Cat Power

Like it or not, Chan Marshall's career performing as Cat Power has split into two distinct eras. There's the Chan Marshall of yore, the idiosyncratic, mid-'90s singer-songwriter infamous for her train-wreck shows that often ended in tears. Then there's her latest incarnation, a newly sober (and stable) singer who makes soul records in Memphis with swelling orchestras. You rarely get the best of both worlds -- damaged indie rocker and smoky chanteuse -- in a single performance, but Sunday night at Avalon was an exception.

I wanted to believe in Lana Del Rey. When I came across "Video Games" last summer, it was just a song making the rounds on music blogs. Nobody knew much about the singer or her past. It was better that way. From the moment I watched the ballad's homemade video, I vowed right then that I would follow that voice down a dark alley and relish whatever horrible fate awaited me. I was smitten with a singer who nailed something I had always felt: "They say that the world was built for two / Only worth living if somebody / Is loving you. " Del Rey delivered a...

What becomes a legend most? In indie rock it's the girl with the most complications: the maladjusted honey-throated waif who can't get through a song, let alone a show, without veering to the edge of sanity. The regular-people rules don't apply to such fragile, fertile souls as Chan Marshall, who has recorded seven albums as Cat Power. Her set on Wednesday for a near-full house at the Berklee Performance Center was riveting, as much for the artist's thrillingly loose grasp of performance etiquette as her beautiful music.

Q. You co-wrote four songs on this new album. Does songwriting come naturally to you these days? A. It’s been a hard few years. I was quite ill for a while, then I got writer’s block, and out of bad things come some great things. I was going through such a hard time personally, and I couldn’t write; I never can in the middle of it all. So I made that beautiful record of covers — I hate the word “covers,’’ but anyway — called “Easy Come, Easy Go’’ [from 2008]

I wanted to believe in Lana Del Rey. When I came across "Video Games" last summer, it was just a song making the rounds on music blogs. Nobody knew much about the singer or her past. It was better that way. From the moment I watched the ballad's homemade video, I vowed right then that I would follow that voice down a dark alley and relish whatever horrible fate awaited me. I was smitten with a singer who nailed something I had always felt: "They say that the world was built for two / Only worth living if somebody / Is loving you. " Del Rey delivered a...

World Rhythms del Mundo Classics Decca ESSENTIAL “Satisfaction’’ This charity disc for climate change has the superb Cuban music ensemble Rhythms del Mundo covering some great pop songs by either recording new tracks with the likes of KT Tunstall, the Killers, and OneRepublic or adding fresh musical interpretations under previously recorded vocals from Jack Johnson, Cat Power, the Rolling Stones, and Fall...

All this hype comparing Cat Power's latest album, "The Greatest," to Dusty Springfield's "Dusty in Memphis," is, well, right on the mark. "The Greatest," out today on Matador, very well could be an update on Springfield's 1969 masterpiece, which took England's ambassador of soul to the very source of the music: Memphis. Chan Marshall, who records under the name Cat Power, has done the same thing here, though she lays more claim to Southern music than Springfield did. Marshall was born in Atlanta and her father was a blues musician.

We Brave Bee Stings and All (Kill Rock Stars) Thao Nguyen has a great voice: a smoky and warm alto that is alternately pure and scratchy, sounding a bit like an earthier Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power). In fact, Nguyen's laid-back warble and consistently surprising delivery are the main charms of "We Brave Bee Stings and All," her second full-length album. Some moments are especially catchy, like the plucky banjo of "Swimming Pools" and the acoustic, guitar-driven military stomp of "Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)

Folk Sharon Van Etten Because I Was In Love Language of Stone ESSENTIAL "Tornado" On her heartbreaking debut, Sharon Van Etten makes a strong case that sometimes the quietest storm is the most devastating of all. "Because I Was in Love" introduces the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter as a lonely heart who stays up into the wee hours obsessing over what went wrong, a bottle of red slowly going down. Van Etten accompanies herself mostly on acoustic guitar, with the occasional electric and organ adding to the late-night aesthetic,...

If, as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then this month at least, indie-rock stars are heaping praise on their idols by covering their songs on two new charity albums. The releases - "War Child Presents Heroes" and "Dark Was the Night" - turn up the star wattage, with mixed results. WAR CHILD PRESENTS HEROES (Astralwerks) Recording a cover version of another artist's song is much like adapting a novel for the big screen: The chances of success are in exact inverse proportion, generally speaking, to the quality of the original.

