Audio By Carbonatix
Chan Marshall, who goes by the name of Cat Power, is mostly known as a media star, part of a dazzling but frequently maligned universe that includes Rufus Wainwright, Meshell Ndegeocello, and too many others to mention. It’s a category usually reserved for staunch individualists who confound audiences and critics and sell a respectable number of records without ever reaching the mainstream.
Though all of these artists have their own cross/stereotype to bear, Marshall’s problem stems from her image as a shrieking, crazed woman frequently prone to breaking down in tears in concert. Anyone who listens to her music will understand that her songs are more than mere ramblings from an autumnal Ophelia. On albums like this year’s You Are Free, she is beautiful, tortured; her words are fragmented, cut to the bone. Listening to her is like traveling to a place not of this world. It is a journey worth taking, no matter how dark the path grows.
