Look at What the Light Did Now (CD-sized Digipack) [DVD] [2010]

Movie: 3 stars; DVD Extras: 4 stars; CD: 4.5 stars

On the strength of primarily one single song ("1234") that was used for an iPod commercial, multi-talented Feist broke through in 2007 with her album "The Reminder", which is her second album, after 2004's outstanding "Let It Die" album. Feist toured relentlessly to promote "The Reminder", and now we finally get a document from that tour. But did we?

"Look At What The Light Did Now" (DVD 145 min; and CD 59 min.) starts with the 80 min. movie of the same name, and if you think this is a tour documentary, you are sadly mistaken. It is instead a deeply subjective and "artistic" look at how the album came about, intermixed with interviews of the people involved (typical conversation: what about the album cover? should Feist be on it? and if so, how?), and with the occasional clip of a performance (usually part of a song, but not the whole song). The movie is something I doubt I will ever watch again, to be honest. Not engaging enough and frankly not interesting enough. The DVD extras (65 min.) are a different story. They include the full versions of some of the songs you saw in the movie, including a great "Limit To Your Heart", a crazy "This One Jam" (featuring Chilly Gonzalez), 2 short movies (the 15 min. "The Water" and a great 5 min. "Departures", with a clever subplot tied to the "My Moon My Man" video shoot), and the 4 video singles from the album, including of course "1234" but also "My Moon My Man", "I Feel It All" and "Honey Honey". In all, I really enjoyed the DVD extras, although I only wished there were more of the live performances from the tour. The CD (13 tracks; 59 min.) compiles many of the live tracks seen on the DVD, and that's great, as now it really feels like the live CD that the DVD coulda-shoulda been. But beware: tracks 9 through 12 are NOT Feist tracks as such, instead they are solo piano pieces from Chilly Gonzales, based on Feist songs (for example "1234" sounds unrecognizable). I happen to enjoy them quite a bit actually. The last track (also the last scene in the movie) is the Feist duet with Little Wings of the title track, which really sounds nice.

In all, this is quite a mixed bag. I don't care much for the movie, but I really like the live tracks on the DVD and the CD, and in fact I find myself playing the CD more than the DVD. Truth be told, I like Feist's "Let It Die" album better than "The Reminder". I saw Feist on the Reminder Tour when she visited the Bonnaroo Music Festival, and really enjoyed her set, which of course was heavy on "Reminder" tracks but she also play a number of tracks from her first album.

If you're a fan of Feist, then you will absolutely love this DVD and CD!
It is a wonderful insight into her creative process and allows you to meet all of the people who contribute to her artistic process while watching them work.
I highly recommend!

I really enjoy this documentary, the way that it shows Feist and her crew making a great album. Also its interesting to learn more about one of my favorite artist at the time. Great quality with some good shots, and a fun live cd that comes with it.