World Rhythms del Mundo Classics Decca ESSENTIAL “Satisfaction’’ This charity disc for climate change has the superb Cuban music ensemble Rhythms del Mundo covering some great pop songs by either recording new tracks with the likes of KT Tunstall, the Killers, and OneRepublic or adding fresh musical interpretations under previously recorded vocals from Jack Johnson, Cat Power, the Rolling Stones, and Fall...

Folk Sharon Van Etten Because I Was In Love Language of Stone ESSENTIAL "Tornado" On her heartbreaking debut, Sharon Van Etten makes a strong case that sometimes the quietest storm is the most devastating of all. "Because I Was in Love" introduces the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter as a lonely heart who stays up into the wee hours obsessing over what went wrong, a bottle of red slowly going down. Van Etten accompanies herself mostly on acoustic guitar, with the occasional electric and organ adding to the late-night aesthetic, and she submerges her unvarnished voice...

If, as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then this month at least, indie-rock stars are heaping praise on their idols by covering their songs on two new charity albums. The releases - "War Child Presents Heroes" and "Dark Was the Night" - turn up the star wattage, with mixed results. WAR CHILD PRESENTS HEROES (Astralwerks) Recording a cover version of another artist's song is much like adapting a novel for the big screen: The chances of success are in exact inverse proportion, generally speaking, to the quality of the original.

There's safety in covers. Imagine the appeal, for a fragile, unsettled soul, of losing yourself in someone else's blues, delving into a stranger's dramas, and not having to dredge up any of your own. Chan Marshall, who performs as Cat Power, has turned often and with great success to other people's music. A fine songwriter in her own right, she's just released "Jukebox," her second full-length collection of (mostly) covers. It's a gripping portrait of the artist as a bold interpreter.

There's safety in covers. Imagine the appeal, for a fragile, unsettled soul, of losing yourself in someone else's blues, delving into a stranger's dramas, and not having to dredge up any of your own. Chan Marshall, who performs as Cat Power, has turned often and with great success to other people's music. A fine songwriter in her own right, she's just released "Jukebox," her second full-length collection of (mostly) covers. It's a gripping portrait of the artist as a bold interpreter.

We Brave Bee Stings and All (Kill Rock Stars) Thao Nguyen has a great voice: a smoky and warm alto that is alternately pure and scratchy, sounding a bit like an earthier Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power). In fact, Nguyen's laid-back warble and consistently surprising delivery are the main charms of "We Brave Bee Stings and All," her second full-length album. Some moments are especially catchy, like the plucky banjo of "Swimming Pools" and the acoustic, guitar-driven military stomp of "Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)

There's safety in covers. Imagine the appeal, for a fragile, unsettled soul, of losing yourself in someone else's blues, delving into a stranger's dramas, and not having to dredge up any of your own. Chan Marshall, who performs as Cat Power, has turned often and with great success to other people's music. A fine songwriter in her own right, she's just released "Jukebox," her second full-length collection of (mostly) covers. It's a gripping portrait of the artist as a bold interpreter.

There's safety in covers. Imagine the appeal, for a fragile, unsettled soul, of losing yourself in someone else's blues, delving into a stranger's dramas, and not having to dredge up any of your own. Chan Marshall, who performs as Cat Power, has turned often and with great success to other people's music. A fine songwriter in her own right, she's just released "Jukebox," her second full-length collection of (mostly) covers. It's a gripping portrait of the artist as a bold interpreter.

Cover versions, whether transcendent or terrible, are a bit like home remodeling in that they generally employ three approaches: redecoration, renovation, and complete demolition. Chan Marshall utilizes all three modes on "Jukebox," her new Cat Power album out today, and ends up with a record that has both immense curb appeal and inviting interior warmth. A sequel of sorts to "The Covers Record" from 2000, "Jukebox" tackles houses built by some estimable songwriters, including Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, and Marshall herself (a stripped-down rendition of "Metal Heart")

Like it or not, Chan Marshall's career performing as Cat Power has split into two distinct eras. There's the Chan Marshall of yore, the idiosyncratic, mid-'90s singer-songwriter infamous for her train-wreck shows that often ended in tears. Then there's her latest incarnation, a newly sober (and stable) singer who makes soul records in Memphis with swelling orchestras. You rarely get the best of both worlds -- damaged indie rocker and smoky chanteuse -- in a single performance, but Sunday night at Avalon was an exception.