Friday, May 18, 2007

the reminder

I recently purchased the new Feist album, The Reminder, and finally got a chance to listen to it today. My iPod has been in need of a new battery (or possibly a more complicated operation) for the past few weeks, and since I've come to depend on it for all my listening needs, its incapacity has left me music-less and unhappy. Today I decided enough was enough and fished out the old discman so that I could listen to Feist on my way to my normal Friday night activities: McDonalds and tutoring.
I'm a pretty big fan of Feist -- loved Let it Die and thought Open Season was pretty cool -- and I've got to say that her new album doesn't disappoint. It has the same whimsical/eclectic feel of Let it Die, but is possibly even cooler because it's all original stuff this time (i.e. no covers!). Not that I didn't like the covers, but I think that her music is strong enough to stand on its own, and songs that she wrote (i.e. "Mushaboom," "Gatekeeper" and "Let it Die") are probably my favorites from that album.
Yes, so I really like The Reminder so far, and am assuming, like with most new music, it will only continue to grow on me over time. Feist experiments with a wider variety of instruments in this album, especially strings, which is cool, and does more with back-up vocals and choirs too. She even stretches the boundaries of her own voice -- coming close to really wailing in a couple songs -- which brings some contrast to her usual mellow sound. And, like I said before, I think she's a very talented song-writer. She's able to strike a balance between fun and thoughtful and bittersweet, which I think is pretty unique. Some of her songs are incredibly moving, especially "The Park" and "Intuition"... I found myself sitting on the bus, listening, and close to tears.
If you've heard Feist before and like her, I recommend this album. If you've never heard of her, I recommend this album along with her other two. I've never posted anything even closely resembling a music review before (not that this really is one...), so the fact that I'm taking the time to write something about this CD speaks for itself. :)
On a side note, I like the art in the CD sleeve/case/whatever this type of packaging is called. The polaroids are neat.
Check out The Reminder website (with videos and segments of the songs): www.listentofeist.com

4 comments:

mike said...

At the risk of exposing my lack of musical sophistication, may i humbly submit the music of brandi carlile for your listening consideration. Her music is haunting, and her album 'the story' is as close to raw perfection as anything i've ever heard.

a sample-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJa-KazVMYU

sal said...

it's fantastic!!! thanks for the listen michelle! your review was spot on :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, Michelle:

Have to admit my music sense is quite lagging behind than others. I only listen to pop music so anything anyone shared to me in the church or even the pop music others said was new to me.

One thing that wouldn't change was classical music. I don't have any hope about how many grades I should archieve for my piano skills but I'm happy to be able to play to make my dream comes true.

Recently I mainly practise songs and finger drills in Grade 1 to 2 using a synthesizer. Below is the song I practised for few weeks (But I can guarantee he plays far better than me and also I don't even know the rhythm I played was right or wrong. But who cares! Haha.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZorJc4kZz0&mode=related&search=

Jordy.

Jon said...

I like 'Now at last' from the old album... P.S. Did you know Feist is Canadian?