Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

This is where we really start to get down to business, so let’s see who rounds out the Top 10.

6. Feist - The Reminder

With a little help from Steve Jobs and a lot of help from a friggin’ fantastic album, Feist really made it! So irresistibly charismatic and sexy, the Canadian chanteuse has certainly made a name for herself. She easily makes her talents seem effortless, taking the labor out of the music and making it purely something to be thoroughly enjoyed. Feist further showcases her uncanny ability to tackle multiple genres with the cool-and-calm nature of which even The Fonz would be jealous. There’s a nicer, longer review of The Reminder here.

Listen to “Brandy Alexander” (5/5)

7. The Clientele - God Save The Clientele

On GStC, The Clientele effortlessly move from track to track, as they touch on lullaby ballads to toned down versions of 60’s and 70’s folkpop. It seems as though the album was written from the hip, a stream of consciousness, but with each note carefully plucked. This delightful collection of songs is truly a seratonin riser. God Save the Clientele is one of those records that is so warm and sweet, that I often have a difficult time putting it into words. This is an album to enjoy not just this year but for the many to come as well. More on The Clientele here.

Listen to “Here Comes the Phantom” (4.9/5)

8. Chuck Prophet - Soap and Water

Chuck Prophet’s Soap and Water was perhaps one of the most delightful surprises of the year. Sneaking in towards the very end of 2007, the seasoned veteran singer-songwriter peppers his album with blues-heavy basslines and sharp pop sensibilities. Witty and fun, you can tell Prophet was just having a great time making the record in the first place. I guarantee that the bluesy-folk rhythms and the deep baritone of Prophet will enthrall you as well. More on Chuck Prophet here.

Listen to “Freckle” (5/5)

9. Jamie Scott - Park Bench Theories

Scott is a masterful troubadour, flirting with James Blunt comparisons but yet drawing comparisons to the dynamicism of an Elton John or-for a more recent reference-a Paolo Nutini. As the album title might suggest, Scott’s music listens more like a diary, the listener being let in on a collection of one singer-songwriter’s view on daily life. The lush arrangements certainly take the ordinary and turn them into interesting works of art, appealing to a wide range of generations and genres. More on Jamie Scott here.

Listen to “Lady West” (4.9/5)

10. Anders Osborne - Coming Down

Osborne relates much of the pain and destruction felt by New Orleaners following Hurricane Katrina, as his southern croon bellows delicately over a collection of funk-jazz-blues fusion tracks. Osborne has the unique ability to make a ballad so thoroughly captivating, as his voice ebbs and flows with real emotive power. Coming Down is an album that celebrates revival in the aftermath of tragedy. More on Anders Osborne here.

Listen to “Back on Dumaine” (5/5)

I figured that I would post a couple of tracks that I’ve been listening to lately, which have been floating around the world wide web over the past week:

Feist-1234 (VanShe Technologic Remix)

A well-produced remix that really reinterprets Feist’s cutesy 1234 as a legitimate synth heavy party anthem.

Jens Lekman-You Can Call Me All (cover)

Covering the well-known song by Paul Simon, Lekman does quite well with “You Can Call Me All.” Nevertheless, I still think this cover leaves something to be desired. But what’s average for Lekman is better than a whole lot else.

Jose Gonzalez - Four Forks Acre

A sparse acoustic (what else!) instrumental from the quiet, reserved Swede who can’t seem to do wrong. I can see why it’s a B-side, but he certainly could’ve added on to the 10-track In Our Nature!!
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642-642 series is usually considered an asset in an applicant for 70-526. Advanced credit like 70-296 does well too.

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Just when you thought Feist was at the height of classy cool, she manages to write a formal letter to her fans after a porn site took over her website for a day. Oh Feist, how we adore thee!

Listen to “1 2 3 4 (ft. Grizzly Bear, The National, Mates of State, The New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene and Nicole Atkins)”
Listen to “Mushaboom (Red Demos)“
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Now playing: June Christy - Shoo Fly Pie

We are really spoiling you today–kind of like when you get your significant other a gift for the first time and you are so nervous s/he won’t like what you picked out so you do one of those variety pack kind of gifts so s/he is bound to like something. Okay, well we’re not really spoiling you that much, but we are giving you two songs today. Both are Feist songs–”Sally’s Song” (now “1 2 3 4″) and “So Sorry”– and are from a Chicago show on 1.26.06.

