CALIFONE Chicago (Road Cone) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This may in fact be another eponymous release from Califone and not titled "Chicago" inspite of that word's prominent position on the front cover. Anyway, this five track cdep is the second release from Red Red Meat's Tim Rutili of front-porch acoustic slow-mo bluegrass melodicism spiced up with studio experimentation not unlike Loftus or even Souled American.

CALLAHAN, BILL Rough Travel For A Rare Thing (Sea Note) lp 19.98
There is something so intimate about Bill Callahan's music. Whether recording under his name or his old Smog moniker, his songs evoke ghosts of memories, intense emotions, and such literate insights into the human condition. So a live record from Callahan actually makes a lot of sense. In some ways it seems strange to see him play in a hall full of people, as you want his songs sung directly to you in your own world. Rough Travel For A Rare Thing allows just that, a spot on live performance captured on tape and made for your private listening pleasure, on your turntable alone or with that special someone. Callahan's songs have a way of always cutting to the core, there is no questioning his integrity and singular voice. He's a story teller, a musician, and a force of nature. There is something commanding and immediate about his voice. In many ways he is like this generation's Leonard Cohen, with the ability to create songs that are both sensual, unnerving, sometimes bleak and always raw in their emotion. For this show, he plays songs from his Smog past and from what would be his first record under his own name. Stripped down and to the point, showing that his songs can be stripped down to a sparse statement that can evoke so much feeling. A total must have for Callahan/Smog fans.

CALLAHAN, BILL Sometimes I Wish I Were An Eagle (Drag City) cd 14.98
In a time when so many male singers are going for the falsetto pot of gold, or the whining indie warble, or the muffled too-cool-for-school barley audible mumble, Bill Callahan's deep and clear voice rings so true, with more strength and truth than ever. This is Callahan's second album released under his own name, after dropping the Smog moniker, but no doubt longtime Smog fans will still love these darkly poetic songs.
While his last album featured some of his sunniest and dare we say maybe even happiest moments ever set to tape, Sometimes I Wish... finds Callahan in more of a solemn and subdued mood, but what makes Callahan such a special songwriter is that even when his songs are sad or forlorn, they are never that simply defined. The songs here are lush and subtly epic, soaring with a heightened level of story telling, this is immaculate songcraft, all the various elements woven delicately into Callahan's unique soundworld. The music is at once immediate and intense, the sort of sound that gives you goosebumps, but also abstract and free, allowing the listener to wander freely, freeing your mind, drifting through memories, lingering desires and undying devotion.
MPEG Stream: "My Friend"
MPEG Stream: "Too Many Birds"
MPEG Stream: "Eid Ma Clack Shaw"

CALLAHAN, BILL Sometimes I Wish I Were An Eagle (Drag City) lp 15.98
Also on vinyl (listed cd a couple lists back, but the lps ran out).
In a time when so many male singers are going for the falsetto pot of gold, or the whining indie warble, or the muffled too-cool-for-school barley audible mumble, Bill Callahan's deep and clear voice rings so true, with more strength and truth than ever. This is Callahan's second album released under his own name, after dropping the Smog moniker, but no doubt longtime Smog fans will still love these darkly poetic songs.
While his last album featured some of his sunniest and dare we say maybe even happiest moments ever set to tape, Sometimes I Wish... finds Callahan in more of a solemn and subdued mood, but what makes Callahan such a special songwriter is that even when his songs are sad or forlorn, they are never that simply defined. The songs here are lush and subtly epic, soaring with a heightened level of story telling, this is immaculate songcraft, all the various elements woven delicately into Callahan's unique soundworld. The music is at once immediate and intense, the sort of sound that gives you goosebumps, but also abstract and free, allowing the listener to wander freely, freeing your mind, drifting through memories, lingering desires and undying devotion.
MPEG Stream: "My Friend"
MPEG Stream: "Too Many Birds"
MPEG Stream: "Eid Ma Clack Shaw"

CALLIER, TERRY Timepeace (Verve) cd 15.98
Folk/soul legend returns with this new album. The line-up includes Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophone.

CAMPBELL, GLEN Meet Glen Campbell (Capitol) cd 17.98
It's tempting with this new Glen Campbell record to assume it must have been produced by Rick Rubin, since at first glance, it does seem like Campbell is pulling a Johnny Cash, revitalizing his career by taking on some unlikely covers (Travis, Velvet Underground, etc.). But just like in the case of Cash, who while very likely got some new fans out of the deal, hardly needed a reinvention, as he was about as bad ass as they come. Well damn it if the same isn't true of Campbell. C'mon. "Wichita Lineman", Rhinestone Cowboy", "Galveston", he's been recording nonstop since the early sixties, and while he wasn't quite as much of a bad ass as the man in black, you just can't fuck with Campbell. And this new disc just drives that point home.
Some strange song choices, but some incredible arrangements, some amazing playing, and Campbell's voice sounds amazing nearly 50 years on. The opener, a cover of "Sing" by the band Travis, who we had never really paid too much attention to, is just gorgeous, exultant, soaring and triumphant. So much so that it almost has us reconsidering our inadvertent Travis boycott.
The other stone cold classic is Campbell's reinterpretation of The Velvet Underground's "Jesus", with its simple acoustic guitar, soaring strings, and sweet angelic female background vocals. His cover of Jackson Browne's "These Days" is also gorgeous, heartfelt and bittersweet. Paul Westerburg's "Sadly Beautiful" is so good, so pretty, and weirdly timeless. The whole production is very sixties / seventies soft pop, all warm and fuzzy and dreamy, string wrapped around subtle orchestrations, stripped down when it suits the song, lush and over the top when it doesn't, perhaps due in no small part to the fact that Campbell's band features Robin Zander of Cheap Trick as well as 2/3 of Jellyfish! The two Tom Petty covers are obscure enough to sound like they could be Campbell originals. There's a U2 cover which is pretty nice too. The weirdest covers are probably "Times Like These" by the Foo Fighters, which to be fair gets a pretty appropriately Campbell-y makeover, and Green Day's "Good Riddance", which while it does sound pretty good sung by Campbell, it's probably too familiar to remind you of anything but the original.
But small complaints really. A gorgeous disc of classic soaring lush countrified orchestral pop from one of the best performers of the last 5 decades.
MPEG Stream: "Sing"
MPEG Stream: "Jesus"
MPEG Stream: "These Days"

CAMPILONGO, JIM & THE 10 GALLON CATS Heavy (Blue Hen) cd 15.98
More fab western swing sounds from local guitar hero Campilongo and his band, also starring Joe Goldmark on pedal steel. Together Jim & Joe conjure the spirits of Jimmy Bryant & Speedy West. Adventurous, snappily dressed, fun stuff. Includes a cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" (alongside originals like "Mozart Woulda Played A Tele").

