Feist LIVE

Compared to last week's Bat For Lashes pre-concert fun, this week was relatively dull, unless you count my mate Alan pulling some bird in the Oxford and the domestic squabble we witnessed in the Pizza place.

Luckily we turned up to the venue around about 9 o'clock. Luckily I say because Feist was due on at quarter past. The venue was apparently sold out (although I've been in Academy 3 when it's seemed busier) and, the few trendy bores aside who just wouldn't stop talking, most were ready for a great night.

And a great night it was too. Occasionally, and this is not necessarily a criticism, Feist can come across as a bit of a "Jazz-Lite" proposition on record but that is most certainly not the case in the live arena. The girl can rock out with the best of them.

It does create a slightly jarring effect on stage, as does the tendency to lump the more up-tempo numbers together at various points in the evening but there is no doubt that Leslie Feist it quite the talent. She's disarmingly funny as well.

The highlights of the evening include stunning versions of 1,2,3,4, My Moon My Man and a rollicking version of Sealion. She also managed to "out Tunstall" KT Tunstall at stages of the evening, using a loop to create waves upon waves of sublime harmonies.

All in all a great night with a great talent. And if her tendency to cross genre's sometimes makes for a slightly uneven evening, in the end it's just proof of how talented she really is.

The Reminder - Feist

My Moon My Man was probably the most commercial thing Feist has ever put on record. Yes there were certain cuts from Let It Die that wouldn't sound out of place on the radio, but never has Leslie Feist come up with a shinier, happier simple pop song.

And by listening to 1234, another track on the delightful new album The Reminder, you could be fooled into thinking that Feist has "sold out" for commercial gain. It's not to say that either song is bad, in fact it's far from it. Both are so good that it's difficult to align it with the more "out-there" aspects of her oeuvre. But fear not, The Reminder shows Feist in all her genre-hopping glory.

So the jazzy, Norah Jones-esque So Sorry can sit snugly with the piano driven The Limit To Your Love which can conversely sit quite happily alongside Brandy Alexander with it's finger-clicking "drum" beat. Indeed on the latter when she sings "I’d like to be the girl for him, and cross the sea and land for him" most men listening will no doubt think they'd be quite glad if they were the man for her.

Granted with such an eclectic range of styles not everything works, and I can well imagine different listeners picking out different individual highlights. But in a way that just goes to show you what an album this is. It's not perfect, but it's never less than captivating. Even on the times you're thinking "she's not got that right" Leslie Feist is such a talent that you can usually see/hear why she tried. I'd recommend this wholeheartedly.