I think her next album will be even greater than The Greatest… She has gained confidence as a musical artist and vocalist/front woman… I look forward to seeing Chan Marshall aka Cat Power grow even more musically!!!

Oooh, I can hear the minimalist trance remix already…

I love the set of this TV show — it seems to come straight out of 2001.

Watching this video (and a few other of her recent performances), it’s hard to ignore how happy and grounded Chan seems, now that she has conquered her demons.

Of course, people often argue that an artist’s best work will come out of periods of personal turmoil, rather than periods of personal satisfaction. Others might argue that “demons” are never truly conquered — only squelched for a little while.

But I’m encouraged by Chan’s mention, in the NYT article, that she has already written her next album (and that she is going to do a second covers album!). It really seems to me that she has found herself, and her voice.

She seems to be flowering, blossoming, right now. And that, like Chan herself, is beautiful to watch.

other little delights of this video:

beginning: “avec la creme des musicians de Memphis, Tennessee”

1:52: French guy takes time out to smell the flowers . . . and then, at the end of the performance, to hand them to Chan

3: Chan’s smile, directed toward the piano player

3: 15: Chan playing the air piano

La chanson est très belle. C’est un bruit parfait pour l’hiver.

Glad to see you’re blogging again Matt.

I first encountered Chan Marshall in around 1995 or so, opening for someone (maybe Magnetic Fields?) at the Old Club at Swarthmore…I didn’t get Cat Power at the time. Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth was playing drums and I guess he got it…but whatever she may have been doing on record at the time, her live show didn’t hint to me at what she’d become. A few years after that I heard “Nude as the News” which blew me away, and she just keeps getting better since then.

Plus, not many people can pull off wearing a hat (looking at you, Britney), and Chan does it with complete aplomb here.

Oh. I thought this was going to be about the rise of French cat supremacists.

I cannot wait to experience more of her musical genious :-)