CAMPILONGO, JIM, & THE TEN GALLON CATS Loose (Blue Hen) cd 14.98
Definitely one of San Francisco's musical treasures, here's the country/jazz guitar master and band, with instrumentals inspired by robots, Pee Wee Herman, and the alien autopsy, along with versions of "Harlem Nocturne" and "Mr. Sandman"...wonderful. Fans of Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant will be happy (the pedal steel player is amazing!), and I could see folks into the likes of Man or Astroman? also digging this.

CANNON'S JUG STOMPERS Best of (Yazoo) cd 16.98
Yazoo has just released an entire cd's worth of songs by Cannon's Jug Stompers who've previously apppeared on numerous compilations of American roots music put out by the label. Cannon's Jug Stompers were a country blues trio led by banjo player Gus Cannon (who had a rack made to fit the jug around his neck so he could blow it and play banjo simultaneously.) The backbone of Cannon's accompaniment was harmonica player Noah Lewis, who has oft been viewed as one of the best harmonica players that ever lived. The two shared vocal duties along with original guitarist Ahsley Thompson and later Hosea Woods (another guitarist, Elijah Avery, served in several sessions merely as an instrumental accompanist.) Though the Jug Stompers recorded as early as 1916, the tracks here are all taken from sessions recorded between 1928 and 1930.
RealAudio clip: "Going To Germany"

CANTERBURY FAIR s/t (Sundazed) cd 13.98
From Sundazed - the garage / psychedelic label that re-issued such notables as The West Coast Pop Experimental Group - comes Canterbury Fair: Renaissance faire-esque folk-psych from California circa 1969.

CANTRELL, LAURA Humming By The Flowered Vine (Matador) cd 14.98
To tell ya the truth, Laura Cantrell could be singing the table of contents of a lawnmower manual, and still enchant the pants off of her listeners. Her newest album (and first on Matador Records) picks right up from where 2002's When The Roses Bloom Again left off. Her voice ringing as clear as a crystal dinner bell and as sweet as a bumbleberry pie at the state fair, and she's accompanied by a superb cast of players including those fellows from Calexico. Along with her original numbers she sings beautiful versions of an early previously unreleased Lucinda Williams' song "Letters", "Wishful Singing" a song originally sung by Skeeter Davis and penned by Wynn Stewart, and the old traditional murder ballad "Poor Ellen Smith". Actually if you like another lovely old tyme country style chanteuse who has great taste in cover material, namely Ms Kelly Hogan (or vice versa), this might be your new summer love.
MPEG Stream: "Letters"
MPEG Stream: "Wishful Thinking"

CANTRELL, LAURA Humming By The Flowered Vine (Matador) lp 11.98
To tell ya the truth, Laura Cantrell could be singing the table of contents of a lawnmower manual, and still enchant the pants off of her listeners. Her newest album (and first on Matador Records) picks right up from where 2002's When The Roses Bloom Again left off. Her voice ringing as clear as a crystal dinner bell and as sweet as a bumbleberry pie at the state fair, and she's accompanied by a superb cast of players including those fellows from Calexico. Along with her original numbers she sings beautiful versions of an early previously unreleased Lucinda Williams' song "Letters", "Wishful Singing" a song originally sung by Skeeter Davis and penned by Wynn Stewart, and the old traditional murder ballad "Poor Ellen Smith". Actually if you like another lovely old tyme country style chanteuse who has great taste in cover material, namely Ms Kelly Hogan (or vice versa), this might be your new summer love.
MPEG Stream: "Letters"
MPEG Stream: "Wishful Thinking"

CANTRELL, LAURA When The Rose Blooms Again (Diesel Only) cd 15.98
Hailing from Nashville and currently in NYC, chanteuse Laura Cantrell possesses a voice that's bell-clear, as clean and fresh as a glass of milk. Her second album is crisp, simple, classic country (with touches of bluegrass and folk) along the lines of Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, even a little Freakwater, and especially Nanci Griffith. No fake twang, very sincere. Singalong-able, catchy, touching. It makes me wanna go to a thrift shop immediately to buy one of those cotton flower print thrift store dresses I wore back in the late '80s. Languid pedal steel, jangling mandolin, and lots of acoustic guitars. Unfortunately the best songs on the record weren't written by her, but that's ok. You could say the same about goddesses Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith. Give the soundclips a try -- fantastic! Windy likes this a lot.
RealAudio clip: "All the Same to You"
RealAudio clip: "Don't Break the Heart"

CARGILL, HENSON A Very Well Travelled Man (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98

CARGILL, HENSON On The Road (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98
Another primo slice of forgotten Nashville from the always kick ass Omni Recording Corporation. Over the last few months, Omni has brought us discs from Johnny Paycheck, Tommy Cash, Dee Mulling, Lorne Greene, Gil Trythall, as well as the amazing Plantation Gold compilation we made Record Of The Week back on list 314.
Apparently Cargill was quite a hitmaker back in the day, his "Skip A Rope", a rumination on racism, was somewhat controversial, but also netted him some serious chart action on both the country and pop charts. But before that, he had apparently struggled to get heard, as a page in the cd booklet proclaims: "Rejected by nearly every label in Nashville"! That all changed after the hit, but this collection focuses on the recordings pre breakthrough, and it's difficult to understand why some of these weren't hits as well.
Lots of Omni stuff is far out and kitschy, but this is just some serious genuine sixties country pop, we've seen it referred to elsewhere as 'countrypolitan', but whatever you call it, this is some gorgeous stuff, simple and heartfelt, lush instrumentation, Cargill's voice is deep and dramatic, his songs touch on some sensitive topics even in these early days, the whole On The Road record a study of the great Depression, tales of poverty, war, loss, death and loneliness. The early tracks are definitely the best, tacked on to the end are some later tracks, recorded in the seventies, and they tend toward the overly dramatic, lush, string laden, shades of Neil Diamond and Tom Jones, some killer moments, but stick to the first 22 tracks, all appearing on cd for the first time, and a handful, stone cold classics.
As always, a massive booklet, tone of rare photos, and lengthy and super informative liner notes.
MPEG Stream: "Pencil Marks On The Wall"
MPEG Stream: "Afraid To Rock The Boat"
MPEG Stream: "Running From The Rain"
MPEG Stream: "1932"

