The Digital Divide---music, CDs, and concert reviews. Nolan's Pop Culture Review #163

Now in our fourth calendar year
PCR #163 (Vol. 4, No. 19). This edition is for the week of May 5--11, 2003.

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     CD REVIEWS    by Terence Nuzum
CDs are rated 1 to 5 LEDs

Cat Power: You Are Free
Available at Amazon.com!

Chan (Cat Power) Marshall's new album is nothing short of brilliant and I don't mind saying that right off. It's one of those albums that emits its mood right away. That mood is defnitely one of inner pain, personal demons, and a rough life. Marshall's last album was a collection of covers and didn't hint at all that she would drop the folk nightmare quality that permeated her debut Moon Pix. But now she has made a fully realized folk rock album. I don't mean the kind Beck and Lucinda Williams try to make. I mean a real one. It starts off with the piano based "I Don't Blame You" which contains the lines " what a cruel price you thought that you had to pay/ them back for all that shit on stage". If it's not about the fall of Kurt Cobain but instead about Marshall herself then she needs a helpline. Chan drags out the rock riff for "Free" but don't confuse it with "rawk". It just has a single guitar strumming and Chan's echoey vocals. It's sparseness is it's magnificence. Eddie Vedder does backing vocals for "Good Woman" but like fellow grungester Dave Grohl's drum cameo on "Speak For Me" he is thankfully under Marshall's thumb and never really allowed to have a presence. So no it doesn't deteriorate into a guest star orgy like a Santana album. "Werewolf" returns to Moon Pix territory telling a gothic tale of lycanthropy. "He War" is the only real "rock" song on the album with Marshall proclaiming "I'm not that hot new chick". The album's best songs are the harrowing "Names" and the melancholy "Fool". On " Names" Marshall goes down her list of childhood friends who all suffered abuse or met a bad end:
"his name was Perry
he had a learning difficulty
his father was a very mean man
his father burned his skin
his father sent him to his death
he was 10 years old"
"her name was Cheryl
her hair like electric space
she would pretty paint my face
she was a very good friend
her father would come to her in the night
she was 12 years old"

It's one of the most shocking and depressing songs in years. It doesn't try to make sense of the abuse or put across a message, it's simply part of Chan Marshall's life. It's tender yet sad and that makes it all the more poignant. " Fool" is an emotionally downbeat song that strikes a chord somewhere you can't place. It is so effective because of the vagueness of the chorus:
"come along fool
a direct hit of the senses
your disconnected
it's not that it's bad
it's not that it's death
it's just on the tip of your tongue
and you're so silent"
You Are Free is a truimph for folk rock and alt-rock too. It proves that alt-rock is not dead in a world of Garage Rock because it is hands down the best album of the year so far. A studio album that's raw and touching. You'll not hear anything this honest for a long time to come.

Cursive: The Ugly Organ
Available at Amazon.com!

Emo (remember when Emo used to be just two bands: Rites of Spring and Sunny Day Real Estate?) is good for some things, like during a breakup, a gray day, or when some suburban mall punk feels introspective, but one thing it's not good for is concept albums. What in God's name Cursive were thinking when they thought that an emo concept album with a Phantom Of The Opera-like premise would work or be cool is beyond me. The cheesy vignettes like "Herald! Frankenstein" are embarrassing and amateur. It's like Blink 182 trying to do a version of Tommy. OK, so Cursive are miles above Blink 182, but still they need an artistic consultant and fast.
To be fair, The Ugly Organ is a decent album with some actual good tunes, but it is hampered down by some of the most pretensious missteps in rock history. Still, one cannot deny that "Art Is Hard" is a damn good punk song or say that "The Reclusive" with its jazzy swing isn't hummable. So in the end, we have a band that is usually good who thinks they can be Radiohead, but do not have the good taste to carry it off.
Ignore the album concept, program the songs on your player, leave off the bad radio show-type crap and you have great road music. But, that's about it.

