Sun's press coverage

Cokelike wrote:

I don't understand: it says that Cherokee is the new digital single and that it is out on since june 18.

Sab wrote:

http://www.canalplus.fr/c-divertissement/pid4261-c-la-short-list.html

Chan appears at 1:45

Si je te dis que ma box s'est deconnectée juste au moment où le reportage allait être diffusé, tu me crois? Ça s'est remis juste au bon moment pour que je le vois en direct mais l'enregistrement n'a pas fonctionné. Reportage vraiment frustrant. Elle mériterait un vrai bon reportage ou interview un jour.

Nicolaoua wrote:

Sab wrote:

http://www.canalplus.fr/c-divertissement/pid4261-c-la-short-list.html

Chan appears at 1:45

Si je te dis que ma box s'est deconnectée juste au moment où le reportage allait être diffusé, tu me crois? Ça s'est remis juste au bon moment pour que je le vois en direct mais l'enregistrement n'a pas fonctionné. Reportage vraiment frustrant. Elle mériterait un vrai bon reportage ou interview un jour.

Oh, je te crois! J'ai eu un son tout pourri pendant toute la durée de la short list. Elle parlait avec une voix de robot...L'univers était contre nous visiblement.

Et oui, super frustrant! J'imagine (du moins j'espère) qu'il s'agit d'un extrait et que l'interview sera diffusée dans son intégralité à la rentrée.

Nicolaoua wrote:I don't understand: it says that Cherokee is the new digital single and that it is out on since june 18.

Yeah, appearently it has been streaming in a couple places since then. But of course we didnt know anything about til the other day. How come, "Cherokee", the appearences, the album details et al., are not listed over at Matador's website. It's like they never know whats going on.

Wait, hold on. Details on the album formats!

http://store.matadorrecords.com/sun

Deluxe 2LP comes on clear vinyl with a alternate gold foil cover, and includes a clear vinyl 7" with 2 exclusive non-album tracks.
LPs include download coupon for MP3s of the album.
Sun LP $19.00 BUY dbl LP
Sun CD $12.00 BUY CD
Sun Deluxe 2LP + 7" $23.00

I am totally getting the Deluxe 2LP + 7"!! So I guess since "Nothing But Time" is 8 minutes, and maybe some other songs are long as well, that they are splitting the 11 songs over 4 sides of vinyl AND putting 2 songs on a 7". I'd say $23.00 is a great deal for 3 records.

Cool!
The way they communicate seems so strange. They ask you to check their blog for further informations when it is already available in their store...
Ok, i' m just "bitchin', complain'"

I'm totally in for the deluxe package, but i guess that i'll need the cd as well. And what about the itunes exclusives? Budget? Over 40$ (probably much more in Europe). Oh well...
So, just to sum up, we'll have:

-11 songs on the regular album
-2 more songs on itunes
-2 more songs on the deluxe package

Total: 15 new Cat Power songs and probably one more for the Japanese CD, as usual.

I guess the itunes tracks couldnt be the same 2 tracks on the 7" because then the itunes tracks wouldnt be exclusive? Clear vinyl! Cool, I bet it'll be all rainbow-y looking when you hold it up to the light, right?

I'm not 100% sure about the itunes exclusives. Dark End of the Street is considered as an itunes exclusive, though it was first released as a vinyl limited edition.

I think that you were right about the album being more than 50 minutes long.
I can totally see the last song being alone on the fourth side, à la Blonde on Blonde (as a Dylan fan, i would do that!).

Well, if "Nothing But Time" has its own side and it's 8 minutes, thats a pretty short side. Hmmmm.

Just reading those details again:

SUN is not about a happy world - it's about being at peace with a world that is often unhappy and unfair.

I like that the album is being described as its own world. It reminds me of this quote from Chris Novoselic, when he refered to Kurt Cobain and said something about the best artists create their own world.

The narrative arc of the record is vast and deeply American in its spaciousness; the musical idiom is defiantly modern and global.

That's actually kinda poetic. I think I agree with this on the 2 songs so far, she does sound really confident in her vocals. Like on Ruin the way the lyrics are punctuated and kind of march through the song. Listening to "Cherokee" and I am really liking her drums in the first minute or so. I think there should've been more Eagle scream (just kidding). Actually I love that part. So yeah, both of these songs are more upbeat than her live versions. Those live versions are still awesome. But I like that she is more upbeat. It's a great change. The hallmark of the Jukebox era was to slow down everything. Some live versions of "Blue" are like 9 minutes long (not a bad thing at all though).