CAROL OF HARVEST s/t (Guerssen) lp 32.00

CARROLL, CORKY & FRIENDS Laid Back (EM Records) cd 22.00
If you know who Corky Carroll is, it's 'cause chances are, you're into surfing. But besides being one of the top champion pro surfers of his era ('60s/early '70s), and in fact considered possibly the first ever professional surfer, he was also way into music. In 1971, at age 23, he released this album, his first of many, on a private label called Rural that he ran with Dennis Dragon (of the Dragons and later of the Surf Punks, and brother to Darryl, aka Captain of the Captain and Tennille). Corky and Dennis brought mobile recording gear with them to visit fellow surfers/musicians all along the California coast, that's where the "& Friends" comes in, as this, in addition to Corky's own guitar strum, features contributions from a variety of fine musicians, including some exquisite Hawaiian slack-key guitar picking by island-born board-crafter Raymond Patterson. Also appearing: Denny Aarberg (lead guitarist from the Santa Barbara hippy-surf band Farm, also later co-writer of the John Milius surf film Big Wednesday), David Lyons, Al Oakie, Kathy Dragon, and the members of the band Hana. All of these people were serious surfers like Corky, though the music they made doesn't sound like your typical "surf music" (though it is warm and beach-ily idyllic).
Mellow, folky, mostly acoustic, largely instrumental, a little bit bluesy in spots, of course this would get reissued by Japan's wonderful EM Records, who have previously brought us a bunch of "psychedelic surf" albums in the past, in their "EM Under Water Series", like the Farm's soundtrack to The Innermost Limits Of Pure Fun.
Certainly this is aptly titled, Laid Back, being so sunshiney and stoned, what what some folks here, who (ahem) know what they're talking about, would consider a perfect "wake 'n' bake" album, that you could file with David Crosby's If I Can Only Remember My Name ferinstance.
Anyone who liked the These Trails album Drag City recently reissued and wants another trip to the islands in their imagination, should check this out!
Packaged in the usual EM cardboard gatefold sleeve, the insert bearing interesting liner notes from Corky himself. Pricier vinyl version also available, fyi.
MPEG Stream: "Haleiwa"
MPEG Stream: "War"
MPEG Stream: "Merrit"
MPEG Stream: "Easy Ride"

CARROLL, CORKY & FRIENDS Laid Back (EM Records) lp 39.00
Now also here on vinyl! Japanese import, pricey but nice.
If you know who Corky Carroll is, it's 'cause chances are, you're into surfing. But besides being one of the top champion pro surfers of his era ('60s/early '70s), and in fact considered possibly the first ever professional surfer, he was also way into music. In 1971, at age 23, he released this album, his first of many, on a private label called Rural that he ran with Dennis Dragon (of the Dragons and later of the Surf Punks, and brother to Darryl, aka Captain of the Captain and Tennille). Corky and Dennis brought mobile recording gear with them to visit fellow surfers/musicians all along the California coast, that's where the "& Friends" comes in, as this, in addition to Corky's own guitar strum, features contributions from a variety of fine musicians, including some exquisite Hawaiian slack-key guitar picking by island-born board-crafter Raymond Patterson. Also appearing: Denny Aarberg (lead guitarist from the Santa Barbara hippy-surf band Farm, also later co-writer of the John Milius surf film Big Wednesday), David Lyons, Al Oakie, Kathy Dragon, and the members of the band Hana. All of these people were serious surfers like Corky, though the music they made doesn't sound like your typical "surf music" (though it is warm and beach-ily idyllic).
Mellow, folky, mostly acoustic, largely instrumental, a little bit bluesy in spots, of course this would get reissued by Japan's wonderful EM Records, who have previously brought us a bunch of "psychedelic surf" albums in the past, in their "EM Under Water Series", like the Farm's soundtrack to The Innermost Limits Of Pure Fun.
Certainly this is aptly titled, Laid Back, being so sunshiney and stoned, what what some folks here, who (ahem) know what they're talking about, would consider a perfect "wake 'n' bake" album, that you could file with David Crosby's If I Can Only Remember My Name ferinstance.
Anyone who liked the These Trails album Drag City recently reissued and wants another trip to the islands in their imagination, should check this out!
Packaged in the usual EM cardboard gatefold sleeve, the insert bearing interesting liner notes from Corky himself. Pricier vinyl version also available, fyi.
MPEG Stream: "Haleiwa"
MPEG Stream: "War"
MPEG Stream: "Merrit"
MPEG Stream: "Easy Ride"

CARTER FAMILY I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes (Monk) lp 22.00
Does the Carter Family really need any introduction? Family Patriarch, A.P., his wife Sara, and their sister-in-law Maybelle are probably the most influential country music band of all time, and with good reason. Well-versed in hundreds of British and Appalachian folk songs that A.P. collected in their native Virginia, they managed to save these timeless songs for generations to come. Bluegrass music pretty much wouldn't have existed without the Carter Family. First playing as a husband and wife duo in 1915, they didn't get label notice until the addition of A.P.'s brother's wife, Maybelle (June Carter Cash's mother!) on guitar in 1926 right before they first signed to Victor. They stayed active until 1956 even during bouts of financial stress from the Great Depression and A.P. and Sara's divorce in 1939. This beautiful record compiles the best of the early Victor recordings, including their hits, "Single Girl, Married Girl", "Wabash Cannonball" and "Keep on The Sunny Side of Life". What we find most amazing about the Carter Family is their consistent use of Nature as spiritual metaphor. Though their songs are rooted in the Gospel tradition, the positive force of God is always represented lyrically by the Sun, Trees, and The Sea. This no doubt added to their populist appeal, especially in the folk revival of the fifties and sixties. Essential!! Go Monk label, go!

CARTER FAMILY, THE Bring Back My Blue-Eyed Boy (Monk) lp 21.00
Country music pioneers the Carter Family really need no introduction at this point (check our review for the previous collection on Monk, I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes...). With their encyclopedic knowledge of old American and British folk songs, the Carters helped to bring this music into the recording age where they stood as a link between old and new. As the world was rapidly changing around them, groups like the Carter Family were essential in documenting American traditions which were rapidly fading. This collection, containing songs recorded in 1929, finds the group at the height of their commercial and artistic powers with some amazing renditions of many old time classics, such as "Motherless Children", "Wabash Cannonball", and the title track among others. All in all, another essential compilation of some of the most timeless music ever recorded.

CARTER, ANITA Ring of Fire (Bear Family) cd 21.00
Of the three generations of country music's royal family -- the Carters, Anita (sister of June) possessed perhaps the most perfect voice, so bell clear and pure that it's almost unearthly. This compilation on the esteemed country-reissue label Bear Family contains mostly recordings from 1961-64, 26 tracks in all, featuring crystal clear, spacious production. Just amazing Anita and acoustic guitar. This record has made me cry. Highly recommended!
RealAudio clip: "(Love's) Ring of Fire"
RealAudio clip: "Voice of the Bayou"
RealAudio clip: "I Never Will Marry"

