Track 15: a triple shot of Neko Case

So I am slightly bucking a trend here and giving you a triple-shot of Neko Case. I'm on the tail end of about a month-long Neko-binge...and am loving these three songs a ton.

I'd heard about Neko for a while, but only just started listening to her a month or so ago. On her older stuff she seems to be putting on a bit of fake Nashville twang, probably at the suggestion of some record exec. to move more units to a target market, but "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" and "Middle Cyclone" are both fantastic records.

She's added to a relatively small, but growing list, of female artists I dig--Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, The Supremes, Norah Jones, Natalie Merchant (give it up for 10,000 Maniacs "Unplugged"), Karen Carpenter, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Cat Power, Jenny Lewis/Rilo Kiley, The "She and Him" record, Allison Krauss and Abigail Washburn.

I think Neko's voice is unbelievably good--great range and it just sounds so sexy. I love the music, and think her backing band does really cool things in the alt-country vein--albeit minimal--that add up to a lot. And I love how she uses back-up singers in such a cool way. And it doesn't hurt that she's a gorgeous redhead--something I've long had a weakness for.

John Saw that Number
Read the Revelations, you'll find him there
Third chapter, fourth verse where he said unto me
"There's a beast that rose out of the sea"
Ten crowns, ten crowns

This song is just plain awesome. Love the Gospel feel and how she just belts it out. Love the instrumentation, laid back, but they just nail the right notes.



This Tornado Loves You
I have waited with a glacier's patience
smashed every transformer with every trailer
till nothing was standing
sixty-five miles wide

This song is just amazing and I like it for all the reasons I wrote at first about why I like Neko Case. I don't delve much into the deeper meanings of songs (the same reason I disliked college English classes), but I saw an interview she did about this song and there's something kind of awesome about thinking about a tornado searching for a lost love and never finding it.



The Needle has Landed
So that's why I never come back here
That's why they spit out my name
Your exes have clawed up The Bible trying to keep me away

Another great one off of "Middle Cyclone." There's such an awesome groove behind this song and the lyrics give it a sort of dark, somber and sexy feel. The Spanaway reference is apparently for a town in Washington state that is right by an Air Force Base--lots of low flying planes.



Honorable mention songs: "Magpie to the Morning," "Maybe Sparrow," "Deep Red Bells," "I'm an Animal," "Lady Pilot," and "Star Witness."