This issue's Digital Divide was composed in its entirety by Terence B. Nuzum, ©2003. Webpage design and all graphics herein, except where otherwise noted, are creations of Nolan B. Canova.    All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2003 by Nolan B. Canova.


PCR Home Movie Review Ashley's Hollywood Plastic People Splash Page Creature's Corner Mike's Rant PCR Archives 2003 2002 2001 2000 Crazed Fanboy home



		Cat Power: You Are Free Available at Amazon.com! Chan (Cat Power) Marshall's new album is nothing short of brilliant and I don't mind saying that right off. It's one of those albums that emits its mood right away. That mood is defnitely one of inner pain, personal demons, and a rough life. Marshall's last album was a collection of covers and didn't hint at all that she would drop the folk nightmare quality that permeated her debut Moon Pix. But now she has made a fully realized folk rock album. I don't mean the kind Beck and Lucinda Williams try to make. I mean a real one. It starts off with the piano based "I Don't Blame You" which contains the lines " what a cruel price you thought that you had to pay/ them back for all that shit on stage". If it's not about the fall of Kurt Cobain but instead about Marshall herself then she needs a helpline. Chan drags out the rock riff for "Free" but don't confuse it with "rawk". It just has a single guitar strumming and Chan's echoey vocals. It's sparseness is it's magnificence. Eddie Vedder does backing vocals for "Good Woman" but like fellow grungester Dave Grohl's drum cameo on "Speak For Me" he is thankfully under Marshall's thumb and never really allowed to have a presence. So no it doesn't deteriorate into a guest star orgy like a Santana album. "Werewolf" returns to Moon Pix territory telling a gothic tale of lycanthropy. "He War" is the only real "rock" song on the album with Marshall proclaiming "I'm not that hot new chick". The album's best songs are the harrowing "Names" and the melancholy "Fool". On " Names" Marshall goes down her list of childhood friends who all suffered abuse or met a bad end: "his name was Perry he had a learning difficulty his father was a very mean man his father burned his skin his father sent him to his death he was 10 years old" "her name was Cheryl her hair like electric space she would pretty paint my face she was a very good friend her father would come to her in the night she was 12 years old" It's one of the most shocking and depressing songs in years. It doesn't try to make sense of the abuse or put across a message, it's simply part of Chan Marshall's life. It's tender yet sad and that makes it all the more poignant. " Fool" is an emotionally downbeat song that strikes a chord somewhere you can't place. It is so effective because of the vagueness of the chorus: "come along fool a direct hit of the senses your disconnected it's not that it's bad it's not that it's death it's just on the tip of your tongue and you're so silent" You Are Free is a truimph for folk rock and alt-rock too. It proves that alt-rock is not dead in a world of Garage Rock because it is hands down the best album of the year so far. A studio album that's raw and touching. You'll not hear anything this honest for a long time to come. Cursive: The Ugly Organ Available at Amazon.com! Emo (remember when Emo used to be just two bands: Rites of Spring and Sunny Day Real Estate?) is good for some things, like during a breakup, a gray day, or when some suburban mall punk feels introspective, but one thing it's not good for is concept albums. What in God's name Cursive were thinking when they thought that an emo concept album with a Phantom Of The Opera-like premise would work or be cool is beyond me. The cheesy vignettes like "Herald! Frankenstein" are embarrassing and amateur. It's like Blink 182 trying to do a version of Tommy. OK, so Cursive are miles above Blink 182, but still they need an artistic consultant and fast. To be fair, The Ugly Organ is a decent album with some actual good tunes, but it is hampered down by some of the most pretensious missteps in rock history. Still, one cannot deny that "Art Is Hard" is a damn good punk song or say that "The Reclusive" with its jazzy swing isn't hummable. So in the end, we have a band that is usually good who thinks they can be Radiohead, but do not have the good taste to carry it off. Ignore the album concept, program the songs on your player, leave off the bad radio show-type crap and you have great road music. But, that's about it.