CARTER, ANITA Songbird (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98

CARTER, TOM Glyph (Digitalis) cd 12.98
For some reason, Tom Carter always seemed like some mysterious musical alchemist, lurking in the shadows, cloaked in the relative anonymity of his group Charalambides. But lately, as his solo efforts outnumber Charalambides releases, and with a move to right here in the Bay Area, he has become one of a handful of modern guitarists representing this new movement of neo-folk, neo-Appalachia, new weird America or whatever people want to call it. Jack Rose, James Blackshaw, Matt Valentine, Ilyas Ahmed, Ben Chasny, and Carter, all offering their own spin on the guitar, and the legacy of John Fahey.
Carter, like his fellow six stringers, explores the modern raga, utilizing the buzz as much as the notes that precede it. On Glyph, the last recordings in his old studio and the last before his big move, Carter stretches out on 3 lengthy guitar pieces, all thematically linked, but each quite individual in its own way, from the sort of guitar played to the actual structure and composition.
Glyph 1 is all acoustic steel string guitar, and is a sweet slab of tangled neo-Appalachia, fast fingerpicking, some slippery slide, minor key and lots of angular buzz. In fact if there is anything distinct about Carter's style, it's an odd angularity, unlikely melodies, and a strangely jagged technique, but it serves him well, giving his pick and strum an otherworldly vibe.
The final track, the quite brief "Glyph 3", is all nylon string acoustic guitar and is thus much softer and less metallic sounding. But as if to make up for that Carter's playing is even more manic and convoluted, dense flurries of notes, and impossible fast fingerpicking, a murky dizzying swirl of abstract guitar exploration, fuzzy and impenetrable.
But it's between the two where we find the record's 35 minute centerpiece "Glyph 2", a dreamy trippy psychedelic soundscape for lap steel guitar. Much more minimal and ambient, huge stretches of single notes drifting aimlessly and slowly fading into nothingness, slipping and slithering, all wraithlike, the slide drifting up and down the neck, with haunting melodies floating up like spirits rising from their graves. Lots of buzz, and bits of percussive thump, but more than anything "Glyph 2" is open and endless, an ultra minimal expanse, the abstract twang drifting and shimmering amidst lots and lots of space. So gorgeous.
Packaged in a cool hand screened on the outside, hand painted on the inside, thick cardstock sleeve, with liner notes/insert.
MPEG Stream: "Glyph 1"
MPEG Stream: "Glyph 2"

CASE STUDIES The World Is Just A Shape To Fill The Night (Sacred Bones) cd 15.98
For some reason, we've never reviewed any records by garage folk duo the Dutchess And The Duke, which means that to many folks Case Studies, aka Jesse Lortz, will be an unknown quantity, but sometimes that's the best way to experience a group or a record, especially when it's a new direction and/or a new sound for an established artist, it makes taking the music on its own merits a bit easier. So as you may have surmised, Jesse Lortz is in fact The Duke, one half of the aforementioned group, and fans of that band will definitely find some connections between that groups' songs and the music of Case Studies. But the music of Case Studies is much more stripped down and moody, the songs here apparently based on a year in the life of Lortz, and quite a year it must have been these songs painting lush miniatures of sorrow and loneliness, of bitterness and misery, but also of happiness and hope, or at least the promise of such.
Case Studies is at its core, country music, Lortz' deep croon, a dead ringer for country legend Townes Van Zandt, even his phrasing is eerily similar, the music is minimal but rich, the production spare but lush (produced by Greg Ashley), the songs mostly simple steel string strum, fingerpicked melodies and those deep moody vocals, but the voice and acoustic guitar are sometimes fleshed out with mournful strings, reverbed piano, sweet female harmonies, but for the most part, it's Lortz's voice that drives this record, that and his bittersweet (sometimes just bitter) lyrics and subtle way with melodies.
Dark and dreamy, hushed and melancholy. Opener "From The Blade Of My Love" is a heartbreaker, the melody, the vocals, the lyrics, the perfect start to a harrowing and ultrapersonal dark country missive, a song suite / melancholy missive that culminates in the droney slowcore twang of "California Ghost Story", a dark dreamy depressive creep, that drifts and shimmers, wreathed in the faded haze of forgotten love, and record closer, a surprisingly jaunty stretch of hushed minimal twang, replete with whistled melody, a glimmer of hope, as if finally, the clouds might part and the sun might shine down. Nice!
MPEG Stream: "From The Blade Of My Love"
MPEG Stream: "The Eagle, Or The Serpent"
MPEG Stream: "My Silver Hand"

CASE STUDIES The World Is Just A Shape To Fill The Night (Sacred Bones) lp 14.98
Also on vinyl!!
For some reason, we've never reviewed any records by garage folk duo the Dutchess And The Duke, which means that to many folks Case Studies, aka Jesse Lortz, will be an unknown quantity, but sometimes that's the best way to experience a group or a record, especially when it's a new direction and/or a new sound for an established artist, it makes taking the music on its own merits a bit easier. So as you may have surmised, Jesse Lortz is in fact The Duke, one half of the aforementioned group, and fans of that band will definitely find some connections between that groups' songs and the music of Case Studies. But the music of Case Studies is much more stripped down and moody, the songs here apparently based on a year in the life of Lortz, and quite a year it must have been these songs painting lush miniatures of sorrow and loneliness, of bitterness and misery, but also of happiness and hope, or at least the promise of such.
Case Studies is at its core, country music, Lortz' deep croon, a dead ringer for country legend Townes Van Zandt, even his phrasing is eerily similar, the music is minimal but rich, the production spare but lush (produced by Greg Ashley), the songs mostly simple steel string strum, fingerpicked melodies and those deep moody vocals, but the voice and acoustic guitar are sometimes fleshed out with mournful strings, reverbed piano, sweet female harmonies, but for the most part, it's Lortz's voice that drives this record, that and his bittersweet (sometimes just bitter) lyrics and subtle way with melodies.
Dark and dreamy, hushed and melancholy. Opener "From The Blade Of My Love" is a heartbreaker, the melody, the vocals, the lyrics, the perfect start to a harrowing and ultrapersonal dark country missive, a song suite / melancholy missive that culminates in the droney slowcore twang of "California Ghost Story", a dark dreamy depressive creep, that drifts and shimmers, wreathed in the faded haze of forgotten love, and record closer, a surprisingly jaunty stretch of hushed minimal twang, replete with whistled melody, a glimmer of hope, as if finally, the clouds might part and the sun might shine down. Nice!
MPEG Stream: "From The Blade Of My Love"
MPEG Stream: "The Eagle, Or The Serpent"
MPEG Stream: "My Silver Hand"

CASE, NEKO button 1.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Show your love for this lady! 1" button with red text / blue stripes on white background (very similar to the disc artwork on her Blacklisted album except the word 'beaver' is replaced with her name).

CASE, NEKO Blacklisted (Anti) cd 14.98
Watch her legion of admirers increase tenfold with every passing moment! Will you join them/us? On this, her third full length, Neko Case's voice pours forth in such an untethered and unaffected manner, yet with such power and control. It's truly something to behold. Through seemingly endless touring since Furnace Room Lullaby (on her own, as well as with the New Pornographers) she's honed her voice into an incredibly dynamic instrument. She delivers old classics like "Runnin' Out of Fools" or "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)" with such ease and conviction so seamlessly amid her own splendid songs like "Deep Red Bells" and "I Wish I Was The Moon" as well as "Pretty Girls" from The Gift soundtrack. On much of Blacklisted, her delivery is not unlike that of a lone, world-weary torch singer. Quite simply, her performance is arresting - deeply dramatic and haunting. Perhaps this may be attributed, in part or in whole, to the fact that these days she's holding all the reins. She co-released this album on her own label Lady Pilot with Bloodshot Records, and produced and mixed it with Darryl Neudorf and Craig Schumacher. Also noteworthy is the absence of "and the Boyfriends" from her name, but she's by no means flying solo - although she did play a greater number of the instruments this time around (various guitars, saw, piano). Speaking of which, the accompanying music is a perfect, richly hued match that warmly envelops and lingers around her every word. She's surrounded by an impressive group of musical friends including Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, Kelly Hogan, Brian Connelly of Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, Dallas Good of the Sadies, John Rauhouse, Tom Ray, and Mary Margaret O'Hara. A stunning album that glistens and glows from start to finish. Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Deep Red Bells"
MPEG Stream: "Pretty Girls"
MPEG Stream: "I Wish I Was The Moon"
MPEG Stream: "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)"

