Moon Pix is the fourth album by American singer/songwriter, Cat Power (a.k.a. Chan Marshall). It was released in September 1998 on Matador Records.

The album features Mick Turner and Jim White, of the Australian instrumental band Dirty Three, on guitar and drums, respectively.

Music

According to Cat Power: A Good Woman by Elizabeth Goodman, several songs on the album - "No Sense," "Say," "Metal Heart," "You May Know Him" and "Cross Bones Style" - were written "in one deranged night," following a hallucinatory nightmare Marshall had in the fall of 1997, while alone in the South Carolina farmhouse she shared with then-boyfriend, Bill Callahan. "I got woken up by someone in the field behind my house in South Carolina," she explained, "The earth started shaking, and dark spirits were smashing up against every window of my house. I woke up and I had my kitten next to me...and I started praying to God to help me...So I just ran and got my guitar because I was trying to distract myself. I had to turn on the lights and sing to God. I got a tape recorder and recorded the next sixty minutes. And I played these long changes, into six different songs. That's where I got the record."

Recording

Moon Pix was recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne, Australia by house engineer Matt Voigt. In a 2006 interview with Mess+Noise, Voigt revealed that he had not heard of Marshall, and refused to start work on New Year's Day, as requested by the studio. Work on the album started the following day, with Marshall arriving with her guitar and asking Voigt how he wanted to set up for recording. She sang and played guitar at the same time, with a small guitar amplifier in one room, and Marshall singing into a microphone in another room.

The album's opener, "American Flag," features a slowed-down reversed drum sample from the 1986 Beastie Boys song, "Paul Revere." According to Voigt, Marshall appeared with a copy of the song on album in her bag, and requested a "backwards drum beat," which Marshall then recorded on top of. http The sample is uncredited on Moon Pix.

Voigt recalls that Marshall was "a lovely lady. Very emotional. We would do takes and she'd just start crying in the middle of a take. And she'd say 'Stop, stop, I'm sorry, I'm sorry' and I'm like "'It sounded great!'"

According to Voigt, the Dirty Three members joined the studio most likely on the second day. White played drums over vocals and guitar already recorded by Marshall, and all three musicians recorded two songs live with bassist Andrew Entsch on double bass.

Reception

Moon Pix has been called Cat Power's "magnum opus" and "a true masterpiece of emotional shading and compositional clarity." Critics cited it as evidence of Marshall's maturation as a songwriter, with Heather Phares of Allmusic writing that "Moon Pix continues Chan Marshall's transformation from an indie rock Cassandra into a reflective, accomplished singer/songwriter." Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called it "even stronger" than her previous album, What Would the Community Think (1996), and wrote that "it still holds up as one of the Nineties great singer/songwriter triumphs."

The album is referenced in Jeffrey Brown's 2005 graphic novel, "Aeiou: An Easy Intimacy," as part of the 'Soundtrack Side A'.

The album's cover was reenacted by the Shins on their 2001 music video for "New Slang," along with album covers by Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, the Minutemen, Squirrel Bait, Sonic Youth and Slint.

Personnel

*Chan Marshall - guitar, vocals, piano

*Mick Turner - guitar, engineer

*Mark Ohe - imperialized

*Frank Longo - imperialized

*Belinda Woods - flute

*Matt Voigt - engineer

*Jim White - drums

*Andrew Entsch - bass

*Roe Ethridge - photography

References

Category:Cat Power albums

Category:1998 albums

fr:Moon Pix

Artist/Band Information

CatPower-01.jpgthumbrightuprightCat Power performing Joni Mitchell's "Blue"

Charlyn Marie Marshall (born January 21, 1972), also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter. She is known for her minimalist style, sparse guitar and piano playing, and breathy vocals.

Biography

Chan Marshall was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Marshall's father, Charlie, is a blues musician and itinerant pianist.As of January 2008, he plays Wednesday's night at the , formerly Carbo's Cafe, on Roswell Road, in Atlanta. Her childhood involved much upheaval, with Marshall living throughout the Southern United States (Greensboro, North Carolina; Bartlett, Tennessee; and Georgia and South Carolina), back and forth between parents and her grandmother. In interviews she has openly discussed her childhood and stated that the constant traveling prepared her for the touring life of a professional musician.

After dropping out of high school, she started performing under the name Cat Power while in Atlanta, backed by musicians Glen Thrasher, Marc Moore, and others. She took the Cat Power name after a Caterpillar ad that read: "Cat Diesel Power".http While in Atlanta, Marshall played her first live shows as support to her friends' bands, including Magic Bone and Opal Foxx Quartet. Due to her close relationships with the various people involved, she has stated that her involvement in music at this time was primarily a social interest rather than an artistic one. She also stated in a 2007 interview for Soft FocusChan Marshall interviewed by Ian Svenonius, 'Soft Focus' show, 5-March-2007, VBS.tv that the music itself was more experimental and that playing shows was often an opportunity for her and her friends to get drunk and take drugs.

