Feist - The Reminder
Feist is a act whose bandwagon I was always meaning to jump on, but something always came up (ooh, The Eames Era are pretty good! Or Snaps! The Cardigans got a new album!?) I had in my procession The Broken Social Scenes “You Lose it in People” back in the day but never gave it a single spin and gave it off to a friend. Had I known it would have some vocals by Feist I might have not let it gather dust. Then when I was DJing, Feist was often a pick of mine – yet I’d always forget to look her up when I left the studio.
Now I’ve had a whirlwind love-affair with The Reminder the past 2-3 days. It seems to be receiving much critical acclaim, and I agree. Feist is of the folk-fusion ilk (Feist being most relatable to Cat Power, but including other noteworthy acts like Jenny Lewis on the more country realm, and my girl Beth Orton on the more electronique end of the spectrum.) The Reminder is the first album of this circle (that’s not Beth’s first two records) that can stand up to more mainstream, rough-and-tumble, music.
Now, lets get to “The Two Towers” of this album. They’re extremely apparent, and if you own a tv, you’ve heard at least the intros to both songs, “
My Moon My Man” and “
1234.” Moon is probly the more “EMF” song. Its smooth, yet bombastic; controlled in its wild spin. She sings it sultry and silky while the music behind brings the balls. Plus, its immediately stuck within you on the first listen. Howevva, my choice track on the album is “1234.” I know I constantly repeat that the 00-decade is horrendous for music, but that shouldn’t undercut my saying that this will (or at least
should) go down as one of the best songs of the
decade. Of course, when the headlines are “50 cent v. Kanye West” it’s unlikely it will get the dap it deserves. Someone in Whisper’s “What song reminds you…” thread labeled this song as a happy song. While that’s certainly apt, I think theres a bit more to it than happy. Its an
uplifting song. Anyone who knows me knows I strive to not be so “high-falutin’” in my critique, but I think the guitar intro, with the banjo outro is very poignant and sums it all up perfectly –I’ll leave it at that. While I certainly wouldn’t think less of anyone favoring Moon to 1234, I think the latter has a certain timelessness to it. One that’s as fun to sing-song-along ala “All You Need is Love” or similar.
Now, I often wonder if an artist grows a bit weary when they realize that they have one or 2 monster tracks, and a handful or mortal tracks. –Not to say the rest of the album is a bust. Far from it! “
I Feel it All” is a track that I was immediately comfortable with. Not particularly “mind expanding” but its got a hearty beat and rolls the way it ought. “Past
in Present” and “
The Limit to your Love” also easy to access for almost all.
And then we reach the point where we separate the great folk(-fusion) acts and albums from the middling: the stripped down and slower-tempo’d songs. The true crux of the genre. To me it always amazes me how often a songwriter falls in love with acoustic notes and possibly insightful vocals, but
completely forgets to make a song with them. Maybe they take way too damn long to “get to the point” – or entirely forget and we all wind up with an incredibly boring time. Cat Power is a
horrendous offender of this and I wouldn’t even bother speaking of her if the good songs she has weren’t so amazing. So after immediately likening her to Feist, I was immediately most interested to see if Feist would fall into the same trap.
The album starts off with exactly the typage of song, “
So Sorry.” Upon my listen, I had my finger hovering over the skip button. The thought was in my mind, but the song just was not letting me commit to the act. This song passed the test! How does the rest fair? It seems the album becomes “spent” after each single and drops into at least two down-tempo songs. Proceeding Moon is “
The Park” and “
The Water.” The Park I think establishes its own beauty, melody, and niceness. Howevva, The Water sorta drowns. The trio following 1234 aren’t as clean cut. “
Brandy Alexander” has its own merits, but dare I say too repetitive. “
Intuition” and “
Honey Honey” also seem to not strike much out of their skins, though inoffensive.
“
Sea Lion Woman” being a cover of a song from Veruca Salt’s better half, Nina Gordon, I’m a bit on the fence about. This is one of those instances where the good and bad balance so evenly against each other. On the one hand, the guitars are slick. On the other, the chanting is hokey. Oh, decisions! The finale, “
How my Heart Behaves” is killer as well and is probly the second best song on the latter half of the album.
So, as in even great albums, there’s some pitfalls, some high peaks (including a song for the ages) but it’s the balancing act between them, between album cohesion and gut instinct that matters, and I think The Reminder is one that leaves you sterling.
I give it 5,6,9 or 10 out of a 1,2,3,4.