CASE, NEKO Blacklisted ( Lance Rock) lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL! At long last this AQ fave, a Record Of The Week back 2002, in appears on wax.
Watch her legion of admirers increase tenfold with every passing moment! Will you join them/us? On this, her third full length, Neko Case's voice pours forth in such an untethered and unaffected manner, yet with such power and control. It's truly something to behold. Through seemingly endless touring since Furnace Room Lullaby (on her own, as well as with the New Pornographers) she's honed her voice into an incredibly dynamic instrument. She delivers old classics like "Runnin' Out of Fools" or "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)" with such ease and conviction so seamlessly amid her own splendid songs like "Deep Red Bells" and "I Wish I Was The Moon" as well as "Pretty Girls" from The Gift soundtrack. On much of Blacklisted, her delivery is not unlike that of a lone, world-weary torch singer. Quite simply, her performance is arresting - deeply dramatic and haunting. Perhaps this may be attributed, in part or in whole, to the fact that these days she's holding all the reins. She co-released this album on her own label Lady Pilot with Bloodshot Records, and produced and mixed it with Darryl Neudorf and Craig Schumacher. Also noteworthy is the absence of "and the Boyfriends" from her name, but she's by no means flying solo - although she did play a greater number of the instruments this time around (various guitars, saw, piano). Speaking of which, the accompanying music is a perfect, richly hued match that warmly envelops and lingers around her every word. She's surrounded by an impressive group of musical friends including Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, Kelly Hogan, Brian Connelly of Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, Dallas Good of the Sadies, John Rauhouse, Tom Ray, and Mary Margaret O'Hara. A stunning album that glistens and glows from start to finish. Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Deep Red Bells"
MPEG Stream: "Pretty Girls"
MPEG Stream: "I Wish I Was The Moon"
MPEG Stream: "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)"

CASE, NEKO Canadian Amp (Lady Pilot) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hurrah for yet another dose of Neko Case! Yes, along with her new album Blacklisted which we just reviewed in AQL 144, there's this special collection released by the lady herself (also just released on vinyl by her friends at Lance Rock Records). There's been plenty of conflicting reports on the status of the cd even from those very close to the source. Initially a tour-only cd, it seems to be in a very nebulously limited pressing - most likely it'll continue to be in print just as long as the Lady Pilot fancies. That said, doncha think it's high time you had your very own copy!? Anyways, let's get to the actual music, shall we? She recorded these songs in her kitchen while reportedly clad in her trademark flannel pajamas and fuzzy slippers. Her dear Boyfriends are notably absent, although she did get a bunch of her pals to join her refrigerator-side for these intimate recordings. Her partners in crime? Tom Ray, Jon Rauhouse, Andy Hopkins, Robert Lloyd, Brett Sparks, Chris Von Sneidern, Kathleen Judge and Kelly Hogan. Much more spartan than her two previous albums, yet still so rich and haunting with some gorgeous banjo, accordion and an impressive array of guitars. There's stirring renditions of the classic "Poor Ellen Smith", Neil Young's "Dreaming Man" and Hank Williams' "Alone and Forsaken" as well as covers of tunes by her Canadian friends Mike O'Neill of The Inbreds, Sook-Yin Lee, Lisa Marr of cub, Buck and The Beards - each an amazing songwriter him/herself - showing once again what a knack she has for choosing great material to cover. And to top off all this goodness, she reworks two of her own lovely songs "Make Your Bed" and "Favorite". Her voice is an unquestionably mighty force unto itself, but her singing performance is so far beyond mighty lungs and vocal chords. Seeming effortless, it flows from somewhere deep within and beyond, which makes listening such a wonderful, deeply moving experience. Pure, honest and powerful!
RealAudio clip: "Andy"
RealAudio clip: "Make Your Bed"
RealAudio clip: "Alone And Forsaken"
RealAudio clip: "In California"

CASE, NEKO Canadian Amp (Lance Rock) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hurrah for yet another dose of Neko Case! Yes, along with her new album Blacklisted which we just reviewed in AQL 144, there's this special collection released by the lady herself (also just released on vinyl by her friends at Lance Rock Records). There's been plenty of conflicting reports on the status of the cd even from those very close to the source. Initially a tour-only cd, it seems to be in a very nebulously limited pressing - most likely it'll continue to be in print just as long as the Lady Pilot fancies. That said, doncha think it's high time you had your very own copy!? Anyways, let's get to the actual music, shall we? She recorded these songs in her kitchen while reportedly clad in her trademark flannel pajamas and fuzzy slippers. Her dear Boyfriends are notably absent, although she did get a bunch of her pals to join her refrigerator-side for these intimate recordings. Her partners in crime? Tom Ray, Jon Rauhouse, Andy Hopkins, Robert Lloyd, Brett Sparks, Chris Von Sneidern, Kathleen Judge and Kelly Hogan. Much more spartan than her two previous albums, yet still so rich and haunting with some gorgeous banjo, accordion and an impressive array of guitars. There's stirring renditions of the classic "Poor Ellen Smith", Neil Young's "Dreaming Man" and Hank Williams' "Alone and Forsaken" as well as covers of tunes by her Canadian friends Mike O'Neill of The Inbreds, Sook-Yin Lee, Lisa Marr of cub, Buck and The Beards - each an amazing songwriter him/herself - showing once again what a knack she has for choosing great material to cover. And to top off all this goodness, she reworks two of her own lovely songs "Make Your Bed" and "Favorite". Her voice is an unquestionably mighty force unto itself, but her singing performance is so far beyond mighty lungs and vocal chords. Seeming effortless, it flows from somewhere deep within and beyond, which makes listening such a wonderful, deeply moving experience. Pure, honest and powerful!
RealAudio clip: "Andy"
RealAudio clip: "Make Your Bed"
RealAudio clip: "Alone And Forsaken"
RealAudio clip: "In California"

