I’m happy to provide links to enable Kevin Drum to arrive at an informed decision as to which of these truly fine music offerings is preferable . Wilco has a new album out, “A ghost is born”. I don’t own it yet, but the six tracks you can listen to for free are fantastic. Zoë says “Hell is Chrome” ‘sounds like it’s about a vewy young angel.’ Newborn ghost, indeed! She thought it was too sad, but danced round and round to the piano on “Hummingbird”. I’m listening to “Muzzle of Bees” right now. Beautiful stuff.
Cat Power has a very infectious – in a good way – new album, “You Are Free”. Go to the site and hear the hypnotically simple strains of “I Don’t Blame You”. Then click through to ‘media’ and watch the video for “He War”. It’s a great pop tune with lyrics that make no sense and a nice low-budget story video without a story, set in California. I like those so long as they can’t afford clowns. Just people walking and trees and water, mostly. Like looking at someone’s photo album and wondering what’s going on in all the pictures without really caring. For all I know it’s in heavy rotation on MTV and VH1 and you’re all sick to death of it. If so, I apologize. I’m in Singapore and am not made aware of such things when they happen.
There are two other videos from older albums, but one wouldn’t load and I can’t recommend the other.
Well, which is it going to be, Kevin?
{ 24 comments }
Juan 07.11.04 at 3:43 pm
Hey, you can listen to (all?) twelve tracks on Wilco’s site!
Paul 07.11.04 at 3:55 pm
Go for Cat Power. With all the Wilco hype, there will be plenty of second-hand copies to go around before long even though it’s a great album.
Paul 07.11.04 at 3:56 pm
Go for Cat Power. With all the Wilco hype, there will be plenty of second-hand copies to go around before long even though it’s a great album.
Kevin Drum 07.11.04 at 5:06 pm
Hmmm, I can’t get the Wilco link to work. Typical, isn’t it? This whole internet thingy can’t be trusted in a pinch.
But no matter. Given my other preferences in life, I think I’d go with Cat Power anyway.
Skip 07.11.04 at 6:18 pm
Kevin,
If you move the choice over to live music, you need to go with Wilco. Cat Power enjoys to drink before, during, and I’m going to guess after her stage performeces. Now I certainly don’t think that that is necessarily a bad thing, bu it doen’t seem to work for Cat Power. And now that the Wilco guy has gone thru rehab, you have a chance for a good show.
Henry 07.11.04 at 6:21 pm
I’m kinda in favour of Cat Power – while I like Wilco better overall, I prefer their earlier bluegrassy and power-pop stuff to their later, more arty phase. And _You are Free_ rocks; especially “Speak for Me.”
peter ramus 07.11.04 at 6:48 pm
Yeah, what juan says. Use the slider over on the left to scroll down to the next six songs.
Track 11, Less Than You Think, gives self-indulgence a rigorous workout. 15 minutes of a Terry Riley on a bandsaw in the next room over sort of a thing. I don’t think it’s going to make it onto a lot of iPods.
Still, love that Tweedy.
Rook 07.11.04 at 8:03 pm
I listened to the entire Wilco album on some on-line version of a tree mag/paper. It was awesome. Or fabulous for those on the eastern side of the Atlantic.
norbizness 07.11.04 at 8:08 pm
I haven’t heard Cat Power’s albums, but their live show was like Mazzy Star in a deep coma.
tima 07.11.04 at 8:32 pm
Chan Marshall’s (aka Cat Power) shaky record as a live performer is because of her famous anxiety about performing — she’s notoriously shy, and bottle or no, that can make things rough on a “rock star.” But when she is good live, and she often is, she is magnificent. And Marshall has mastered the very delicate art of making other people’s songs her own; “The Covers Record” is one of the best records of its type ever.
Setting off Marshall’s “feminine” introspection against Wilco’s “masculine” experimentation is suspect to me. I find as much adventure in Marshall’s plodding Silvertone plucking as I do in Wilco’s new Popol Vuh-like wandering.
tima 07.11.04 at 8:33 pm
Chan Marshall’s (aka Cat Power) shaky record as a live performer is because of her famous anxiety about performing — she’s notoriously shy, and bottle or no, that can make things rough on a “rock star.” But when she is good live, and she often is, she is magnificent. And Marshall has mastered the very delicate art of making other people’s songs her own; “The Covers Record” is one of the best records of its type ever.
Setting off Marshall’s “feminine” introspection against Wilco’s “masculine” experimentation is suspect to me. I find as much adventure in Marshall’s plodding Silvertone plucking as I do in Wilco’s new Popol Vuh-like wandering.
tim a 07.11.04 at 8:34 pm
Chan Marshall’s (aka Cat Power) shaky record as a live performer is because of her famous anxiety about performing — she’s notoriously shy, and bottle or no, that can make things rough on a “rock star.” But when she is good live, and she often is, she is magnificent. And Marshall has mastered the very delicate art of making other people’s songs her own; “The Covers Record” is one of the best records of its type ever.
