Soundbites

Cat Power “You Are Free” Matador
Records

Semi-effective sad music is easy to make ““ you know that.
All that’s needed is a pretty melody and some nice effects to
get a song that resonates emotionally, regardless of its
superficiality. That’s not to say that there isn’t a
place for sad music. In our postmodern times the musicians have
realized that a bit of emotional detachment makes it art. But what
happens when irony isn’t exactly ironic anymore? For Cat
Power, a.k.a. singer-songstress Chan Marshall, the rejection of
ironic detachment for something sincerely affecting has catapulted
her toward the company of today’s songwriting elite.
There’s confidence in this music, an assuredness previously
masked in a seemingly willful sense of eccentricity and
ambivalence. On the album’s opener only a piano accompanies
Marshall’s supple but until now noncommittal chords.
She’s less raw, more refined, but somehow maintains that
emotional weight. Against an eerie backdrop, she sounds like a
road-weary troubadour tucking you inside the world of a Grimm fairy
tale. It’s also Marshall’s most cohesive work, even
consistent to a fault. Bound together by noticeably unobtrusive
production that’s equal parts polish and intimacy, Marshall
plays to her biggest strengths. On tracks like the elaborate
“Good Woman,” strings and a chorus of children color
the song but stay in the background. Their brighter colors hint at
a kind of redemption amid the dreary subject matter that Marshall
so elliptically delivers in the chorus. The reason it’s not a
downer is that Marshall asks us to follow her lead. And for once,
she sounds like someone you can trust down these twisted emotional
paths. -Andrew Lee

Richard Ashcroft “Human Conditions” Virgin
Records Ltd.

Anyone who is not a fan of the Verve or wah-wah pedal effects
can stop reading soon. This is a lame, boring, at times painfully
meandering attempt at Brit-pop spiritual reflection. Do not bother
with it. Okay, now. If you’re still here, that means
you’re already an Ashcroft fan from his days in the Verve, or
you really liked the way Eric Clapton played guitar in the
’60s. For those of you in the first group: “Human
Conditions” is easily Ashcroft’s weakest release to
date. Yes, the man is a very fine singer, and in small moments that
is still evident here. Problem number one is that at no point in
this album does Ashcroft attempt to rock even a little bit. Problem
number two is that while the music meanders around its sad
repetitive little hooks, the lyrics don’t substantiate
Ashcroft’s attempts at spiritual substance and pain. They are
in fact incredibly trite. The last problem is one plaguing many
artists: poor use of effects on electric guitars. I would like to
suggest a law prohibiting the use of the wah-wah pedal and like
effects unless the musical party passes a test proving usage of
said effects will not be terrible. Ashcroft and the people who
helped on his album would not pass this test. Their use of wah-wah
effects, lush strings and various other sound enhancers just bogs
the already plodding music down further. -Anthony
Bromberg