On Monday (September 20), the Newsroom Blog took a look at Liz Phair's underrated second album. Today, we celebrate another esoteric indie singer-songwriter with deeply personal lyrics and who regularly battles stage fright. On this day in 1998, Cat Power released Moon Pix, which, while not quite as aggro as Phair's Exile in Guyville or Sleater-Kinney's Dig Me Out, still stands as a vital entry in the universe of female-based indie rock.
Cat Power (real name Chan Marshall, pronounced "Sean") grew up in the south and received an early exposure to blues music via her session pianist father. After dropping out of high school, she started gigging and further developing her version of minimalist blues buzz. She moved to New York and hooked up with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, who encouraged her to record her early material and also served as her drummer and producer. (Ironically, Shelley first spotted Marshall while opening for Phair.) Her first three albums — 1995's Dear Sir and 1996's Myra Lee and What Would the Community Think — are all sparse, haunting meditations on relationships. But Moon Pix was the album that began her transition from kooky minimalist to a more adventurous persona. That transition would complete itself with 2000's The Covers Record, but Moon Pix shows all the nods toward a groovier, more soulful sound.
The key track on Moon Pix is "Cross Bones Style," a gorgeous little blues shuffle that really shows off Marshall's unusual vocal talents. The video is even better, as it is an homage to (no kidding) Madonna's "Lucky Star."