Setting off Marshall’s “feminine” introspection against Wilco’s “masculine” experimentation is suspect to me. I find as much adventure in Marshall’s plodding Silvertone plucking as I do in Wilco’s new Popol Vuh-like wandering.
Steve 07.11.04 at 10:57 pm
You need more information to answer the question. I prefer Cat Power’s albums to Wilco’s (with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot a possible exception, and the last Cat Power doesn’t really do much for me), but as Skip says, Chan Marshall is a notoriously bad live performer. (It seemed more like crippling stage fright than drunkenness at the last 15-minute set I saw her perform before she gave up, and apparently she’s much better at clubs in Athens where she feels comfortable. I’ve seen Guided By Voices enough to know from drunkenness.)
So, uhh, in conclusion: Smog.
Steve 07.11.04 at 10:58 pm
You need more information to answer the question. I prefer Cat Power’s albums to Wilco’s (with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot a possible exception, and the last Cat Power doesn’t really do much for me), but as Skip says, Chan Marshall is a notoriously bad live performer. (It seemed more like crippling stage fright than drunkenness at the last 15-minute set I saw her perform before she gave up, and apparently she’s much better at clubs in Athens where she feels comfortable. I’ve seen Guided By Voices enough to know from drunkenness.)
So, uhh, in conclusion: Smog.
djw 07.12.04 at 12:19 am
Look, people, those last two Wilco albums are really the best thing going in 21st century music. I like Cat Power too, but I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.
Alan K. Henderson 07.12.04 at 7:05 am
You know you’re getting old when you think Wilco and Cat Power are Saturday Morning cartoons.
mc 07.12.04 at 2:28 pm
Never heard of Cat Power.
Wilco are brilliant. Especially live. They rocked at Glastonbury too, by all accounts.
Also what I love about them is that they get adoring fans and rave reviews but with so little publicity, no videos, no tv interviews, no tv ads, no hype at all. Maybe because they can’t be sold as the next big thing as they’ve been around for a while and are not exactly teenagers. It’s refreshing to see something like this.
Mattew 07.12.04 at 3:43 pm
Never heard of Cat Power either.
Wilco is the cats pajamas in my opinion. Their last two albums are great but so are most of their others including the Mermaid Avenue recordings with Billy Bragg. However, to say that Wilco is the “best thing going in 21st century music” probably goes to far. I’m a Tweedy fan but you cannot overlook someone like say Jay Farrar or Rhett Miller (Old 97’s) both of whom have new albums out too. You can listen to some of the Old 97’s new cd here. For anyone that is a new fan of Wilco you might want to check out Tweedy and Farrar’s work as Uncle Tupelo. Last year they re-released three of Uncle Tupelo’s early recordings with Rockville Records; No Depression, Still Feel Gone, and March 16-20, 1992. The last album, produced by Peter Buck, is especially good.
Matthew 07.12.04 at 3:44 pm
Never heard of Cat Power either.
Wilco is the cats pajamas in my opinion. Their last two albums are great but so are most of their others including the Mermaid Avenue recordings with Billy Bragg. However, to say that Wilco is the “best thing going in 21st century music” probably goes to far. I’m a Tweedy fan but you cannot overlook someone like say Jay Farrar or Rhett Miller (Old 97’s) both of whom have new albums out too. You can listen to some of the Old 97’s new cd here. For anyone that is a new fan of Wilco you might want to check out Tweedy and Farrar’s work as Uncle Tupelo. Last year they re-released three of Uncle Tupelo’s early recordings with Rockville Records; No Depression, Still Feel Gone, and March 16-20, 1992. The last album, produced by Peter Buck, is especially good.
cleek 07.12.04 at 5:41 pm
Wilco: good
Cat Power: good
“which is better?” is a silly question, just like “pants or no pants”. the answer to both is “that depends on who’s in the car with you”
jdw 07.12.04 at 8:24 pm
Turn off thy Wilco; play thy Ass Ponys.
YMSP82 07.12.04 at 8:55 pm
Chan Marshall’s rumored insanity has been disputed among folks who know her, as well. There were lots of rumors around Atlanta and Athens that she was perfectly normal and the stage-fright thing was an act. But there were also plenty of first-person accounts of her weirdness off-stage as well as on. I’ve seen her more times than I care to admit, and more than 70% of those shows were bad. The first time I saw her (my first show at the 40 Watt in Athens – and her Atlanta shows are consistently better than her Athens shows) she just muttered and made random noises on her guitar for a few minutes. I had driven for 2 hours!
Anyway, it’s not a fair choice. It’s like “Poetry or philosophy?” Eh… If you want to split the difference, steve is right: Smog.
YMSP82 07.12.04 at 8:58 pm
The Cat Power albums and the rare good Cat Power shows are transcendent, by the way, just to explain how I could dis her so much and then call it a toss-up.
tps12 07.15.04 at 2:16 pm
Cat Power is where it’s at. Though I agree with Steve’s “Smog” conclusion.
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