Cat Power 'The Greatest' Intimate Preview Show

Cat Power 'The Greatest' Intimate Preview Show at Dublin The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Sun 30 Oct

Review by Sean Adams

Maybe it is an act. Maybe it isn't. The set includes a couple of beautiful covers ‘House of the Rising Sun' and a truck-stopping rendition of the Everly Brothers' ‘All I Have To Do is Dream', plus ‘Names' from previous album ‘You Are Free'. The rest just Chan and her amaretto-soaked voice, a guitar, a piano, dublin and me. It's like prematurely unwrapping presents hidden in the airing cupboard, the set is the treat of the new album 'The Greatest' (due January 2006).»

The Douglas Hyde Gallery

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Cat Power

Biography from matadorrecords.com

Cat Power’s Chan (pronounced "Shawn") Marshall exists on a plane somewhat different than yours or mine, as anybody who has heard her sing knows. Her voice is unlike anyone you’ve heard before, combining raw intimacy with a gruff, chalky confidence, and while any attempt to interpret her lyrics comes up short, their plain-spoken lines belie an otherwordly perspective on primal human emotions. She's abstract, but always honest and true. That awareness has caused a tidal wave of adulation for Chan from her giant fan base, one that has tripled with each new record released. They’ll go anywhere with her, trusting that it always leads to a familiar place that will never seem the same.

Recorded by Adam Kasper (Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam), You Are Free is Chan’s first record of original material since 1998’s Moon Pix, and she's at the apex of her talents. She's fascinated with American music, as heard through her covers of songs by Dylan, Lou Reed, Moby Grape, and traditional folk on her last release, The Covers Record, and has absorbed its history into her own. Broken down to their essentials, songs like "Good Woman," "Fool" and "Speak For Me" could have been written sixty years ago on a rural Mississippi back porch, but Chan ably personalizes the traditional so it sounds handmade for the modern day.

You Are Free represents a breathing history of music as seen through the eyes of a skilled musician on her way to becoming a national heirloom.

SELECT CAT POWER DISCOGRAPHY
Dear Sir 10"/CD (Runt [Italy], 1995)
Myra Lee LP/CD (Smells Like, 1996)
What Would The Community Think LP/CD (Matador, 1996)
Moon Pix LP/CD (Matador, 1998)
The Covers Record LP/CD (Matador, 2000)
You Are Free LP/CD (Matador, 2003)»