Neko Case

Which I guess means that, like a great actress, she makes the words come alive.

My sentiments exactly. I doubt she'll ever top that. And "Deep Red Bells" is one of the best songs ever.

It's twooooo wwwweeekkkksss

richardgin@*that gmailplace*.com

not exactly a state secret; they tend to boast about that. and still it tops anything on her own records -- though, to be fair, it's such a different sound and vibe that it's like comparing buzzards and roosters, as dan rather might say.

I'm very excited about the Neko Case and the Sadies live album
Neko Case live album on Anti
Why hasn't the Neko Cse live album leaked yet?

http://assets1.pitchforkmedia.com/images/original/147882.middlecyclone.jpg

nice

Someone should still talk about how great BLACKLISTED is. It's incredible! The first track"Deep Red Bells" alone!
― the bellefox, Friday, November 5, 2004 6:55 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Okay, here's where I tell my Neko Case story. I saw the Newpies at the Knitting Factory in L.A. A.C. told some long story about how he'd run into some very minor celeb on the street and how cool it was. Neko says, witheringly, "Carl's crazy for celebrities." A.C. says, "Yeah, I'm gay for fame. Except, I'm not really gay." Someone in the audience yells back, "Too bad!" A.C. turns 10,000 shades of red and Neko says, "Hey wait, I thought I was the vixen in this band."

death proof homage?

Cougar?

The Newpies?

anticipating

new pornographers, no?

genuinely classic. i think she gets taken for granted obv, she's just consistently excellent but operates in a pretty unflashy style and between genres to an extent, maybe that's part of it. i've seen her several times live and she always brings it.

additionally one of the best lyricists to ever do it imo

i've always really wanted to like her music beyond blacklisted, which i unreservedly love. i feel like this fall might be a good time to give her another try. what album should i go with?

that interview at 52 linked above is glorious btw. just as a person and a wise one at that, she's such a pleasure to encounter.

I'd always go with Blacklisted first but others may say different. Magnificent album.

Neko does this stuff so effortlessly (Outro With Bees from Blacklisted):

How's Hope feeling today?
Tired and sick of this place
Red wine is fast
At the lip of your glass
Saying I'm gonna ruin
Everything
Everything

So its better, my sweet
That we hover like bees
'Cause there's no sure footing
No love, I believe

the worse things get is super underrated. fox confessor is a masterpiece

i was living in a very rural area when i feel in love with blacklisted, just driving all over the place to it, it conjures a very specific feeling of sadness for me so i rarely go back to it.

xp thanks, i've heard enough people mention fox confessor as another good one, i'll give that a try. might try the case/lang/veirs album again too.

i love how many songs are on 'the worse things get'!

oh wait lol i think that's a discogs mistake hahaha

phoned in

I'd say that she has the opposite problem - that, as a songwriter, she tries hard to avoid obvious musical and lyrical devices, tries so hard that the songs at their weakest wind up opaque, mystifying. I think a lot of the songs on Blacklisted and Middle Cyclone work anyway.

This seems a more accurate criticism

As in her singing is always grebt but sometimes I don’t dig the material.

I'd say that she has the opposite problem - that, as a songwriter, she tries hard to avoid obvious musical and lyrical devices, tries so hard that the songs at their weakest wind up opaque, mystifying.

i'm a massive Underworld fan so maybe that's why this doesn't particularly bother me when it comes to lyrics

that might be it, she has so many songs that just don't quite work for me, that feel like if the melodies and chord progressions and overall meaning were tightened up a bit, they'd be classics

"phoned in" makes me want to throw a brick thu a window

she’s a fucking brilliant singer songwriter & any lack of recognition or sheen of sub-excellence is wholly in the lap of the beholder

mmm yes tighten up her melodies lol what are u even talking abt plz give me one (1) break

my one criticism of neko case is that she falls back on some of the same melodic patterns in a lot of her songs, but it's not really a big criticism since most of those melodic patterns sung by her voice are about as beautiful as music gets so i mean...

fox confessor gets mentioned, this should always get uploaded at the same time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2l7ZKJS47o

Her cover of “Knock Loud” is the most heartbreaking song I’ve ever heard. 2nd is probably “Where Did I Leave That Fire”.

“Phoned in” is just…. a wild criticism?!

Listening to “This Tornado Loves You” now to reset

In California from the covers album Canadian Amp is my favorite, so pretty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuUXf3-Hx9A

I think the run from Furnace Room Lullaby through Middle Cyclone is just about flawless. The Worse Things Get is the slightest of a step down--I think it mostly comes down to me not liking the "Phone Call" song, on like three different levels. I didn't really connect with Hell-On but I would approach any new Neko album with extreme anticipation.

I would never say "phoned in" but I do agree with Lavator's comment that sometimes she falls back on a similar vocal melody. But, you know, Bjork does that too and I'd never say Bjork phones anything in.

