The Cat Empire Bonus DVD

Tue 22nd Nov, 2005 in Music Reviews

The honourable Cat Empire have been kind enough to throw in a DVD with their latest release Two Shoes. This nice little bonus gives an interesting insight into the band, their musical process and a taste of the finished product – both live on stage and in music clips.

The documentary Estudio 101 follows the band as they record their album Two Shoes in Havana, Cuba. The boys of The Empire were fortunate enough to have the use of the studio made famous by the Buena Vista Social Club. Despite the drawbacks of the rundown old building (complete with creaking floorboards, intermittent electricity, recording to tape), the whole band raves about the warm sound of the room and the excitement of laying down tracks in a studio steeped in musical history and myth. The doco also serves as a rather candid introduction to the members of The Cat Empire and the contrasting styles of the frontmen, Felix and Harry.

In Live From The Forum, the first track performed is Lullaby, a brass-fuelled serving of lazy hip-hop, featuring The Cat Empire trademark of extended mid-song jams and kooky synchronised dancing. The crowd is hyped, singing along with the laid-back flat cap, Felix, who croons away in his faux-foreign accent, shuffle-stepping his little jig across the boards. Harry steps up to the plate with The Car Song, a rambling funk tune delivered with his spitfire Asian Dub Foundation style lyrics. The on-stage jam weaves in and out of solo-territory, treating the punters to some of the individual talents that make up The Empire.

The division of style between Felix and Harry even extends to the music clips made for their songs. Felix’s Sly is fast-paced dancehall, set in an old train carriage, using the techniques of hand-held camera, overexposure and images falling in and out of focus to create a retro look for the clip. For all you kids who wanna pick up The Cat Empire dance steps, there is a sequence towards the end that features the band and a handful of pretty girls knocking out the moves. Two Shoes is also a classically styled clip, shot in black and white and featuring scenes depicting a depression-era boxing match over the mariachi backbeat. Harry’s The Car Song is a light-hearted look at the artist’s struggle between corporate cred and artistic expression as seen in the Live At The Forum performance. It features the members of the band playing basketball in a school gym, decked out in old-school Cat Empire logo uniforms.

The unique Australian sound of the Cat Empire, flavoured with Felix’s sense of romance and soul and Harry’s infectious love of life creates a vibrant house-party vibe, one that has developed a wide and loyal following among their many fans. Here’s hoping The Cat Empire keep delivering their delightfully schizophrenic goods for years to come.