The Reminder

Feist | Format: MP3 Music

Product Details

• Original Release Date: May 1, 2007
• Release Date: May 1, 2007
• Label: Interscope
• Copyright: (C) 2007 Polydor (France)
• Record Company Required Metadata: Music file metadata contains unique purchase identifier. Learn more.
• Total Length: 49:56
• Genres:
  • Alternative Rock
• ASIN: B000V9D0XY
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (178 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #413 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)
  • #77 in MP3 Downloads > MP3 Albums > Alternative Rock

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 69 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

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

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. Read more ›

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

Format:MP3 Music

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

Format: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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly Enchanting, My Favorite Album of 2007 September 30, 2007

By David Macdonald Carlson

Format:Audio CD

I heard Feist's first album "Let It Die" just a few months before "The Reminder" came out. Let It Die was a masterpiece that established Feist as a legitimate and talented artist outside of her work with Broken Social Scene. The Reminder is a further step in that direction, and in my opinion, one of the best albums of 2007. Artfully crafted with a wide variety of instruments and musical arrangements, this album covers a vast array of topics such as childhood innocence, the fleeting feelings of love and loss, and modern womanhood. The tracks are all delivered with Feist's wistful, honeylike voice and pleasant, catchy musical arrangements that are truly unique among modern indie songstresses.

Feist currently occupies a musical domain that is entirely her own. She was a major member of the Canadian independent music collective Broken Social Scene, and has lived in France for the past several years. Formerly a punk singer in her teenage years, and now a Candian-French indie rock chanteuse. There's no perfect way to describe Feist; her unique style is best understood by listening to her albums. This has been one of the top sellers on Amazon for several months now. In ten years, I am certain that this will be considered one of the most relevant albums of this time period. Feist is changing the way people think about pop music. One of the top tags for this product is Bjork, and Feist has that same pioneering spirit, although she expresses it in a form much more accessible to listeners. Just buy this album - it'll be ten dollars well spent.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Feist's 'The Reminder' Is An Instant Classic May 11, 2007

By Gregory Lyle-Newton

Format:Audio CD

Feist's latest collection of songs, 'The Reminder,' makes a gorgeous contribution to 2007's currently lackluster soundscape and proves a worthy sophomore successor to her stunning 2004 breakthrough, 'Let It Die.' Gifted with (and, I suspect, slyly aware of possessing) one of the most expressive voices in pop music today, occasionally evoking traces of Billie Holiday, Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell, Maria Muldaur and even Melanie at her delicate, playful best, Feist is blessed with an exquisite knack for unpredictable melodies and smart hooks, the ability to turn a clever phrase and an irresistably sexy persona blending the insouciant pout of Julie Christie with the formidably confident appeal of Chrissie Hynde, all captured in a package of impeccable arrangements and thoughtful production.

Although the album art suggests an early post-modern romantic minimalism and the mix includes more primitive electronic noodling snaking through the tracks, this collection, unlike her previous work, feels less like a perfect, forgotten pop-soul artifact from 1980, with fresher textures and more ambitious stabs at different styles than those featured on 'Let It Die.' There is a stronger, more aggressive verve to the songs that attempt to rock, such as "I Feel It All" (all breathless, driving passion and ringing fills)," "Past In Present" (tweaking both vintage guitar rock and girl-group influences to best Sheryl Crow at her own derivative game) and even reviving the traditional Nina Simone vehicle, "Sea Lion Woman" (here featuring a catchy, early new-wave vibe and stellar siren guitar wail at the breaks).... For ballad lovers, there's yet another parcel of original tender heartbreakers, including "The Park" and "This Is How My Heart Behaves," plus a handful of brilliant potential chart singles, such as the simple but sizzling "My Moon, My Man," the tremulous, beautifully arranged "Limit To Your Love," and "1-2-3-4," essentially a joyful, Burt Bacharach-styled campfire sing-along for nostalgic adults. (Don't miss the charming video on YouTube.)

If there are any modest failings to the album, it's perhaps that one or two of her more precious efforts, although lovely, feel almost contextually unnecessary and the song sequencing occasionally delivers tunes with common arrangement motifs that begin to suggest just a touch of redundancy, but there are more than enough diverse, instantly memorable classics to make 'The Reminder' a must for any collection. In this plastic era of disposable personalities passing as music idols, likely among the least talented, most prefabricated crop popular music has seen since just prior to the Beatles, Feist is proving a viable threat to the current establishment. More power to her, I say. Read more ›