Cat Power explains her fierce 90s roots.   Ian sits with Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power) for this edition of Soft Focus. Some people have probably said that Chan “has the soul of an innocent, a real life ingénue whose strange and unworldly art mesmerized the masses and thrust her-ambivalent—into the leering ogleficating of the public arena.” And perhaps, if someone has ever said that, it might possibly be true. Once, like a wood sprite lured by a carny onto a sideshow, she seemed uncomfortable with her role as translator of the soul’s most abstract expectorations. Marshall’s profound compositions and singular singing style were cited on stage with a deconstructive approach that left unprepared audiences equal parts seared to the bone and perplexed.