CASE, NEKO Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (Anti) cd 16.98
Simply in a class of her own. We've said it before and yes, we'll say it again... Neko Case's voice can invoke a power capable of levelling anything in its path emotionally and maybe even physically too -- leaving some hearts melted, some empowered and some broken. That said, this lady knows that you must wield such a force responsibly and wisely, and over the years she's attained full mastery of its might. On Fox Confessor brings The Flood as on her past albums, an ample serving of reverb in the recording process has ensured that her voice embraces your ears with utterly dreamy warmth, but it doesn't overpower its characteristic nuances. We all know (no doubt herself included) that she could floor you just by singing the alphabet or a grocery list, but we (and she) know that there's more to *it* than that. With each album she's steered clear of trends, reinvented herself subtly and honed a different facet of her craft. Here its her songwriting inkwell which has been given a thorough loving and it runneth over with the deepest indigos and the reds of blood and rubies. Yes, the most noticeable shift / development on Fox Confessor is definitely in the lyrics department. An ever-evolving and maturing lyricist, Case has honed her lyrical imagery into what very well are her least literal, but most poetic and vivid to date. The songs are definitely less immediate with fewer obvious hooks than those of her last three albums, but Fox Confessor inhabits a different realm, and is so very deeply moving and enchantingly special in its own ways. Indeed, it comes across much more as the work of a wise, seasoned storyteller than a flavor of the day pop songstress. Certainly not one to rest on her laurels, for her fourth album Case raises the bar once again, challenging both herself and her fans. Plus with the support of her revolving cast of supremely talented players, her musical tapestry has never been more lushly and intricately detailed. This time she's invited Garth Hudson of The Band into her collaborative fold/family which already shines with the likes of The Sadies, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, Ms Kelly Hogan, Tom Ray, Jon Rauhouse, Brian Connelly, Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. Each of her albums has been lauded as "her best yet", but with Fox Confessor we'd dare to say she's taken things to a whole 'nother spine-tingling level.
A side note for fans of her live show... you'll be pleased to find that "John Saw That Number" (or perhaps you might know it as that "holy to the world" song) makes a rousing appearance midway through the proceedings. With its soaring rounds of choruses, it's a particular crowd favorite at her shows she shares with her singin' pals Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark ('tho the latter is sadly missing this time around). Need we say? Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Star Witness"
MPEG Stream: "John Saw That Number"
MPEG Stream: "Dirty Knife"

CASE, NEKO Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Lance Rock Records) lp 22.00
And also, Fox Confessor has just been put out on vinyl (no five song bonus disc though, unlike the new deluxe cd edition). Sorta pricey due to the walloping Canadian dollar, unfortunately. But if you gotta have vinyl, here 'tis.
Simply in a class of her own. We've said it before and yes, we'll say it again... Neko Case's voice can invoke a power capable of leveling anything in its path emotionally and maybe even physically too -- leaving some hearts melted, some empowered and some broken. That said, this lady knows that you must wield such a force responsibly and wisely, and over the years she's attained full mastery of its might. On Fox Confessor brings The Flood as on her past albums, an ample serving of reverb in the recording process has ensured that her voice embraces your ears with utterly dreamy warmth, but it doesn't overpower its characteristic nuances. We all know (no doubt herself included) that she could floor you just by singing the alphabet or a grocery list, but we (and she) know that there's more to *it* than that. With each album she's steered clear of trends, reinvented herself subtly and honed a different facet of her craft. Here its her songwriting inkwell which has been given a thorough loving and it runneth over with the deepest indigos and the reds of blood and rubies. Yes, the most noticeable shift / development on Fox Confessor is definitely in the lyrics department. An ever-evolving and maturing lyricist, Case has honed her lyrical imagery into what very well are her least literal, but most poetic and vivid to date. The songs are definitely less immediate with fewer obvious hooks than those of her last three albums, but Fox Confessor inhabits a different realm, and is so very deeply moving and enchantingly special in its own ways. Indeed, it comes across much more as the work of a wise, seasoned storyteller than a flavor of the day pop songstress. Certainly not one to rest on her laurels, for her fourth album Case raises the bar once again, challenging both herself and her fans. Plus with the support of her revolving cast of supremely talented players, her musical tapestry has never been more lushly and intricately detailed. This time she's invited Garth Hudson of The Band into her collaborative fold/family which already shines with the likes of The Sadies, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, Ms Kelly Hogan, Tom Ray, Jon Rauhouse, Brian Connelly, Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. Each of her albums has been lauded as "her best yet", but with Fox Confessor we'd dare to say she's taken things to a whole 'nother spine-tingling level.
A side note for fans of her live show... you'll be pleased to find that "John Saw That Number" (or perhaps you might know it as that "holy to the world" song) makes a rousing appearance midway through the proceedings. With its soaring rounds of choruses, it's a particular crowd favorite at her shows she shares with her singin' pals Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark ('tho the latter is sadly missing this time around). Need we say? Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Star Witness"
MPEG Stream: "John Saw That Number"
MPEG Stream: "Dirty Knife"

CASE, NEKO Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - Special Edition (Anti) 2cd 16.98
Just in time for the holiday gift-givin' season, here's something for that special someone who has somehow yet to be turned onto the powerhouse pipes of Neko Case! This is a new special cd edition of Ms Case's most recent album Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. It comes with a 5-song bonus disc! If you're a diehard fan, Anti Records is forcing you to prove your completist-ness! You'll no doubt already have all the songs here except one -- an unreleased demo of "Behind The House"! The rest of the extra tracks are a pair off of her second album 2000's Furnace Room Lullaby and another two from her third album 2002's Blacklisted. (FYI: both albums have been recently remastered and reissued by Anti too).
Here's what we said about this album when it first came out early last year:
Simply in a class of her own. We've said it before and yes, we'll say it again... Neko Case's voice can invoke a power capable of leveling anything in its path emotionally and maybe even physically too -- leaving some hearts melted, some empowered and some broken. That said, this lady knows that you must wield such a force responsibly and wisely, and over the years she's attained full mastery of its might. On Fox Confessor brings The Flood as on her past albums, an ample serving of reverb in the recording process has ensured that her voice embraces your ears with utterly dreamy warmth, but it doesn't overpower its characteristic nuances. We all know (no doubt herself included) that she could floor you just by singing the alphabet or a grocery list, but we (and she) know that there's more to *it* than that. With each album she's steered clear of trends, reinvented herself subtly and honed a different facet of her craft. Here its her songwriting inkwell which has been given a thorough loving and it runneth over with the deepest indigos and the reds of blood and rubies. Yes, the most noticeable shift / development on Fox Confessor is definitely in the lyrics department. An ever-evolving and maturing lyricist, Case has honed her lyrical imagery into what very well are her least literal, but most poetic and vivid to date. The songs are definitely less immediate with fewer obvious hooks than those of her last three albums, but Fox Confessor inhabits a different realm, and is so very deeply moving and enchantingly special in its own ways. Indeed, it comes across much more as the work of a wise, seasoned storyteller than a flavor of the day pop songstress. Certainly not one to rest on her laurels, for her fourth album Case raises the bar once again, challenging both herself and her fans. Plus with the support of her revolving cast of supremely talented players, her musical tapestry has never been more lushly and intricately detailed. This time she's invited Garth Hudson of The Band into her collaborative fold/family which already shines with the likes of The Sadies, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, Ms Kelly Hogan, Tom Ray, Jon Rauhouse, Brian Connelly, Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. Each of her albums has been lauded as "her best yet", but with Fox Confessor we'd dare to say she's taken things to a whole 'nother spine-tingling level.
A side note for fans of her live show... you'll be pleased to find that "John Saw That Number" (or perhaps you might know it as that "holy to the world" song) makes a rousing appearance midway through the proceedings. With its soaring rounds of choruses, it's a particular crowd favorite at her shows she shares with her singin' pals Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark ('tho the latter is sadly missing this time around). Need we say? Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Star Witness"
MPEG Stream: "John Saw That Number"
MPEG Stream: "Dirty Knife"

