By Jim Manion , PD/MD, WFHB Bloomington

The Album
The Greatest

The Track
"The Greatest"

The Label
Matador

Liner Notes
No matter what musical move Chan Marshall makes, her musical expressions under the name Cat Power will always remain an enigma. Mystery is her calling card, tied to an obtuse lyrical moodiness that leaves room for the listener to attach personal, subjective meaning. For longtime fans and new ones alike, there is a hard-to-name magnetism to the Cat Power sound that is as arresting as it is gauzy. Case in point, her new release The Greatest. While shooting for a more mainstream sound that will no-doubt turn up the noses of her indie-hipster fans, Marshall has made another record that takes awhile to get under the skin. Once it does, it stays.
For The Greatest, Marshall takes a giant step away from down tempo indie-rock to pay homage to a sound she loves, Memphis soul. Stepping into Ardent Studios with the Hodges brothers and other Memphis music legends could easily set an artist up for a clichéd Memphis-by-numbers sound. Instead, these revered studio cats inject slow-boiling Southern soul into song structures alien to the Stax tradition. One can imagine "Teenie" Hodges wishing for more than a handful of these songs to have proper choruses, then resigning himself to embellish minimal Cat Power songs with a new kind of understated funk.
   Rather than a providing a full-blown blast of Memphis soul stew, precious instrumental ornamentation hangs through the stereo spectrum. Most songs on The Greatest carry a delicate mix of subtle drums, fluid guitar melodies and riffs, multi-tracked backup vocal overdubs, polite sax lines and strings, all drenched in clear but heavy reverb. At the heart of each song is Marshall's rudimentary piano and/or guitar, setting up simple chord structure loops that lay the foundation for the captivating, weary-beyond-her-years sound of her voice.
Songs most likely to jump out of the radio are "The Greatest," "Living Proof," "Lived In Bars" and "Islands."
   At times, Cat Power's minimal and repetitive songwriting style conveys an unsettling claustrophobia. Yet, there is something comfortable about how it all comes together to draw you in. Her sound can be soothing, until you pay attention to the lyrics. Hard to get a handle on some of the time, her lyrical mood is for the most part dark, carrying self-doubt and worry like a full-time job.
   Through it's entrancing and inviting sound, The Greatest has the potential for gaining Cat Power a breakthrough to a wider audience. On the surface, this music deserves such a response, but I'm betting many of her new fans will become more befuddled by it all when they zoom in for a closer look. Like much great pop music, the attractive surface reveals a troubled core.

Site
www.matadorrecords.com
www.catpowerthegreatest.com

On
WXPN Philadelphia
WFUV Bronx-New York
KCRW Santa Monica-Los Angeles
WFPK Louisville
DMX
XM The Loft
WTMD Towson-Baltimore
World Cafe
WYEP Pittsburgh
KEXP Seattle
WMNF Tampa
KUT Austin
WCBE Columbus
WHRV Norfolk
ACCA Acoustic Cafe
KSMT Breckenridge CO
WSYC Shippensberg PA
WUIN (Carolina Penguin) Wilmington
KSPN Aspen
KFAN Fredericksberg TX
KFMU Steamboat Springs
WRSI Northampton
WNRN Charlottesville
WBJB Lincroft NJ
WVOD Wanchese-Outter Banks NC
WERU  Bangor
WFHB  Bloomington
KDNK  Carbondale/Aspen
KCLC St. Louis
KRCC  Eugene
KHUM  Eureka-Humboldt County
KTBG  (The Bridge) Kansas City
WEVL  Memphis
WNKU Highland Heights KY/Cincinatti
WUKY Lexington
XM The Loft
Music Choice
KXCI Tucson
KAXE Grand Rapids MN 
KRSH Santa Rosa
WYSO Dayton
WUTC Chattanooga
MPB Maine Public Radio
KKCR Princeville, Kauai HI
KVNF Paonia CO
MSPR Minnesota State Public Radio
WYCE Grand Rapids
KRCL Salt Lake City
WDIY Bethlehem/Allentown
KUNC Greely/Ft. Collins
KUWR Laramie/Cheyenne
WSGE Dallas/W. Charlotte  
KSUT Ignacio/Durango CO

Tours/Appearances
Matador regrets to announce that Cat Power's entire American tour has been canceled due to health reasons. There will be information about refunds available imminently, and the tour will be rescheduled as soon as possible.

TV
CNN's Showbiz Tonight (airs every night at 7pm and 11pm) features Cat Power on Monday (2/27); People magazine reviews the album and airs footage of the video. 

Press
"If Cat Power's Chan Marshall were a painter, her new record would mark a departure from her abstract period and entrance into impressionism, where the images are clearer, less abstruse yet maintain the artist's distinct vision of the world."
—Shawn Telford, Seattlepi.com

"( The Greatest) ultimately declares something better is on its way, providing a fittingly elliptical capper to an album full of bittersweet love and tiny pleasures."
—Christian Hoard, Rolling Stone

Retail
The Greatest is now in stores as of January 24th.

Contact
Fred Navarrete , Matador/Beggars Group