Speaking for Trees
Speaking for Trees: A Film by Mark Borthwick is a DVD/CD package by the American singer-songwriter Cat Power (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, New York, filmed by British photographer Mark Borthwick 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. 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 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" 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 song "The Diamond Sea" 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. Recorded and produced by Trevor Kampmann.