CASE, NEKO Live From Austin TX - Austin City Limits (New West) cd 15.98
Ooooh Neko fans, this will surely send glorious shivers down your spine! Back in 2003 shortly after the release of Blacklisted and prior to The Tigers Have Spoken, beloved chanteuse Neko Case performed before a studio audience on the venerable country music tv program Austin City Limits (now over thirty years old!). This cd offers up her complete set of fourteen songs from that show (psst, there's also a dvd version for a few bucks more!). A well balanced mix of originals and covers, it inevitably ends up being sort of a 'Best of Neko Case' compilation (well, up to that year at least!). It offers more proof (not that any more is really needed) that she's definitely one of the few artists around whose performance and personality are just as potently captivating and affecting live in person, on live recordings and on studio productions.
As always, she's supported by a stellar group of musical friends -- Jon Rauhouse on pedal steel, guitar and banjo, Tom Ray on stand up bass and Kelly Hogan on backing vocals. The latter once again provides her trademark high dulcet tones as a sweet counterpart to Case's lusty smoldering delivery. It's almost as though Case is being accompanied by an angel. Lovely!
Many many fan favorites are included: "Deep Red Bells", "Hex", "Furnace Room Lullaby", "Outro With Bees", and yes, "Favorite"! Plus many wonderful covers too: "Hank Williams' "Alone And Foresaken", Bob Dylan's "Buckets Of Rain", Catherine Irwin's "Hex" and a smokin' rendition of "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)" an ol' classic popularized by Sarah Vaughan. Need we say? Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Favorite"
MPEG Stream: "Outro With Bees"
MPEG Stream: "Maybe Sparrow"

CASE, NEKO Live From Austin TX - Austin City Limits (New West) dvd 21.00
Ooooh Neko fans, this will surely send glorious shivers down your spine! Back in 2003 shortly after the release of Blacklisted and prior to The Tigers Have Spoken, beloved chanteuse Neko Case performed before a studio audience on the venerable country music tv program Austin City Limits (now over thirty years old!). This dvd offers up her complete set of fourteen songs from that show (psst, there's also a cd version for a few bucks less!). A well balanced mix of originals and covers, it inevitably ends up being sort of a 'Best of Neko Case' compilation (well, up to that year at least!). It offers more proof (not that any more is really needed) that she's definitely one of the few artists around whose performance and personality are just as potently captivating and affecting live in person, on live recordings and on studio productions.
As always, she's supported by a stellar group of musical friends -- Jon Rauhouse on pedal steel, guitar and banjo, Tom Ray on stand up bass and Kelly Hogan on backing vocals. The latter once again provides her trademark high dulcet tones as a sweet counterpart to Case's lusty smoldering delivery. It's almost as though Case is being accompanied by an angel. Lovely!
Many many fan favorites are included: "Deep Red Bells", "Hex", "Furnace Room Lullaby", "Outro With Bees", and yes, "Favorite"! Plus many wonderful covers too: "Hank Williams' "Alone And Foresaken", Bob Dylan's "Buckets Of Rain", Catherine Irwin's "Hex" and a smokin' rendition of "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)" an ol' classic popularized by Sarah Vaughan. Need we say? Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Favorite"
MPEG Stream: "Outro With Bees"
MPEG Stream: "Maybe Sparrow"

CASE, NEKO Middle Cyclone (Anti) cd 16.98
What can we say about Neko Case that we haven't already? And what else can we add to the crazy amount of press and publicity surrounding the release of here latest record Middle Cyclone? Maybe nothing. But what the heck, we love Neko Case, we have for years. From The Virginian to Furnace Room Lullaby to Blacklisted to Canadian Amp, and of course we were early champions of the New Pornographers, especially the Neko fronted Mass Romantic. Hell, way back in the day, she even played in the band Cub with our very own Cup!!
But by now, you've probably been inundated by images of Ms. Case, interviews, magazine covers, there was even a mini documentary on the front page of Amazon, this record is getting one heck of a push, the weird thing is it doesn't really need it. On its own, minus the publicity and all the various other efforts to promote the woman and her album, the music itself speaks for itself. Lush but obviously hand crafted, the lyrics as ever are smart and wry and funny and bittersweet, the songs are fantastic, varied, played by a crack back up band, and then there's Case's voice, which as many others have stated before us is truly a force of nature. One of those once in an era voices. Dark and sultry and sonorous, but so strong and powerful, the old adage about singing the phone book, can now be applied to anything, programming code, microwave instructions, with Case, whatever it is becomes a gorgeous sweetly sour heartbreaker.
Plenty has been written about the making of Middle Cyclone too, but for those who don't have TV or radio or internet, we'll tell you much of this record was recorded using a handful of pianos Case got for free on Craig's List, set up in her drafty old barn, on the Vermont farm she now calls home. And that 'piano orchestra' is a wonder, each piano's inconsistencies blending with the other pianos, all blending together into a sound impossibly lush and totally unique. The various parts recorded in the barn also peppered with the sound of crickets and frogs outside, wind whipping through the eaves, all adding to the personal and intimate vibe that the record already had in spades.
From brooding ballad, to country rocker, to epic slow burner, every song here is a gem. After a few listens we're liking it way more than Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. There's even a Sparks cover! And a Nilssen cover! Both easily and fully transformed into what are essentially Case originals.
And if it wasn't already a stone cold classic, the 31 minute bonus track pushes Middle Cyclone into utter aQ obsession territory, with what is essentially a half hour long field recording of crickets! So great!
MPEG Stream: "This Tornado Loves Me"
MPEG Stream: "The Next Time You Say Forever"
MPEG Stream: "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Forget Me"

