Thursday, October 09, 2008

It List: Thursday

Cat Power/Appaloosa (Palladium): Honestly, I'm probably the worst possible person on the WSJR staff to write about this show, because frankly, I really don't spend a lot of time thinking about or listening to Chan Marshall's music. It never really appealed to me, much like the music of her ex Bill Callahan, and the critical praise she has received has always puzzled me a bit. Other people around WSJR HQ seem to have cute little indie nerd crushes on her, and I certainly can't blame them for that, but after seeing her perform at the Granada last year, I realized that my initial suspicions about this music were pretty much true-- it strikes me as mostly safe "lifestyle" music fronted by a pretty voice. This is fine in a sense, but certainly not worth putting up with Palladium's parking fees in order to experience. I usually get verbally assaulted by people when I share this opinion, and perhaps my view is a bit off the mark since I've only seen one Cat Power show and listened to the equivalent of maybe one Cat Power album, but shit, I don't know. The stage fright. The indie celebrity boyfriends. The drinking. The erratic behavior. Dare I say that its all a bit, um, boring?

Mr. Gnome/Menkena/Mostly Bears/Les Americains (The Cavern): Mr. Gnome are apparently from Cleveland, and apparently exist in 2008, but boy oh boy, do they sound like Canadian indie rockers from 2006. This might be a little unfair since they really aren't half bad, but whatever. I guess I'm just "in a mood" today. :(

80's Night with DJ G (Hailey's)

29 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This from a guy that listens to Lykke Li.

5:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

burrrrnnnnnnn....

5:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

way to go dl!

5:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"lifestyle music" - i like the way you said that, good description

5:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The best part about being Lykke Li fan numero uno is that I still don't even know how the fuck to say her name.

5:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

but oooooooo shes good to make stomach pancakes to.

5:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, I missed the boat on the whole Cat Power thing. Never heard anthing from her that was "bad"...but nothing to really get excited about either.

5:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

bottom line, i'd hit that quicker than i'd hit neko case. but she does seem like the girl in elementary art class who draws the perfect little hello kitty style cat and turns to everyone and says "it's just so baaaaad! i wish i could draw".... it's like people give her good reviews so that she won't off herself or (even worse) play a bad show.....but i learned a long time ago, ignore her and she will seek attention elsewhere (porn)

6:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thank you for saying what needs to be said - you summed up my feelings on Feline Weakness. douche'

6:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thank you for saying what needs to be said - you summed up my feelings on Feline Weakness. douche' (pronounced doo-shay)

6:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

cat power. YES!
palladium. BOO!
ticketmaster. NOO!!
"indie crush". YAY!!!

6:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

brdwplaewamotalifw.

6:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

eh.

7:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

viva tonedflanger!

the eh is mine! back the fuck off...

11:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

cat power - 0
lykke li - 1000

i think i had sex with cat power once in austin. no, wait, that was just some other dazed and confused, 70s revival slut.

11:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nigga you wish you had sex with cat power

8:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

geeez 6:41, you're about as black as wayne brady...........

10:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

is 8:14 gonna hafta choke a bitch???

10:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i wanna bone chan marshall

10:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

does that not apply to every musician ever?

11:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

exactly.

12:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HA!

12:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

have y'all heard the new squarepusher yet? that shit is funky.

2:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think you'd have to go back quite aways to see the side of Cat Power that could be more valuable as a songwriter. I know the 90s were pretty shitty for music all the way around so maybe that's why at one point I could appreciate her. She definitely got old but there's something to be said for the fact that people have been ripping off her vocal style for years now. Not that any of them are any good, but still, I think there's some cred due there. And early Smog? Cmon. I know Callahan got boring as fuck but you can't totally dis that old Smog shit. I'm not just talking through an indie rock filter. I think they had alot of influence on music in general.

5:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

think again

10:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can understand how people can be baffled by Cat Power's acclaim from a completely superficial and technical standpoint...but her musical prowess isn't in the technical complexity. It is the raw, evocative appeal, qualitatively, that is so lauded.

I mean...hell, she's at *least* a little bit crazy. I can't find anything within a quick google search of her being schizophrenic, but it's a pretty common "rumor," in the least.

There aren't any fans or critics out there that speak of Chan Marshall as a virtuoso in any regard (to my knowledge); it's the simple, unabashed humanity of this woman's mind and emotions; stripped-bare on stage, which is nothing short of admirable. She seems/is a bit nutso (starts/stops mid-song, plays for an hour after she's supposed to have stopped, taking requests from the audience and playing 10 seconds of each request), but she also seems to truly live *in* the moment with no reservations (except upon the realization that she is in front of a crowd of people...and stops playing mid-song)--a bit akin to some sort of spirit, kindred or elusive, yet always perplexing in some sort of manner.

Eh, if you're not into her music, you're not into her music, but there really is nothing deeper to read into any of it. The overwhelming attraction of Cat Power is that she doesn't put on any "airs" or has some sort of "act"... She just is. You see and hear the crux of her character and humanity in her songs. It (her passion, music, performance) is genuine, which is nothing short of beautiful.

3:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww......................

3:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So Chan M. went to a posh hotel bar in Austin after the show. A friend of mine waited on her and said she was very nice and tipped her $200 over the course of the evening. That is the second story I've heard about her being extremely nice. Sally Glass told me the other one, and it involves macaroni and cheese with truffle oil. You should get her to tell it when she comes back. I miss Sally.

8:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww......................

11:46 AM  

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