Video: Feist - "I Feel It All" - Live on "The Colbert Report

(Jonathan Graef)

Video: Feist - 1,2,3,4 (Live At The 2008 Grammys)

Everyone's favorite "new" artist performed her Grammmy-nominated, iPod-selling song "1,2,3,4" at this year's Grammy awards ceremony. This version is pretty subdued compared to versions past, with the backing band only consisting of a few brass players. Still, it was a good performance. Watch it at the top of the post.

(Jonathan Graef)

Feist - "I Feel It All" Video

Download: Feist - "I Feel It All"

Feist released her new video for "I Feel It All" today. Again, she delivers on the whole one-shot concept, but this time there are fireworks and perhaps even lives at stake.

(Ian Anderson)

New Jason Collett (Broken Social Scene) - "Out Of Time" and "Charlyn, Angel of Kensington"

Download: Jason Collett - "Out Of Time"
Download: Jason Collett - "Charlyn, Angel of Kensington"

Jayber Crow wasn't the only folk band releasing new tracks this past week. Jason Collett, who is gearing up for the release of Here's To Being Here, which will be out on Arts & Crafts on February 5.

The first of the new tracks is "Out Of Time," a Dylan-esque (just you try to not read Dylan into his vox) folk popper that incorporates "ooh-ooh"s that come off just a little Feist-y in their sudden, radical pitch modulation. It's a good song, but not a phenomenal one. "Charlyn, Angel of Kensington," the other release, is an interesting track with a very deep groove. It's got a sexy, pseudo-lounge-circa-"Mushaboom" beat backing up funky guitars and a vocal line that hits a bit of Andrew Bird and definitely channels Dylan. I hate to compare him so often to fellow Broken Social Scenester Feist, but he's been on a couple tours with her. It seems to me that these songs have more of her influence than past albums.

I think these two songs hit on the best and worst aspects of Collett's career. His previous albums have always contained strong, but not terribly original showings. I don't like it when the primary way I can describe someone's music is by name checking other groups. I think that should be a tool to augment a description, rather than the description itself. Likewise with these two tracks: they're strong, and I love to spin his records, but they're a little too derivative.

Collett, however, is a great performer. I bought Idols of Exile after totally developing a crush on him when he opened for Feist a couple years back. He's doing a little bit of touring with her again this month. Dates are below.

11.14.07 Denver – Ogden Theatre
11.16.07 Madison – Orpheum Theatre
11.17.07 Chicago – Riviera Theatre
11.18.07 Columbus – Wexner Center
11.20.07 Louisville – W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre
11.21.07 Nashville – Ryman Auditorium

MySpace Page

(April Wright)

Video: Feist, "1,2,3,4" and "I Feel It All": Live on "Saturday Night Live"

(Feist, "I Feel It All", on "Saturday Night Live" 11/3/07)

(YouTube via Deaf Indie Elephants)



(YouTube via Deaf Indie Elephants)


(Feist, "1,2,3,4", on "Saturday Night Live" 11/3/07)

Feist is so ubiquitous these days that no one need reminding as to who she is or why the part-time Broken Social Scenester is so popular now in the first place. Arguably, you've reached the apex of your popularity when you've been invited to perform on Saturday Night Live, which is what the adorable Canuck was did this past weekend.

You can see for yourself whether or not these performances will bring Feist even more acclaim and record sales (I would imagine that The Reminder will be on a goodly amount of best-of-the-year lists come December) by watching videos of her SNL songs at the top of the post. You can download MP3s of the performances at Deaf Indie Elephants.

No Feist dates for Minneapolis, but she'll be in Chicago on Nov. 17th and Madison on Nov. 16th.

MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Feist Performs With A Back-Up Choir Of Indie Rock's Finest

Check out this video of Feist performing "1234" off her stellar The Reminder album. Backing her up are a whole bevy of indie-rock royalty, including members of The National and The New Pornographers. It's like reading a hipster Where's Waldo with really easy answers.

(Jonathan Graef)

Feist - "Somewhere Down the Road"

Download: Feist - "Somewhere Down the Road"

Feist has released a new track that will be prominently featured in the new Ethan Hawke film "The Hottest State" that comes out in NYC and LA this weekend, and nation-wide next week. It's a great song that would have fit in nicely with "The Reminder," not to mention that there is a killer trumpet part in the outro.

MySpace

(Ian Anderson)

Feist - The Reminder

Download: Feist- "I Feel It All"
Download: Feist- "Sea Lion Woman"

Feist
The Reminder (Cherrytree/Interscope, 2007)
Grade: A

Earlier this week, our fearless leader Ian wrote the following about Charlotte Gainsbourg:

"(She) possesses a softness and gentle grace that I cannot even begin to understand. I find myself repeatedly fascinated by these magical women who make a form of music all their own."

I haven't heard note one of Ms. Gainsbourg's new album (but I very much want to, as I am a fan of hers because of The Science of Sleep). With that said, though, I would be willing to bet that if you took Ian's statement and multiplied it by a thousand, you would only vaguely approach my feelings about Feist's new record, The Reminder. It's the best thing I've heard all year, save for The Arcade Fire and of Montreal.

Where to begin the discussion? First off, The Reminder is a huge, huge leap forward from her previous effort, Let It Die. That record itself had numerous highlights, but it doesn't approach the sheer joy of listening to this record. The leap forward comes in the form of Ms. Leslie Feist writing all but one of the songs on the new record - and the song she didn't write, the traditional "See-line Woman" (here as "Sea Lion Woman" - did you see what she did there?) is arranged so that it becomes a uniquely Feistian pop jam.

Some of the more upbeat songs on The Reminder are like an reinterpretation of The Cure's early catalog as cabaret music - "My Moon My Man" and "I Feel It All," in particular, are strong examples of that musical styling.

What makes this record great is that Feist manages to incorporate so many different styles and none of it seems gratuitous for even a second. Every musical aspect of this record - whether its the wistful guitars and keyboards of essential 80s New Wave, the smoky sensuality of jazz, the devestatingly quiet heartbreak of folk - is essential. There is not a single note here that is superfluous, or misplaced, or otherwise wasted.

I'm not sure how much longer I can go on without sounding like an idiot gushing praise like a hyperbole geyser (on second thought, it's probably way too late). So I will just mention the fact that the album is streaming in full on her MySpace Page, and that you can also buy it through InSound.

It will be time and money well spent to hear 50 glorious minutes of an artist showcasing her perfected musical self.

(Jonathan Graef)