Listen to “1 2 3 4” (4.2/5)
Listen to “So Sorry” (5/5)

Sometimes, words just don’t cut it. Sometimes, artists are able to transcend descriptions, make genres useless, and render the listener speechless. Sometimes, it isn’t so much a result of that artist being unbelievably good, but rather of her being so irresistibly real and tangible that affords her such superlative powers.

Such is the case for the lovely Leslie Feist, who has just recently released her tertiary release The Reminder, but I will nonetheless try to comment on it. For those who are familiar with her past records, you won’t find any significant changes in Feist’s musical direction on The Reminder. The album is more accurately an extension, a maturation of her sound that was so widely accepted on Let It Die. Her pop sensibilities are as sharp as ever, accented by her poignant voice that surely the ancient Greeks would have compared to that of the Sirens. Perhaps what makes Feist’s songs so intriguing is her ability to change intensities–one minute you can feel a piercing sharpness in her voice, the next minute a softer, hushed version, only to be followed by an impeccably playful side to her vocals.

For those looking for a lesson in mediocrity, The Reminder is a poor place to look. Feist doesn’t hold anything back, as she effortlessly moves from track to track, combining the grandiose arrangements (see “My Moon My Man” and “One Two Three Four”) with the more subtle gems on the album (see “Brandy Alexander”). While Let It Die hinted at Feist’s ability to write and sing songs that blurred the lines between jazz, blues, and rock, The Reminder is the prophecy fulfilled as she more evenly divvies out her influences. “My Moon My Man”, the lead single for the album, seemed previously uncharacteristic, but Feist is able to make the bouncy, groovy track her own. On the other hand, she handles delicate bluesy-folk ballads like “Limit to Your Love” with the utmost grace and sensitivity. The songs listen as an open diary the whole way through, only revealing small autobiographical details shrouded in mystery.

Maybe it is the mystery of Feist that makes her so accessible, that allows her to transmit an inner beauty through sound. Indeed, fighting against this entrancing chanteuse is simply futile. But don’t worry, because as Feist sings on ‘Brandy Alexander’, “It goes down easy.”

Alright. Go out and get The Reminder ($8 at Amazon–great deal). Seriously click on that link.
Listen to “One Two Three Four” (5/5).
Listen to “Brandy Alexander” (5/5).

Watch the video for One Two Three Four.
Watch the video for My Moon My Man.

Note: This is officially CSV’s 100th post! Woo hoo!

I’ve got some great bands to tell you about, but there have been a couple of things that have gotten past me over the past couple of weeks that I really want to cover.
Here I go:

1) Feist!!! As you may know, we are huge friends of Feist (note: Monarch and Let It Die…seriously, buy these if you don’t have them), and we were delighted to hear that her upcoming album The Reminder will be released May 30th. And in honor of the announcement, her record company has released one track to signal her coming. The song “My Moon, My Man” is a glitzy, piano-fluttering rock disco ditty (have I gotten your attention yet?) that features Feist ever loving jhai voice. I don’t know what it is about Feist, but she has got one of the most incredible aesthetics I’ve ever experienced. Enough.
Get the track: My Moon, My Man.

2) Much ado has been made over the Andrew Bird appearance as Dr. Stringz. And for good reason. What a great guy! Even better in concert, I might add. Well, the video on youtube was short lived, but I managed to scrape off a pretty darn good quality video for those that haven’t seen it yet (That’s all you guys from elbo.ws). And for those of you who have still seen it but just need to bask in the Bird-ness a little bit more…
Andrew Bird as Dr. Stringz.mp4
Yea for us!

3) Okay, let me get it out of the way. We were on VH1 Best Week Ever’s website again for covering The Softlightes. Check it out here: We are Rockstars.

4) Good Weather for Air Strikes had a great post the other week about a song called “Thou Shalt Always Kill”. It’s great. Check it out.