''Speaking for Trees: A Film by Mark Borthwick'' is a DVD/CD package by the American singer-songwriter

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer- songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as ...

(a.k.a. Chan Marshall), released on October 26, 2004.

Content

The DVD features footage of Cat Power singing and playing electric guitar in a forest at

West Kill Mountain West Kill Mountain, or Westkill Mountain, is located in Greene County, New York. The mountain is named after the West Kill stream which flows along its northern side, and is part of the Devil's Path range of the Catskill Mountains. To the eas ...

, New York, filmed by British photographer

Mark Borthwick Mark Borthwick is a British photographer now living in Brooklyn, New York. His photos are often minimal and crisp, yet somewhat 'blown-out' in terms of colour saturation. He has contributed to many publications, including ''Vogue'', '' George'', ...

in mostly static shots lasting for approximately one hour and 40 minutes. Marshall does not sing into a microphone, but her guitar is plugged into an offscreen

guitar amp A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which ...

. The DVD also contains three short films by Borthwick, set to the songs "Maybe Not", "Free" and "Half of You," from Cat Power's 2003 album, '' You Are Free''. The CD contains the single song "Willie Deadwilder," an 18-minute outtake from the ''You Are Free'' sessions featuring American singer-songwriter

M. Ward Matthew Stephen Ward (born October 4, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Portland, Oregon. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings; he has released ten studio albums since 1 ...

on guitar. The song was reworked as "Willie", a six-minute track on Cat Power's 2006 album, '' The Greatest''.

Reception

Stephen M. Deusner of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' described the film as "too dull...to be of much use to any but the most obsessive fans" and wrote that despite Marshall's "haunting voice and more-than-capable guitar playing," the film's true focus seemed to be "Borthwick's ingenious concept" itself. However, he praised "Willie Deadwilder" as "not just listenable but deeply intriguing," comparing it to the 1995

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of th ...

song "

The Diamond Sea ''Washing Machine'' is the ninth studio album by the American experimental rock band Sonic Youth, released on September 26, 1995 by DGC Records. It was recorded at Easley Studios in Memphis, Tennessee and produced by the band and John Siket, ...

" in that "every aspect of the track-- its lyrics, length, sense of performance-- conveys this idea: 'This is...our song/ And it will go on and on/ A moment in time traveling on/ Even if it is too long, I don't care.'"

Track listing

DVD

All tracks by Chan Marshall except where noted. #" Time Is on My Side" (

Jerry Ragovoy Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy (September 4, 1930 – July 13, 2011) was an American songwriter and record producer. His best-known composition " Time Is on My Side" (written under the pseudonym of Norman Meade) was made famous by the Rolling Stones, alt ...

as Norman Meade) #"Night Time/ Back of Your Head" (

Alex Chilton William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s ...

/ Marshall) #"Rule the Islands" #"You" #"

Knockin' on Heaven's Door "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film '' Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid''. Released as a single two months after the film's premiere, it became a worldwide hit, ...

" (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

) #"From Fur City" #"I Want" #"Dream/ Blue Moon/ Try a Little Tenderness"

James Campbell James Campbell may refer to: Academics * James Archibald Campbell (1862–1934), founder of Campbell University in North Carolina * James Marshall Campbell (1895–1977), dean of the college of arts and sciences at the Catholic University of Ameri ...

/ Reginald Connelly/

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", " Bewitched, ...

/ Marshall/

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...

/ Harry M. Woods #"You" #"From Fur City" #"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Dylan) #"Farewell My Enemy" #"Sad, Sad, Song" (

)) #"Rule the Islands" #"Evolution" #"Night Time/ Back of Your Head" (Alex Chilton/ Marshall) #"

Sophisticated Lady "Sophisticated Lady" is a jazz standard, composed as an instrumental in 1932 by Duke Ellington. Background Additional credit is given to publisher Irving Mills whose words were added to the song by Mitchell Parish. The words met with approval f ...

" (

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

Irving Mills Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 16, 1894 – April 21, 1985) was an American music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz artist promoter. He sometimes used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose. Personal Mills was ...

Mitchell Parish Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen. Biography Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 19 ...

) #"

I Don't Blame You "I Don't Blame You" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Cat Power, also known as Chan Marshall. It is the first song on her sixth album, ''You Are Free'', released in February 2003. Origin and recording "I Don't Blame You" was the last s ...

" #"Dream/ Blue Moon/ Try a Little Tenderness" (James Campbell/ Reginald Connelly/ Lorenz Hart/ Marshall/ Richard Rodgers/ Harry M. Woods) #"The Party" #"Funny Things" #"Love and Communication" #"From Fur City" #"Sad, Sad, Song" (M. Ward) #"Night Time/ Back of Your Head" (Chilton/ Marshall) #"Sophisticated Lady" (Ellington/ Mills/ Parish) #"I Want" #"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Dylan) #"Lord, Help the Poor and Needy" (

Traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

) Recorded and produced by

Trevor Kampmann Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish langua ...

CD

#"Willie Deadwilder"

References

External links

*
AllmoviePitchfork reviewBBC review
Cat Power albums 2004 live albums 2004 video albums Live video albums {{2000s-indie-rock-album-stub