I saw her be really mean to a sound guy once and have been a bit off her ever since

Sorry it's not the "phone call" song (i.e. "calling cards") - it's one before that, "Nearly Midnight, Honolulu" that whole song really kills my enjoyment of the album.

third Lavator's observation

definitely not phoned in, though. she's a brilliant songwriter, imo.

and ... well, not exactly shocked that she might occasionally be a bit dickish to a sound guy (or others).

Recorded this at a magnificent London gig 15 years ago - feel like she and the soundman had a healthy amount of mutual disrespect.

https://vimeo.com/4097619

New album, Neon Grey Midnight Green, out September 26!

This is what I do and who I am and I’m so thrilled to have a new record ready to go. Many talented collaborators (musicians, artists, techs, conductors, partners, friends, my record company Anti Records) and I worked very hard on it and threw our whole souls in.

The album is for and about musicians, it is a love letter and a testimony. We are valuable. And our connection to YOU, that we make together, is world building and sublimely devastating in its power. We, us together, are what make new pathways and change our minds and our hearts and the world.

You can hear “Wreck” now (streaming everywhere) and pre-order the album on your preferred format at store.nekocase.com ❤️

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLwev5sWQXM

new one seems pretty laid back on first listen

Record signing at Rough Trade on Monday around lunchtime. Goddammit, why do they do these things when people have to work?

I've given it a couple of spins and I feel like her work, especially the last couple of albums, has required deeper exposure. That's not a bad thing, just that there are layers to her music that only reveal themselves on repeated listens.

I really wish she'd learn some new vocal melodies. It always sounds so samey to me.

So Neko ended her show last night at the Caverns in Pelham, TN after four songs because the venue refused to remove an open-carrying (armed) guard from beside the stage: https://www.reddit.com/r/nashville/s/YKm3C9JTQ0 & https://www.reddit.com/r/indieheads/s/ZpElfrJv6H

I was there. The venue is very echoey (it's a literal freakin' cave) and it was hard to make out her words, but the transcription someone posted of what Neko said is how I remembered it: https://www.reddit.com/r/NekoCase/comments/1o2pgsn/comment/niqhh3e/?utm_name=web3xcss

I saw the gun-toting cowboy-hat wearing dude walk away, a few minutes after Neko and the band walked off the stage. One thing that I haven't yet seen anyone mention (in the Reddit posts) is that Neko was in the middle of performing "Deep Red Bells" (the part where the music stops and people think the song is over and start clapping, but no, it's not over yet) when she said what she said and walked off. That song is about the Green River killer.

I get it but I guess if i were in her station I wouldn't be playing places w/ open carry and armed guards in the first place. treat these communities like the danger zones they are

Jimmy, She didn’t know the club would be one with gun toting security guards

https://www.stereogum.com/2326112/neko-case-ends-tennessee-show-early-after-venue-refuses-to-remove-armed-guard-at-the-stage/news/

Then she was even more right

venue trying to shirk responsibility I see. I imagine a lot of music fans and artists are going to be boycotting them, so tough shit.

I'm looking forward to seeing Neko in Milwaukee this weekend.

I've always heard great things about The Caverns as a place to play or see a concert. I think the last Silver Jews show was there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISkLBbZpBh8

This could be an hour and it would still be too short.

Also, read the top comment under the video.

Gotta say the new tunes are much better live. More energy, better dynamics, everything. I wasn't expecting much of them going into the show but that was a nice surprise. Good mix of older tunes too. Also the opener, Des Demonas from DC, fuckin rip. I would love to see them in a smaller club.

That What's in my Bag is nice.

It was nice to hear her talking about Jimmie Dale Gilmour and "Headed For A Fall", she played/sang bg vox on a friend's cover of it like 20 years ago?

I love Neko Case, but I haven't listened to her in ages. It feels even longer - I thought Hell-On was just okay and I never went back to it, which means the last album I was really attached to came out 12 years ago. I'm really digging Neon Grey though, it gets better with every listen.

Interesting, I thought it was extremely dull but definitely agree upthread that the songs are way better live. Almost backed out of seeing her a few weeks ago because of how disappointed I was in the album but very glad I went

Every once in a while, I'll think "I love this (Neko Case) album, why don't I play it more often?" And then when I take the CD off the shelf, I'll immediately find out why - goddamn f-ing death grip hub that makes it extremely difficult to remove the CD, not to mention a huge disc-cracking risk. Should've done this sooner, but as I go through each one, I'm taking the CD out for good and putting it in a separate sleeve.

Thankfully it turns out the digipaks of only two albums have this problem, but they're also my two favorites.

Pressure on the centre of the hub as you lift the edges doesn’t release the death grip a bit?

Is it the Bloodshot ones or later ones?

Pressing on the center does not work because the hub isn’t designed to de-press, these curved parts on the sides are what’s holding the disc hub in place but they’re not flexible enough to make removal easy and there’s actually a tiny knob of some kind on top of each curved part (a poor design choice) that makes it even more difficult.

This is for for Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and Middle Cyclone - also I forgot an awkward trick that works, which is to leave the album in the freezer for like 15 or 20 minutes. I think the chilling temperature causes all the plastic to contract enough that you can simply pop the disc off easily with little stress on the hub.