Music career

Early years: 1992–1999

In 1992 she moved to New York City with Glen Thrasher. It was Thrasher who introduced her to New York's free-jazz and experimental music scene. In particular she cites a concert by Anthony Braxton with giving her the confidence to perform in public. Her first New York show was at a warehouse in Brooklyn and she has described her early New York shows as "more improvisational." One of her shows during this period was as the support act to Man or Astro-man? and consisted of her playing a two-string guitar and singing the word "no" for fifteen minutes. Around this time she made the acquaintance of God Is My Co-Pilot, a relationship that resulted in them releasing her first single "Headlights" in a limited run of 500 copies on their Making of Americans label.

Chanbrooklyn09.jpgthumbleftuprightCat Power performing in New York in February 2009

In 1994 she opened for Liz Phair in New York. In attendance were Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Tim Foljahn of Two Dollar Guitar, who encouraged her to record, and played on her first two albums, 1995's Dear Sir and 1996's Myra Lee, the latter taking its name from Marshall's mother. Both albums were recorded in New York on the same day in December 1994 and display a lack of conventional song structures. In 1996 she was signed to Matador Records and, along with Foljahn and Shelley, recorded her third album, What Would the Community Think, which spawned a single and music video, "Nude as the News".

In late 1996, following a three-month tour co-headlining with the band Guv'ner in support of the release of What Would the Community Think, Marshall disappeared from the music scene, initially working as a baby sitter in Portland, Oregon and then moving to a farmhouse in Prosperity, South Carolina with then boyfriend Bill Callahan. The plan was to permanently retire from public performance but during a sleepless night resulting from a nightmare, Marshall wrote several new songs. These songs would make up the bulk of Moon Pix. The record was recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne in eleven days with backing musicians Mick Turner and Jim White of the Dirty Three. The album was well-received by critics, and gained her recognition in the indie rock scene. However, during subsequent tours Marshall states that she had grown tired of her own material. This resulted in a series of shows during 1999 where Marshall provided musical accompaniment to the silent movie The Passion of Joan of Arc. The shows combined original material and many covers, many of which would later see release on The Covers Record, a collection of cover songs recorded at various sessions in 1998 and 1999. A selection of covers that didn't make it on to the album were recorded at Peel Acres, home of the British DJ John Peel. The session was broadcast on his BBC Radio 1 show and featured Marshall's own interpretations of Bob Dylan's "Hard Times in New York Town" and Oasis's "Wonderwall", amongst others.

Personal struggles: 2000–2006

By the start of the decade, Marshall's live performances had become erratic and unpredictable, with The New Yorker suggesting, "It is foolhardy to describe a Cat Power event as a concert," citing "rambling confessions" and " to a friend's baby from the stage." New Yorker Magazine, 2003 Marshall later attributed this period to a drinking problem, telling HARP magazine in 2006 "I didn't know I was messed up." Harp Magazine, Dec 2006. Copy at

CatPower-07.jpgthumbrightuprightCat Power performing in Toronto in September 2006

In 2003 she resumed releasing original material with You Are Free, which featured guest musicians such as Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, and the Dirty Three's Warren Ellis. A music video directed by Brett Vapnek was released for the song "He War."

2004 saw the release of the DVD Speaking for Trees, which featured a continuous, nearly 2-hour static shot of Marshall performing in a woodland. The set was accompanied by an audio CD containing the eighteen-minute song "Willie Deadwilder," featuring M. Ward on guitar. Also that year Marshall lent her vocals to the track "I've Been Thinking" from the Handsome Boy Modeling School album, White People. Marshall toured through 2005, including an Australian tour supporting Nick Cave and an appearance at the Patti Smith-curated Meltdown festival. The shows largely consisted of material that would appear on her next album. In 2005, Marshall was featured on the song "Great Waves" from Dirty Three's album Cinder.

The Greatest was released in January 2006. This was not a greatest hits record but rather the Matador Records-arranged collaboration with Al Green's guitarist Teenie Hodges and other musicians. Following its release, Marshall cancelled previously arranged live shows in North America and Europe. She was struggling with a relationship with a young Miami investment banker. Ultimately, Marshall used the hiatus to recover from what she described as a "psychotic break," brought on by mental exhaustion and alcohol abuse, which had left her feeling suicidal. As part of her recovery, she was admitted to the psychiatric ward at Miami's Mount Sinai Medical Center but left after a week, stating "being in there wasn't me." She later likened the experience to "a pit of hell." Marshall gave a first person account of her breakdown in an interview for the November 2006 issue of Spin.

She returned to live performance in April 2006, playing with the Memphis Rhythm Band and as a solo performer, including a performance at a Bob Dylan tribute concert in New York, a fund raiser for the charity Music for Youth.

Critical and commercial success: 2007–present

Marshall put together a new band in Winter 2006 with whom she toured and recorded throughout 2007. The Dirty Delta Blues Band features Judah Bauer (from Blues Explosion), Gregg Foreman (The Delta 72), Erik Paparazzi (Lizard Music), and Jim White (from Dirty Three).

