The Reminder

Feist | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 1, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cherry Tree
• ASIN: B000NPE7YC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,818 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #3 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Lo-Fi
  • #6 in Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > Electronica
  • #7 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Electronic Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Feist is the solo project of Canada's Leslie Feist, a prolific artist who has also played in one capacity or another with Broken Social Scene, Kings of Convenience and half a dozen other bands. The Reminder, her third release, comes from the same well of quiet, appealing songwriting, and delicate vocalizations that made 2004's Let It Die such a sweet treat. This one is a bit more hushed and ballad heavy, closer to Cat Power than Peaches (with whom Feist has also worked with in the past) but maintains an indie-minded blend of confessional pop, jazzy folk, and lo-fi torch songs. The comparatively upbeat single "My Moon My Man" splits her voice off into unexpected harmonies, just dissonant enough to stick in your head. It's hard to predict where her melodies are going to end up; "Brandy Alexander" starts with a simple snap-pulse, and gradually unfolds into a cathartic chorus of sweeping vocal overlays. Throughout, the record profits from a simple, unfussy aesthetic that keeps the production minimal and the emphasis squarely on Feist's cracking, wistful vibrato. Everything sounds deliberate, but not obsessed over, like an e-mailed wedding invitation. It's a low-pressure vibe, welcoming and content to linger. And linger you will. --Matthew Cooke

Product Description

UK pressing of the 2007 album includes one bonus track: 'Honey Honey' (recorded live at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall). Reminder was written and conceptualised during 33 months of touring and was recorded in just two weeks in a 200-year-old manor house on the outskirts of Paris with players including Gonzales, Jamie Lidell, Mocky and Erik Glambek Boe [Kings Of Convenience], and includes 'My Moon My Man', with it's sucker-punch melody tumbling over hard-soul piano chords, and live favourite 'Sea Lion Woman'. Universal. 2007.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leslie comes into her own as a songwriter, June 13, 2007

By 

Eric J. Anderson (Ankeny, Iowa) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Reminder (Audio CD)

The new album "The Reminder" by Canadian gal Leslie Feist is receiving mixed critical reviews, but some are calling it the best pop music album so far this year. I ordered it, and my take on it is also mixed, in this sense: Feist is a great songwriter, and this album is exhibit one. Not all of the songs are great, but many of them achieve greatness. Feist's previous album also contained great songs (and some less compelling material), but only about half of them were Feist originals. Here, almost everything is Feist-penned.

Remember the "1234" Busby Berkely-inspired video of Feist from Youtube, that people seemed to enjoy so much? If you haven't seen it, check it out -- it is pure joy wrapped in a 3 minute package. That song is also a minor musical masterpiece, with guitar, banjo, a chorus of voices, quiet bits, loud joyful bits -- put together in a way that things are always changing enough to keep the ear from being bored at any time.

When I think of the Beatles work, or XTC, or James Taylor, Sting, Paul Simon, I think of music that is put together in a very entertaining and craftsmanlike way. A primitive like Bob Dylan (don't get me wrong, I love a lot of what Bob has done, but it is musically primitive) will take a simple three chord verse, then repeat it over and over with different lyrics. The greatest songwriters make music that builds, crescendos, then rolls back, with themes and variations, and little musical bridges (or "middle eights," as the Beatles used to call them). Feist is writing music like that, at least some of the time.

Oh, there are a few quieter numbers that almost approach dirges. I'm not much fond of those. Much of their fault lies in the underproduction -- one of them sounds as if it was recorded in Feist's garden, with her simply strumming her guitar and singing (later joined briefly by brass instruments and perhaps saxophone, but not much else). More complexity and attention to detail in the arrangements could have brought much more out of those quiet songs.

I'm not a great analyser of lyrics. Here they are vague enough to be universal. To me they don't always make sense, but that doesn't bother me. "goo goo ga joob" Does that make any sense? No. It doesn't mean it isn't a great lyric. The main thing is that Feist's lyrics are not embarrassing -- they don't take away from the music. And some of her wordplay and vocal phrasing is quite clever.

So my final rating is
Songwriting: 4.5 out of 5
Production: varies from 3 to 5 out of 5, depending on the track.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Canadian indie rock goddess, September 25, 2007

By 

Paul Hainsworth (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Reminder (MP3 Download)

As a Canadian living in the US, I'm always trying to convince people of why Canadian indie rock is so great. Not a tough sell with Feist's The Reminder, featuring the artist in top form. Both this album and her first album, Let It Die, demonstrate Feist's ability to effortlessly sound like anything she wants to, whether it's 70s disco or folksy pop song. Regardless, she infuses all her music with a sounds that's uniquely Feist-y and difficult to pin down.

PS: First review of this album on Amazon! Woot!

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I had no idea how great it'd be!, May 31, 2007

By 

Jerry Durham "vulturadecultura" (TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Reminder (Audio CD)

Admittedly, I have become a sucker for CDs under $12. I had heard one song from this album on "Grey's Anatomy" and then saw the CD for $10. This is one of the best CD purchases I have made in the last year, and keep in mind that I purchase about 50 CDs a year. It is perfect in composition and I have yet to find a song that I skip over. Instead, I have about 5 songs that I find myself going back to over and over! Do yourself a favor and invest in this CD.