Crooked Saints v. Feist

Ok peoples, sorry for the delay. I could use a bunch of lame excuses about my gangrenous guts, and moving into a new apartment, and no internet at home and stuff but I won't. OK, here is what you've all been waiting for:

Crooked Saints "Beatrice"
vs.
Feist "The Reminder"



Crooked Saints are an up and coming band from the Grand Rapids area that to currently be on a hiatus. Their one full length album so far is called "Beatrice" and it is a very cohesive album that has a nice flow from beginning to end. The record begins on a nice and spooky tone with the quiet droning of strings leading into a meditative bluesy track "I am the Lion's Lamb." The energy grows over the next two tracks highlighted by the wicked guitar work on "Dark Charade" which builds to the brief and excellent Velvet Undergroundish freak-out at the end.
The following tracks are a good mix of quiet and loud, tension and release, and plenty of what might be the combo's strongest suit: the group vocals. Whether it is the calm and understated "I Am: Yer Life," or the big choruses like "Finding Station" the gang vocals act as a great unifying element throughout the album (the lead guitar kills on that song as well).
Another of this band's strong suit is the frequent use of the "vocal riff," a wordless yodeling type of singing that the band uses in places where others would normally employ instruments. Given the the relatively low recording budget that the band was working with, it is a great sounding record, including a very nice drum sound (played by Chris N. best known for his work in the 90's underground sensation Baxter).

A tough competitor for this record is found in Feist's "the Reminder" I thought to myself.......or is it? I own this record(....or at least I have it on our Ipod, I can't be sure how it got there...) and I have listened to it often...so I must like it. The Remainder seems to in the music collection of just about every music loving friend that I have, all the way to Jeff "up the punx"Bolt. It seems that it must be a pretty phenomenal album for its appeal to be so far flung. But as I gave it another spin I wasn't sure what there was to be excited about. The album has a pretty mellow vibe as a whole with a few exceptions. While I like a lot of "mellow" music, I normally enjoy stuff that has an underlying intensity just below the surface, like a Low or Cat Power or something. But much of this record seems simply "laid-back" and not too interesting to me.

In my book, her strong suit is upbeat songs as exemplefied in "I Feel it All" and "1234" (ok I know she like a total sellout for using it in an Apple ad, but that song rules). She should make a whole album of these kind of tunes.

Entonces.....the big winner is: Crooked Saints.

Now if they could write a tune to sell iPods they'd really take off.

No offense to the Baird Brothers. I love you guys and you rule in all ways musically and otherwise.