CatPower-02.jpgthumbleftuprightCat Power performing in June 2008

Also in 2007, she became the first female solo act to win the Shortlist Music Prize when The Greatest was voted album of the year in June. Earlier in the year she was nominated in the Best International Female Solo Artist category at the annual Brit Awards. The Dirty Delta Blues band recorded an album of covers called Jukebox which was released on January 22, 2008, on Matador Records.

In September 2008, Marshall and members of the Dirty Delta Blues (Erik Paparazzi & Gregg Foreman) recorded their version of David Bowie's Space Oddity for a Lincoln car commercial.

On December 9, 2008, an EP entitled Dark End of the Street was released by Matador. The release consists of left-over cover songs from the Jukebox sessions.

A live version of the gospel song Amazing Grace – culled from a performance with the Dirty Delta Blues band – was released on the charity compilation Dark Was the Night. Released by independent British label 4AD on 17 February 2009, the set benefited the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS.

In an article from Spin, Marshall says of her next proper studio LP, "I'm producing it. One song is called "Leopard," I used to sing it when I was 26. There's another song, a spiritual song called "Mountaintops." And there's a really sweet song called "Funny Things" that's like a little kid's tap-dance song about having special secret thoughts: "Funny things in your dreams/Can you whisper talk to me?" And then there's "Silent Machine," which I actually wrote a long time ago. There's another song called "Oh Time." It's about my ex and it's about forgiveness. My friend Susanna always cries when I play it."

In an October 2010 interview with Rolling Stone, Marshall confirmed her work on an upcoming album, stating "I'm trying to play all the instruments myself. There's an inspiration of being furious about wanting to achieve your goal. I was inspired by being disappointed in myself that I'd just been holding a microphone and that I hadn't been playing an instrument." RollingStone.com Retrieved 2011-02-24. In a January 2011 interview with Wilfred Brandt of TwoThousand.com.au, Marshall hinted that new material may not see release until as late as summer 2012, stating " I would like to continue what I'm doing , but I'd also like to not divert from what I've been creating in my personal life. I don't wanna jeopardize being a mom by working. Because in my work, I have to 'go', y'know?" TwoThousand.com.au. Retrieved 2011-02-19.

Collaborations and contributions

Around this time, Marshall collaborated with Mick Collins (of The Dirtbombs) on a recording of Ludwig Rellstab's poem "Auf Dem Strom" for the film Wayne County Ramblin. Marshall sang the poem in German, though she does not speak the language.

Since returning to the stage Marshall has contributed guest vocals to several albums. She performed a duet with model Karen Elson on an English cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Je t'aime... moi non plus" for the tribute album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited. She also sang lead vocal on the Ensemble track "Disown, Delete" and reworked "Revelations" with Yoko Ono for Ono's 2007 album Yes, I'm a Witch. She also performed guest vocals for Faithless and El-P. She also duets on the Dexter Romweber Duo song "Love Letters".

In 2007, Marshall contributed songs to the soundtrack of Ethan Hawke's movie The Hottest State, recording with Jesse Harris and Terry Manning, and the Academy Award-winning Juno.

In early 2008, she collaborated with Beck and producer Danger Mouse on the album Modern Guilt. She contributed backing vocals to two tracks, "Orphans" and "Walls". The album was released in July of that year.

Chan Marshall provides backup vocals on Marianne Faithfull's cover of "Hold On" by Neko Case on the 2009 album Easy Come Easy Go.

Other work

In October 2006 she became the celebrity spokesperson for a line of jewelry from Chanel, beginning a series of non musical activities that continued into the following year during downtime between touring and recording commitments. In 2007 her voice could be heard in commercials for Cingular and De Beers in the United States and Garnier in the United Kingdom. Previously Marshall had done advertisements for GAP. She had a small role in the 2007 film My Blueberry Nights opposite Jude Law.http She also appeared in Doug Aitken's MOMA installation Sleepwalkers, which followed the nocturnal lives of five city dwellers. Marshall can be seen as a postal worker living in New York, performing with other notable participants such as Tilda Swinton.

Performance style

CatPower-13.jpgthumbrightuprightCat Power performing in May 2008

Marshall’s live shows have been known for their unpolished nature, with songs beginning and ending abruptly or blending into one another without clear transitions. She has also cut short performances without explanation. On some occasions this has been put down to her suffering from stage fright and the influence of alcohol. Marshall has admitted abusing alcohol in the past; in a 2006 interview with the New York Times, she declared herself to be sober, which she defined as having had "seven drinks in seven months."

Recently, Marshall's performance style has been said to be much more enthusiastic and professional. An article in Salon called The Greatest "polished and sweetly upbeat", stating that Marshall was "delivering onstage". In the article, Marshall states that her new found musical collaborators and sobriety are largely responsible for her increased confidence onstage.

Discography

*Dear Sir (1995)

*Myra Lee (1996)

*What Would the Community Think (1996)

*Moon Pix (1998)

*The Covers Record (2000)

*You Are Free (2003)

*The Greatest (2006)

*Jukebox (2008)

*Dark End of the Street (2008)

References