There is also a strong contrast between the upbeat rythm and the rather dark lyrics.

Cokelike wrote:
Well, if "Nothing But Time" has its own side and it's 8 minutes, thats a pretty short side. Hmmmm.

Sure but Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands was only 4 minutes longer and had its own side.
We'll see.

I love that song. Theres a great story about how the band backing him were only just learning the song. So when you listen to it and they do those build-ups, thats the band thinking the song is over and then pulling back and realizing they need to keep it going. They had no idea how many verses he was going to do.

Brand new interview for Pitchfork: http://pitchfork.com/features/update/8874-cat-power/

Sweet! Thanks for posting!

Yes! Thank you!

A lot of informations there!
I would never have imagined that she was almost broke!

Nicolaoua wrote:A lot of informations there!
I would never have imagined that she was almost broke!

Me neihther!

"And I love having a production assistant to help me with the stage, because I have this cool guy who does really magnificent stage design. I have all these ideas. I want the show be very neanderthal sci-fi-- but I can't tell you the secret recipe yet." Can't wait to see this!

I'm enjoying these new interviews. One thing I've noticed is, no matter when the interview happened, the interviewer always has to make note of Chan's conversational style. As Pitchfork put it, "Marshall is not the most linear thinker." I think at this point its almost like a requirement that something like that to be put in the introductory paragraph of every interview.

Sun is marked by uncharacteristic electronic beats, synth flourishes, and even some Auto-Tune.

I'm not big on auto-tune, and I'm surprised to hear this. So many of her vocals are close-mic'ed and natural. Hmmmmm.

11-minute, two-chord epic "Nothing But Time", a tribute to David Bowie's "Heroes" that features backing vocals from Iggy Pop.

Okay, so now it's an 11 minute song. Even better. (off-topic but Nico's cover of "Heroes" rocks.)

"My tempo is usually pretty slow because I don't know how to play that well."

Its a testament to her abilities as a singer-songwriter that she has made so much good music when after 20 years she is still saying that she thinks she cant play that well.

"I was writing all these really slow guitar songs, and my friend said, "This is like depressing old Cat Power," which made me feel like I got shot. I didn't work for eight months after that."

Wow, that's pretty sad.

"I had no fucking idea what to do, but I knew I was not going to even look at a piano or touch a guitar. So I started out with a weird synthesizer."

Interesting, considering that in some of interviews from 2010 or so, she was saying that she felt guilty that she was just up on stage singing and not playing more guitar. She is as unpredictable as ever.

"We were touring, and I was trying to get them to be tighter live, so when we returned it would get tighter, too. But it didn't work out the way I hoped. On the album, "Ruin" is the only song that you hear the band on."

Crack the whip, Chan! Love it. When was the DDBB ever not tight? She must notice everything on stage. I wonder what she means by it didnt work out the way she hoped? "Ruin" is now the DDBB's swan song?

"I'd been getting a lot of pressure that I needed a producer, but I knew that I didn't because I never used one before. I've only ever used engineers. Telling someone they need a producer is like telling them that they need a nose job-- it activates something in you that makes you feel like a loser."

I love this.

"I'm getting that instead of just a tour manager, because all my tour managers go crazy."

I want to hear some stories.

"I have all these ideas. I want the show be very neanderthal sci-fi-- but I can't tell you the secret recipe yet."

I agree, Sab. Sounds like this tour could be a really big deal!

What the f*uck, she lived in the same area than me!!!

En kiosque vendredi.

Yes!

Il semblerait qu'il y ait au moins un petit truc dans le Magicrpm de ce mois-ci. J'essaierai de vérifier ça demain.

After looking at that VOXPOP magazine cover, I gotta say I love her Beatles Mop-Top haircut. I had the same haircut for years, but I'm back to growing long hair again.

I bought a copy of Voxpop.
The pictures of Chan are from Mathieu Zazzo and they are gorgeous.

I also looked very quickly at Magicrpm, and there is no need to buy it for the tiny Cat Power article.

The second picture reminds me so much "Nude as The News" video!