Moon Pix [VINYL]

Cat Power

Singer Chan Marshall takes intimacy to a new level with the eerily lovely song cycle of Moon Pix. The narrative revolves around a nightmare figure who beckons towards a location that sounds rather like hell. The starkness of this ghost story is mirrored in the austerity of the atmospheric music. Joined by Jim White and Mick Turner of the Australian slow-rock band the Dirty Three, Marshall uses spare guitar, flute and piano arrangements to create the sounds of the last singer left on a post-apocalyptic landscape. As Marshall sings in "Say", "If you're looking for something easy, you might as well give it up". That lyric is the best description of this difficult and brilliant album. --Lois Maffeo