Feist
The Reminder

Cherry Tree/Interscope
2007
C+
Reviewed by: Liz Colville
Reviewed on: 2007-05-02



Posted 05/02/2007 - 12:19:57 PM by Blackmail:
 Phew! I was beginning to wonder what P4k and the New Yorker were hearing that I wasn't. I mean, it's pleasant enough but it's so ready for Starbucks playlist action.
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 03:53:14 PM by rvincentpeters:
 What, you don't like to dance?
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 04:54:18 PM by arsetothat:
 There's not even a whole lot on this album to dance to, besides "My Moon, My Man," which by the way could become a radio hit with the whole Beyonce crowd, no joke. But this album is great. More cohesive than Let it Die, and a better album all around. The C+ just seems like a deliberate rebellion against Pitchfork's spot-on review.
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 05:56:17 PM by remission_:
 Blackmail, i totally understand what you're talking about. Her first album was an in-store play when i worked at a Barnes & Noble. And while it was, as you describe this album, "nice enough", it so successfully faded into the background that i couldn't tell where the album ended and a Putamayo compilation began. This album seems to have the same effect, from what i've heard of it.
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 06:11:52 PM by Blackmail:
 Actually, that's part of what makes Liz's review so awesome: she also writes for Pitchfork! I don't read her review as simple nose-thumbing, but an honest-to-god reassessment of the critical consensus on this record. If Stylus had meta-tags for reviews, I'd label Feist milquetoast! [This isn't to say that everything "good" must be total balls-to-the-wall rock nonsense, psych, noise, whathaveyou, but wow this record is so boring that you think more people would notice.]
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 07:07:46 PM by Neo_Vincent:
 "It may sadden some that the reigning star of Canadian folk ’n’ pop abandoned a sound that was smooth around the edges for something so utterly polished." I'm really surprised that this is the same writer that gave Blonde Redhead's "23" a solid A, as super-glossy as that record is.... Oh well. It's a solid album; not perfect, but nowhere near as lifeless as people would like to make it out to be.
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 08:59:30 PM by Blackmail:
 I'd say something about consistency being the hobgoblin of little minds, but I'd rather note that it's a critic's prerogative to have entirely arbitrary rationales about the how's and why's of music as each album is itself a discrete artifact within a field of artifacts.
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 09:34:19 PM by mikepowell:
 "a FOOLISH consistency..."
 
Posted 05/03/2007 - 06:02:22 AM by florenz6:
 Well, well, well - I´ve used this Starbucks-metaphor here and there for other music (boring Pet Shop Boys, ultra-boring Herbie Hancock a.o.), and I will now do it for the last time: I would love to hear this record next time I´ll go Starbucks on a rainy day in London! It would simply make me feel good, the thoughts wouls be drifting, some notes would linger on in the back of my mind, it´s fine with me...
 
Posted 05/03/2007 - 10:55:38 AM by betablog:
 let it die scanned 120K.
 
Posted 05/03/2007 - 11:35:10 AM by Brandenm:
 It's "Sea Lion Woman" not "Sea Line Woman."
 
Posted 05/03/2007 - 05:24:03 PM by mikepowell:
 okay, feistfight. REGARDING THE SONG'S NAME: the simone track was "see-line woman." feist's cover is, inexplicably, "sea lion woman." THE FIGURES: beta's right. the album scanned around 120,000. which is ONLY in the united states. she's a platinum artist in canada, and from every report i can tell, 'let it die' has sold between 400,000 and 500,000 copies worldwide.
 
Posted 05/03/2007 - 05:26:44 PM by Blackmail:
 Wasn't 'bricking' last year's meme? Why do sales figures wend their way into so many reviews?
 
Posted 05/04/2007 - 03:10:37 AM by IanMathers:
 florenz, no! Feist over the sublime Pet Shop Boys? Really? What have I done to deserve this?
 
Posted 05/04/2007 - 05:19:37 AM by florenz6:
 Yes, Ian, Feist over the not-really-so-sublime Pet Shop Boys. I don´t know what you´ve done to deserve this:)
 
Posted 05/04/2007 - 01:25:43 PM by mpatton:
 three of the first five songs are good, the rest blends into the woodwork. What needs to be done is some sort of compilation of all of 'the women of Broken Social Scene' - between Stars, the chick from Stars, Metric's two albums, Feist's two albums and Haines' solo, you can make one good album. Unfortunately, I bought them all.
 
Posted 05/07/2007 - 06:05:00 PM by remission_:
 florenz: Jessica Bailiffs self titled album and Bohren & Der Club of Gore's "Sunset Mission" are two of my all time favorite albums. Two albums so subtle that most people would have a hard time appreciating it on any level but as background music to relax or fall asleep to. That being said, i could probably like Feist if i really felt like trying, but for whatever reason she just lacks a certain appeal to me. I'm not saying she sucks, i just cant get into her music. I dont really know what else i can say. On a side note, i do agree with you that Bjorks new album is awesome. The first comment i left there was because i foresaw pointless bickering and sarcastic attacks rather than discussion about the albums strong/weak points.
 
Posted 05/08/2007 - 01:25:58 AM by florenz6:
 Re:remission I know these two albums, Bohren & the Club of Gore are coming from Germany, I like their music also very much. Along with the "Kammerflimmer Kollektief", they belong to best of the country (if you want to try, check out "Absencen" and "Jinx" on Staubgold Rec.) they belong to the best of the German music scene. And Jessica Bailiff´s debut: is it that one on "Kranky records"? Sublime stuff! And, by the way, i´m not a huge fan of the Feist album, I just like the warm feel of the songs, certain pieces, and I just prefer "The Reminder" to the other mentioned works when being (seldom enough) at Starbuck´s. In Dortmund, we have some better cappuccino at other shops:)
 
Posted 05/21/2007 - 08:27:05 PM by barbarian:
 A few nice tunes and a few tunes zzzzzzzzzzzz. Probably deserves a better grade than anything by CocoRosie though. Feist is a likable enough alt folk pop icon, so I give it the whereabouts of a B. I added a select few tracks to my randomized playlist.
 
Posted 07/26/2007 - 02:55:48 AM by yarn24:
 What does that mean, "revolutionary?" Was the A- this web site gave to Fall Out Boy's new album because it was "revolutionary?" Does an album have to be completely new-sounding in order to get a good grade from you? Unbelievably stupid review. If it sounds good, it's just good and deserves better than a C+, in spite of not being "revolutionary" (again, whatever the fuck that means).