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Leslie Feist’s third proper album under the recording name of Feist, The Reminder, is a perfectly produced, celebratory festival of Leslie’s vocal command and restraint. The 13 songs range from pop to folk and country to rock, with each song seeming to take its instrumental cues from Feist’s vocal delivery. While each song seems like it was written vocal melody first, that is not to imply that The Reminder is an album of vocal exercises, for within, the listener will find songs destined to be stuck in your head, songs requiring attention to detail, songs of soft sounds...but most importantly, you will find good songs.

Leslie’s songs and voice shine on The Reminder, but it is the production that takes this from being just another female singer/songwriter album to a plateau of greatness that could birth a magnificent career.

The production of The Reminder, done mainly by Gonzales, is a clinic on how effective under-production can be. The simple addition of keys in “I Feel It All” bring the song out of its acoustic rock beginning into a fully realized light rock song, and damn if it’s not catchy. “My Moon My Man” is the closest Feist comes to straight-ahead pop, but again the song manages to sound full based off the strength of Leslie’s voice and the (not overdone) use of keys over a backing of guitar, bass, and drums. “The Park” shows off the use of a brass section for chord changes, not seen often enough in modern music (think slow Tom Waits songs), and is backlit by the sounds you would actually hear in a park: water, birds, chatter.

The only problem I have with this album is on the tracks “Sea Lion Woman” and “Honey Honey,” which feature a backing of vocal tracks for part of the instrumentation. On an album already so dominated by the strength of Leslie’s voice, I can’t help but feel that adding vocals into a song as an instrument is just a little too much.

I really can’t say enough about how good songs like “Past in Present,” “1,2,3,4” and “I Feel It All” are, not just in the clarity of production, but in the simple genuine beauty that these songs possess. The Reminder has something for everyone, and no matter what mood you are in, there is a part of this album destined to put a smile on your face.



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    Posted by RondoMondo on 2007-11-10 18:03:54
    My Score:

    "My Moon My Man' is definitely in my top ten of best songs of the year.
    This cd is pretty amazing.

    Posted by christian on 2007-11-10 17:47:18

    I bought this for my girlfriend. She loves it, and I love the fact that she loves it.

    Posted by Scruffy on 2007-11-10 14:35:07

    Don't worry, guy below me. I was going to post something negative, but I didn't want to come off all "OMG NOT PUNX!!1!!".

    Posted by screwy101 on 2007-11-10 12:13:02

    i'm the only one who finds her possibly the most boring artist out there?

    Posted by 24HourPriapism on 2007-11-09 00:22:07
    My Score:

    "Tout Doucement" off Let It Die made me happy in a way that only the cutest lolcat pix could make me.

    i'll admit that the last album was a little samey. a lot of it reminded me of like......70's "AM Gold" sounding pop. but this was great though. love the step up in production. even though 1-2-3-4 won't stop playing ever.

    Posted by Archangel on 2007-11-08 20:33:44
    My Score:

    Saw her last night. It was awesome.

    Posted by homie on 2007-11-08 16:17:18

    Let It Die was a great album, but less complex and easier to digest. One of my favourites, but the remix album, Open Season, was uneven. Too many remixes of the same song (Mushaboom) and the non-Let It Die tracks were weak.

    I saw her in Edmonton a couple years ago and she killed. The highlight was just her and a guitar in the middle of the set. She did some live sampling of her guitar sound...don't know the technical term.

    At one time she was in Calgary punk band called Placebo that toured a fair bit with the Smalls - one of Canada's most poular indie bands of the early '90s.

    Posted by AlmostPunkEnough on 2007-11-08 03:42:32

    what is this? musicmybrotherlikes.org?? amirite??

    on a more serious note, i definitley understand why everyone digs this shit, it's just ot for me.

    Posted by StormShadow on 2007-11-07 12:33:21

    I bought this one solely to support the video for "1234." Holy crap I love that video. I watched it just about once every day throughout September and October. As it turns out, the rest of the album is pretty good, too.

