
Go to digitalclubnetwork.com for information.
WHO: Cat Power
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Monday, July 24,10 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $5
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