As most of us know, Chan Marshall, the woman behind Cat Power, has finished recording a CD of covers called Jukebox, which was released this Tuesday. (See Femme Fatale's post below.)
Harp Magazine discovered something quite interesting involving the cover art for this new album while they were working on their January issue.
The beautiful Chan has a good sized mole upon her left cheek. This mole has not existed before live or in previous photographs. See Before & After.
As also cited in the Harp article, I think it does fit the 60s pop art cover design of the album.
I don’t know about you, but I think a good placed mole can definitely be intriguing.
Are you wondering where you can purchase your own flirty beauty mark? I thought so.
Check out: http://www.hottiedots.com/
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Chan Marshall and the Case of the Mystery Mole!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Album Review:
Cat Power - Jukebox
Cat Power - Jukebox
(Matador, 2008)
63%"Metal Heart" [mp3]
(Busted By Web Sheriff 1/22/08)
How does someone review a covers album? Does one judge the selection of songs, their treatment, or their place within the artist's catalog? I ask because I've never been the biggest fan of covers. All I know is, a good cover should maintain the charm/intensity/essence of the original, while also allowing the artist to incorporate his or her unique sound. (Consider, on the most basic level, Yo La Tengo's take on the Simpsons' theme. This brief cover is unarguably faithful to the original, yet sounds like a version only YLT could envision.)
This crucial requirement is perhaps the biggest reason why Cat Power's second covers album fails to captivate.
Jukebox continues Chan Marshall's transition to bluesier, more soulful work, a la 2006's The Greatest. This creates some intriguing results, such as her jazzy renditions of "Theme from 'New York, New York'" or James' Brown's "Lost Someone."
Yet, and perhaps this is the cover-hater in me, Marshall's most narcisstic -- and accomplished -- moment comes via a cover of "Metal Heart" off her 1998 album Moon Pix. I think this track may be in the running for 2008's Best Songs from Mediocre/Bad Albums, as we see an already standout track given the new smokier, bluesier Cat Power treatment.
I'm not sure what Marshall has in store for us next. Until then, I'll be listening to The Greatest and wondering when she'll get back to doing what she does best -- her own music.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
A Bad Week to Be a Dance/Punk/Alt Country/Spoken Word Fan.
According to various reports, Ted Leo and !!! have lost band members this week. Apparently bassist Dave Lerner hightailed it from the Pharmacists to join a real pharmacy school here. J/k, though considering Girl Talk only recently quit his job as a bioengineer to focus on his music, anything is possible. Brooklyn Vegan reports that !!! co-lead-vocalist John Pugh did not appear with the band at Lollapalooza and has reportedly left the band. Perhaps to form his new band Interrobang, aka "!?" (All right, enough with the bad jokes.) We'll see if Pugh shows when !!! and the Field play their Midwestern shows this fall. Wait, that's right! They haven't scheduled any.
In other disappointing news, Wilco cancelled its 8/14 Duluth, Minn. and 8/15 Winnipeg shows due to guitarist Nels Cline's agonizing case of the chicken pox. Notes PF, "And you thought Sky Blue Sky was wimpy!" Now that hurts.
Lastly, Cat Power has added a slew of dates to her fall tour, but has apparently adopted the trend of skipping the Midwest entirely. Oh, well: check out this interview with Voxtrot's Ramesh, who complains that Chan Marshall's onstage presence is not so much singer as "talker." After seeing CP perform at this year's Pitchfork Music Festival, I concur -- lots of talk-singing and stalking the stage in smeared mascara. Don't we all just love a train wreck, though?
(Photo shamelessly nabbed from PF.)