    Posted by Holy_Balls on 2007-11-07 03:24:01

    vh1! vh1! vh1! vh1! vh1! vh1! vh1! vh1! vh1! vh1! vh1!

    Posted by JonDaley on 2007-11-06 22:15:26

    I enjoy your reviews speaky Sean

    Posted by KurtTGS on 2007-11-06 20:27:22

    Her old stuff is really boring background funk/disco music. It's terrible.

    Mushaboom is a good song though.

    Overated.

    Posted by Archangel on 2007-11-06 19:47:00

    "Also, Kevin Drew probably hates her for not touring with him."

    Actually, Kevin Drew pulled a huge crowd when he played the Moore in Seattle a couple weeks ago in support of his new "solo" album.

    Anyway, I'm super excited to see Feist tomorrow night.

    Posted by Thus_Spoke_Sean on 2007-11-06 17:38:09

    Have you seen her live? She sings into her mic and has a little looping machine so she can do those cool backing vocals and textures herself. Its really cool.

    As for her older stuff, Let It Die is pretty good, though a little mish-mash, since half of the thing is filled with covers. I almost prefer the remix album.

    No I have never seen her live, and that all sounds like it would be awesome live. Like, really awesome.

    On the album though, for me....i just thought it was a bit much. I do like those songs, especially the guitar work in Sea Lion Woman, but they are definitely the parts of a great album that i like least.

    Posted by kirbypuckett on 2007-11-06 17:30:37
    My Score:

    Potential album of the year.

    Fantastic live show as well!

    - Kirby

    Posted by Cos on 2007-11-06 16:43:38

    Also, "Open Season" --the "remix" album, has the slow version of "Inside and Out", which is fucking awesome.

    Posted by brangelina on 2007-11-06 16:09:17
    My Score:

    Yeah, I really liked Let It Die but this album is just excellent front to back. Her music videos are seriously the best too.

    Posted by douglas_is_rad on 2007-11-06 15:44:45
    My Score:

    I'm seeing her at the Ryman Auditorium in two weeks. Supposedly it has the 2nd best acoustics in the world. Needless to say, I am stoked.

    Posted by Cos on 2007-11-06 15:31:06

    "The only problem I have with this album is on the tracks “Sea Lion Woman” and “Honey Honey,” which feature a backing of vocal tracks for part of the instrumentation. On an album already so dominated by the strength of Leslie’s voice, I can’t help but feel that adding vocals into a song as an instrument is just a little too much.

    Have you seen her live? She sings into her mic and has a little looping machine so she can do those cool backing vocals and textures herself. Its really cool.

    As for her older stuff, Let It Die is pretty good, though a little mish-mash, since half of the thing is filled with covers. I almost prefer the remix album.

    Posted by sciulli on 2007-11-06 15:21:58

    I really like "Past in Present." Solid record overall.

    Posted by XCARLUPANDDIEX on 2007-11-06 13:49:46
    My Score:

    fungus

    Posted by maverick on 2007-11-06 13:00:59

    Such a great album, worthy of all the press/hype it's been garnering recently. Is her old stuff this solid, too? This record was my introduction to her.

    -Scott

    Posted by TEAiM on 2007-11-06 12:59:21

    I prefer 'Let It Die', but this is still awesome.

    Posted by shindo on 2007-11-06 12:37:41

    This gets a lot of play at our house, as the otherwise musically-apathetic fiancée has taken a real liking to it. I sort of figured that with the omnipresent iPod ad this would start to wear on us but it hasn't yet.

    -adam

    Posted by red_eye_inc on 2007-11-06 12:26:51

    My favorite thing about Leslie Feist is that she's kind of pretty if you squint and there's not much light in the room. Also, Kevin Drew probably hates her for not touring with him.

    Posted by Etienne on 2007-11-06 12:14:23
    My Score:

    I love this girl.

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