Indie and Lo-Fi music reviews

This is a transitional album for Swearing At Motorists. They started out as a Grifters-like indie band, churning out short, slight songs, with buried vocals and bursts of noise, before moving on to the great two-minute snippets of pop on their last two albums. But live they've always been a two-piece band, guitar and drums, and only on this recording have the arrangements and production really come to reflect that.

I'm sure some listeners will be disappointed by the new sound--- these arrangements are much sparer than in the past, but to my ears, it's a welcome departure from previous tracks. Joseph Siwinski's wonderful playing helps a great deal in that regard--- his fills and flourishes are pure rock, and he still holds it down the whole time. Another change: in the past, Doughman seemed to force his voice a bit beyond its register. Here he settles into his natural baritone. Great stuff.

Like their last full-length, THIS FLAG SIGNALS GOODBYE, this album is all about a break-up. Since Doughman has spent much of his time since '02 touring Europe, the lyrics have a strong expatriate feel: "As sure as Harry will never be king | Disappointment often offers relief." "Waterloo Crescent" really typifies the overseas content of much of these lyrics. It's sort of the lovers' riposte to the Kinks's classic "Waterloo Sunset": jaunty, spirited, carefree, public, as when Doughman tells his girlfriend that she's "...Laughing 'bout the night before | Smiling like you want some more | Of what's got you laughing." This is probably the happiest song S@M have recorded, and certainly one of their best; but true to form, the rest of the album spirals downward as the lovers head for a break-up, drug-use and distance (caused by touring) seeming to be the main culprits. "Suicide on the Installment Plan" sums up the twin problems neatly in its only lyric: "Your way of life | Is getting in the way of your life."

Not much to add to all the other love-it/hate-it reviews - you will/you won't. Me? I find it charming and harmless, and pleasantly reminiscent of the early Tracy Thorn/Marine Girls/Everything But the Girl stuff on Cherry Red. And am I the only one who thinks she should team up with The Notwist? One interesting music-historical tidbit: "When I Was a Young Girl" is in fact a pretty hip reworking of the ancient folk ballad "Annie Franklin," aka "The Unfortunate Rake," "St. James Hospital," "The Bad Girl's Lament," "The Whore's Lament" (I like Hedy West's version on her "Love, Hell & Biscuits" album), that eventually morphed into "The Cowboy's Lament" and then "The Streets of Laredo," which was a huge Country & Western hit by Marty Robbins in the 60s. Interesting to see how these old songs travel through time and space, as well as between genders. Hey, there's a great set for some enterprising community radio dj...

Feist's record "Let it Die" is a secret little gem sprinkled with great songs. You can sink into this whole album, especiall "gatekeeper" and "let it die" very easily. The smooth sound of this album is intoxicating and her voice so delicate. She reminds me of Gretchen Lieberum, whose new release "Siren Songs" is comparable to "Let it Die." Both have such a mellow sound and inescapably seductive appeal.

Leslie Feist's sophomore effort, Let It Die is a refreshingly cool album. The Canadian artist, perhaps more popular as a member of indie supergroup Broken Social Scene, combines a number of original songs with covers of some older pop standards. Feist's jazzy vocals give spirit and soul to these covers. She certainly puts her seal on it, uniting jazz, bossa nova, and indie sensibilities into a coherent and enchanting album. Her vocal style is very reminiscent to Regina Spektor, yet unlike Spektor, Feist shies away from wailing, instead preferring to treat the listening to her soft, sweet vocal styling. More than half of the album - the later half - is taken up by covers which certainly speak to an older age of songwriting and a gentler singing style than is seen by most popular singers today, even in the "Easy Listening" genre. When Feist sings "Now at Last," and "Amourissima" the age of Judy Garland is remained. The entire second half of the album (especially the French language tracks) feels like it could be the soundtrack to Jacques Demy's Les Parapluies de Cherbourg.

However, this reviewer would be quite remiss to dismiss Feist as a mere cover artist. Feist has contributed a great deal of her own writing and composition (often collaborating with Gonzales - Jason Beck) The first half of the album, opening with the hauntingly beautiful "Gatekeeper" echoes much of the music she covers in the second half, combining bossa nova with a distinctively indie pop feel. No where is this synthesis more apparent than in the somewhat commercially successful "Mushaboom," which has already be featured in commercials and covered by Bright Eyes. The title track, "Let it Die" is more like "Gatekeeper," significantly less poppy than many of the other tracks on the album. It is here where Leslie Feist's soul comes out. The arrangement complements her vocals beautiful, and her lyrics make this into one of the finest tracks on the album. "One Evening" and "Leisure Suite" also help transition from a newer style of writing into the covers by making great use of bossa nova lounge rhythms and similar vocals.

This album is certainly one of the finest compilation works to be produced in the last five years. Suffering perhaps only from repetition, (which can certainly be excused - repetition of something as new and fresh as Feist isn't that bad of a thing) "Let it Die" is an evenly constructed album, and is certainly very accessible in that is spans so many genres. Fans of indie rock, French/Brazilian bossa nova, or even jazz will likely quickly fall in love with Feist. By combining these styles, Leslie Feist creates something that is entirely her own, yet can still remind both older and younger ears to music they know and love.