Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Howdjadoo...Neko Case


Neko Case is a bit of a musical anomaly...you can't quite pin her down. Case in point (pun intended); aside from a string of remarkably beautiful country-tinged recordings under her own name, Neko has also contributed to the power-pop artistry of Canadian indie-rock band The New Pornographers over the years, collaborated with numerous other musicians, including Carolyn Mark (as the Corn Sisters), The Sadies, and Jon Rauhouse, and even served as the drummer for various punk and country bands in Vancouver, such as Cub and Maow, while she was attending the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in the mid 1990's.

Early albums, like her debut The Virginian (she was born in Virginia, much to many Canadians' chagrin), were released under the name Neko Case and Her Boyfriends, which from time-to-time included members of various other bands like The New Pornographers, Shadowy Men On a Shadowy Planet, The Smugglers, and The Softies. Case eventually dumped the Boyfriends moniker (again, pun intended), moved from Vancouver to Seattle to Tucson to Chicago, and continued to develop her multi-faceted skills as both song-writer and collaborator, as evident from her ever-strengthening repertoire of music. What began as straight-up rockabilly and country-rock has given way to some really interesting and ambitious music; a path that is also evident in the work of bands like Wilco and Calexico.

Case's vocals are often compared to the old-timey twang of singers like Patsy Cline and Wanda Jackson, and her music has been dubbed "country noir"; a reflection of the dark themes and imagery depicted in her music. There's also plenty of animal imagery for all you nature-types; her songs serve as a kind of "Hinterland Who's-Who" of foxes, deer, birds, killer whales, wolves, and tigers, oh my! If that wasn't enough, her new album features the sound of robins chirping away in her Vermont barn and a 31-minute looped field recording of frogs singing out in the night. Close your eyes and you're there.

Her newest album, Middle Cyclone, finds Case at her song and lyric-writing pinnacle. I always considered Case's previous album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, with its unconventional song structures and subtle nuances, to be her best work. However, with the release of this new set of songs this month, I can't help but feel that she has once again improved on an already amazing output. Case seems to have retained much of the dark heart present in Fox Confessor and has made it a bit more accessible. There's some more pop influence at work here, possibly a result of her continued work with The New Pornographers. The sound of Middle Cyclone has also been given great depth by virtue of a piano "orchestra"; a set of derelict pianos that Case collected over the years and set up in her barn.

While much of the album was recorded in cities throughout North America, some key moments were captured in the hay barn that graces her Vermont farm. A recording studio that doubles as a hay barn offers some interesting results on the album; the chirping robins are a perfect example of this. That she chose to leave them on the recording is a testamant to how unapologetically unpolished and honest her sound can be. Case likes to hear those little mysterious sounds that can add so much intimacy and nuance to a recording; the sound of piano pedals being compressed, the sound of fingers on a fretboard as they switch chords, the creaking of a musician's chair, or as in this case, the sound of ever-present birds.

Having said this, it's not surprising that Case also chose to include a track of nothing but chirping frogs. What is surprising about it, is that it lasts 31 minutes. She has captured a moment in nature and is celebrating it with us as something really special and intimate, as if to say "this is something I find really beautiful about the world we live in, please share it with me won't you?" On the flip-side, if you really focus on the sound of the frogs, you begin to hear underlying rythym and melody in the sounds they produce. This duality of art in the natural world lends even more complexity to Middle Cyclone, and shows her as an artist who is not afraid to let others bask in her limelight, regardless of whether they're a guitar player for the Sadies or a tiny springpeeper frog.


Much like Emmylou Harris, Case has always been a strong reinterpreter of others' songs. On Middle Cyclone, Case offers up beautifully rendered versions of Harry Nilsson's "Don't Forget Me" and the Sparks' "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth", a warning to mankind to not underestimate the power of nature, lest we feel its wrath . The idea of mankind's arrogance in the face of nature also pops up in "People Got a Lotta Nerve", which serves as a kind of sequel to "The Tigers Have Spoken" from the live album of the same name. Whereas the tiger protagonist of that song suffers a sad and cruel fate at the hands of people, the animals have their day in "People Got a Lotta Nerve", much to mankind's surprise.

The album also does well by way of its army of guest musicians, including M.Ward, Sarah Harmer, and Garth Hudson of The Band, as well as members of Calexico, Giant Sand, The Sadies, and Los Lobos.

For a taste of Middle Cyclone and some insight into its conception, check out this great little EPK (electronic press kit) for the album that has been posted by her American label ANTI- on Youtube.

Enjoy, get your hands on this album, and enjoy further.
Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. LaneyMarch 15, 2009 at 8:41 PM

    Whenever I've listened to Fox Confessor, Neko Case became my own personal ghost. This feeling has definitely carried over to Middle Cyclone. Much to Sean's approval, I would totally go gay for her.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)