Neko Case: The Middle Cyclone Thread

[Buford_was_no_angel]

I too prefer Blacklisted to Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, but Furnace Room Lullaby is just about as good as Blacklisted. Furnace Room Lullaby might be the best from beginning to end.

[DoctorJ]

I like it a lot already, and Neko’s albums tend to grow on me. I don’t know if I’ll eventually like it more than I did Fox Confessor, but that’s a tall order.

[mabes10]

I’m one of those who never liked Fox Confessor as much as I thought I would based on some rave recommendations. There isn’t much specifically about it I dislike, it just sounds overproduced musically. I’ve read she deliberately puts a lot of reverb in her vocals which I’m not crazy about. Anyway is the sound of the earlier albums, or the last one, different from FC?

[WordMan]

@mabes10

I’m one of those who never liked Fox Confessor as much as I thought I would based on some rave recommendations. There isn’t much specifically about it I dislike, it just sounds overproduced musically. I’ve read she deliberately puts a lot of reverb in her vocals which I’m not crazy about. Anyway is the sound of the earlier albums, or the last one, different from FC?

Well Neko used a band called Calexico as her backing band on Blacklisted, and didn’t use them for FC, so it is safe to assume they sound quite different. Calexico is kinda like a Southwest version of Wilco…their (Calexico’s) CD Feast of Wire is excellent…

[cerberus]

Track 15 was odd - 25 minutes of frogs, apparently.

Via Google/Wiki:

1997 The Virginian (with Her Boyfriends)
>Very, very country - Neko basically channels Patsy Cline

2000 Furnace Room Lullaby (with Her Boyfriends)
>Dark Country

2001 Canadian Amp (EP)
>This is hard to find, and is a “friendly” introduction.

2002 Blacklisted
>Darker Country

2004 The Tigers Have Spoken
>Short, Live Album - as in really live

2006 Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
>Dark, Ukranian Grandmother stories

2007 Live from Austin, TX
>Along the lines of Canadian Amp

2009 Middle Cyclone
>A real departure from Fox Confessor

The basic trend is that she’s showing more restraint with her voice, and moving farther afield from the expected “country noir” box.

Mass Romantic 2000
Electric Version 2003
Twin Cinema 2005
Challengers 2007

She was most active with Mass Romantic, and she shared a Juno for it.

She’s rather prolific and spans multiple genres - so seeing her express more of this in her solo work makes sense.

As for the current album, it’s more than I expected - but the frogs did irritate me. Tracks 1, 7,8,9,10 are all very nice, but the most familiar style is track 7 - the title track.

[Jeff]

I downloaded this last night and have been constantly listening to the first track. I’m not sold on the rest of the album but I’ve found it takes multiple listens to really decide whether I like one of her albums or not.

[corkboard]

@cerberus

<snip>
2004 The Tigers Have Spoken
>Short, Live Album - as in really live

What does this mean? The NYT article alluded to the same thing. What is it about her live album that is different from other live albums?

[WordMan]

@cerberus

Electric Version 2003

This is by New Pornographers (along with others you mention) - she is basically a guest vocalist and only appears on a song or two. But the song she did on that CD - All For Swinging You Around - is a *great *song.

[cerberus]

Alluded? She balls-out said it:

n 1997, Case officially began her solo career, accompanied by Her Boyfriends, a nomenclaturally more dignified band, with a CD called “The Virginian,” which was a mixture of country covers and original songs with a more-or-less-traditional country sound. There followed “Furnace Room Lullaby” (2000), also with Her Boyfriends; then, under her name only, “Canadian Amp” (2001); “Blacklisted” (2002); “The Tigers Have Spoken” (2004; “a real live album,” Case says, “not a fake live album like so many ‘live’ albums”); and in 2006, “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.”

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/10141-live-review-neko-case :

In 2004, Neko Case took the slightly odd tack of making her Anti Records debut a live album that combined new songs, covers, pointed rarities, and a few rerecorded gems. This was after the acclaim of 2002’s Blacklisted, and after she and her chanteuse whoop made an even bigger impression as part of the New Pornographers, the Vancouver rock outfit that cranks out cleverness with effortless regularity. Case didn’t seem to care if a live album seemed slapdash. Like everything else in her career, The Tigers Have Spoken just welled up organically, a spun gold tumult of easygoing cool, modern torch singer sweep, and alt country tone that suggested the cozy backroom of Chicago’s Hideout. And naturally, when the record came out, everyone loved it.

Tigers is short: http://www.zboneman.com/music/Neko-Case-10955.html :

With her newest release The Tigers Have Spoken, New Pornographers femme fatale, Neko Case, shows how a great live album is supposed to be executed. With a backing band that is equally great in their own right, The Sadies in tow, Case and company deliver a handful of cover tunes, originals, and new yet-to-be-released tracks all in just under a breezy 35 minutes.

I suspect that Neko is referring to a practice where a “live album” invovles psot-recording fixes, mocked-up “live” recording sessions where the recording doesn’t reflect an actual live show, but rather an augmented studio recording with an audience. “Fake” live albums don’t reflect what you would hear at a live show in a real venue - Tigers does, having heard the album and the live shows. A real live album is basically a set of recordings of real shows at real venues with real audiences - with minimal (if any) post-production.

Also, “Letter to an Occupant” is another great Neko Case New Pornographers song - all she does for NP is sing - it’s like a bit of a vacation for her, as she executes heavy control over her other work.