In Praise of Feist

In answer to a query posed by ahab in the comment section of my year-end music post, I have Monarch, Let it Die, The Reminder, and Metals. I also have both records she recorded with Broken Social Scene--You Forgot it in People and the self-titled one. In fact, BSS was my first exposure to her, both recorded and live--and it's in the live setting that Feist absolutely shines. I saw Broken Social Scene at First Avenue back in 2005(?) and could not take my eyes off the woman. She is a star of the highest magnitude, yet without a trace of divahood. Just an abundance of talent and charm. I later saw her as a solo artist (with Jason Collett & friends) at the Fine Line a year or so later. Again, she was nothing short of fantastic.

And so to further clarify, sir, while I like her records just fine--and I think Metals is her high-water mark to date, the Feist that I most often listen to are a couple of great live sets that I found via the interwebs. The first--Les Black Sessions, taken from a 2004 French Radio broadcast of the same name, is a loose and warm affair that suggests she has a future as a jazz singer. It features wonderful accompaniment from a sympathetic combo, as well as her always charming between song banter. The second--Live at Park West Chicago, is a slightly more rockin' affair from 2006. It's equally sublime. If you need proof, click on the link below. You shan't be sorry.
Live at Park West and Les Black Sessions