CASE, NEKO Middle Cyclone (Anti) 2lp 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl!
What can we say about Neko Case that we haven't already? And what else can we add to the crazy amount of press and publicity surrounding the release of here latest record Middle Cyclone? Maybe nothing. But what the heck, we love Neko Case, we have for years. From The Virginian to Furnace Room Lullaby to Blacklisted to Canadian Amp, and of course we were early champions of the New Pornographers, especially the Neko fronted Mass Romantic. Hell, way back in the day, she even played in the band Cub with our very own Cup!!
But by now, you've probably been inundated by images of Ms Case, interviews, magazine covers, there was even a mini documentary on the front page of Amazon, this record is getting one heck of a push, the weird thing is it doesn't really need it. On its own, minus the publicity and all the various other efforts to promote the woman and her album, the music itself speaks for itself. Lush but obviously hand crafted, the lyrics as ever are smart and wry and funny and bittersweet, the songs are fantastic, varied, played by a crack back up band, and then there's Case's voice, which as many others have stated before us is truly a force of nature. One of those once in an era voices. Dark and sultry and sonorous, but so strong and powerful, the old adage about singing the phone book, can now be applied to anything, programming code, microwave instructions, with Case, whatever it is becomes a gorgeous sweetly sour heartbreaker.
Plenty has been written about the making of Middle Cyclone too, but for those who don't have TV or radio or internet, we'll tell you much of this record was recorded using a handful of pianos Case got for free on Craig's List, set up in her drafty old barn, on the Vermont farm she now calls home. And that 'piano orchestra' is a wonder, each piano's inconsistencies blending with the other pianos, all blending together into a sound impossibly lush and totally unique. The various parts recorded in the barn also peppered with the sound of crickets and frogs outside, wind whipping through the eaves, all adding to the personal and intimate vibe that the record already had in spades.
From brooding ballad, to country rocker, to epic slow burner, every song here is a gem. After a few listens we're liking it way more than Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. There's even a Sparks cover! And a Nilssen cover! Both easily and fully transformed into what are essentially Case originals.
And if it wasn't already a stone cold classic, the 31 minute bonus track pushes Middle Cyclone into utter aQ obsession territory, with what is essentially a half hour long field recording of crickets! So great!
MPEG Stream: "This Tornado Loves Me"
MPEG Stream: "The Next Time You Say Forever"
MPEG Stream: "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Forget Me"

CASE, NEKO The Tigers Have Spoken (Anti) cd 13.98
Yay! How long has it been since we've had a new album from Neko? Over two years now, and that's too damn long. In lieu of her new studio album, due out sometime in the near future, we're graced with a nice live album by one of our favorite voices. All the tracks were recorded within the last year and more importantly, all but two (including the title track to her last studio album) are either covers or songs which Neko collaborated on with co-conspirators The Sadies. The exciting news is that the two exceptions are brand new originals ("If You Knew" and the title track to this here cd), and it's no surprise that they're pretty darn great! Neko picks up tunes by a wide range of songwriters including Buffy Sainte-Marie ("Soulful Shade of Blue"), Loretta Lynn ("Rated X"), The Shangri-Las ("Train From Kansas City") and old standards like "This Little Light" (an absolutely rip-snortin' rendition!) and "The Wayfaring Stranger" which is graced by a full chorus of voices on the, uh, choruses. Take that, Grand Ol' Opry! Plus she includes some of her own crowd faves such as the aptly titled, achingly beautiful "Favorite". Knowing Neko, you can bet there's gobs and gobs of 'room' on this recording, and by that we mean the gal loves her reverb. Neko is joined on stage here by The Sadies along with Jon Rauhouse on pedal steel, guitarist Brian Connelly, Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark among others.
MPEG Stream: "Train From Kansas City"
MPEG Stream: "Wayfaring Stranger"

CASE, NEKO & HER BOYFRIENDS Furnace Room Lullabys (Lance Rock Records) lp 19.98
Finally Available on Vinyl!
What we said when the cd came out: Here it is! The much anticipated follow-up to Neko Case's fabulous debut album of 1997 The Virginian. Have no fear, this ain't no faux-country a la Shania Twain or Dixie Chicks, No! Ms Case has some unbelievable true blue old-school country pipes and spirit (that have drawn many comparisons to kd lang and Loretta Lynn). Indeed, hers is a voice that can lift your heart and let it soar or wrap it in velvet aches... or pick you up by the seat of your pants and give it a swift kick. This time around she's got a band with a solid line-up backing her up; one with whom she's toured and written most of the songs on this album. Plus her usual lengthy list of guest players, among them Brian Connelly (formerly of Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet, a truly awesome guitarist in his own right but perhaps most noted for writing the theme to 'Kids In The Hall'), Carl Newman (guitarist/vocalist of Zumpano, Superconductor, and The New Pornographers) and her labelmates The Sadies and Kelly Hogan. Whereas on her first record half of the songs were loving cover versions of many of her old favorites and inspirations, this album is wonderfully all her own.
MPEG Stream: "Set Out Running"
MPEG Stream: "Bought & Sold"
MPEG Stream: "Mood To Burn Bridges"
MPEG Stream: "Furnace Room Lullaby"

CASE, NEKO AND HER BOYFRIENDS Furnace Room Lullaby (Bloodshot / Mint) cd 14.98
Here it is! The much anticipated follow-up to Neko Case's fabulous debut album of 1997 "The Virginian". Have no fear, this ain't no faux-country a la Shania Twain or Dixie Chicks, No! Ms Case has some unbelievable true blue old-school country pipes and spirit (that have drawn many comparisons to kd lang and Loretta Lynn). Indeed, hers is a voice that can lift your heart and let it soar or wrap it in velvet aches... or pick you up by the seat of your pants and give it a swift kick. This time around she's got a band with a solid line-up backing her up; one with whom she's toured and written most of the songs on this album. Plus her usual lengthy list of guest players among them Brian Connelly (formerly of Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet, a truly awesome guitarist in his own right but perhaps most noted for writing the theme to 'Kids In The Hall'), Carl Newman (guitarist/vocalist of Zumpano, Superconductor, and The New Pornographers) and her labelmates The Sadies and Kelly Hogan. Whereas on her first record half of the songs were loving cover versions of many of her old favorites and inspirations, this album is wonderfully all her own.
MPEG Stream: "Set Out Running"
MPEG Stream: "Bought & Sold"
MPEG Stream: "Mood To Burn Bridges"
MPEG Stream: "Furnace Room Lullaby"

CASE, NEKO AND HER BOYFRIENDS The Virginian (Mint) cd 16.98
If you've recently been floored by the voice and music of "Furnace Room Lullaby" (Neko Case and Her Boyfriends' second full length), then you surely must grab hold of this beauty. The Virginian is what started Neko on her recording career down the old country path. Formerly the drummer for Vancouver based pop punk bands Maow and cub, Neko returned to her roots with this album comprised of equal parts originals and covers. Schooled in her youth by her grandmother in the sounds of such country greats as Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson, Neko can belt them out with the best. The twelve tracks here run the gamut from rollicking, playful numbers such as "Karoline" and "Honky Tonk Hiccups" to moving heartbreakers such as "Somebody Led Me Away". Also check out the great version of "Bowling Green". Guest stars include: Brian Connelly (Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet), Rose Melberg (Softies, Tiger Trap), Carl Newman (Zumpano, Superconductor). Very recommended, just ask Cup who got to hear these songs on a daily basis when she and Neko were roomies.
MPEG Stream: "The Virginian"
MPEG Stream: "Karoline"
MPEG Stream: "Somebody Led Me Away"

CASH, JOHNNY American III: Solitary Man (American) cd 16.98
Long awaited new record from Johnny Cash features 4 originals plus, interestingly, covers of such diverse songwriters as Tom Petty, Palace's Will Oldham (Will even sings backup vocals), Nick Cave, U2, and Neil Diamond. Is he really a FAN of, say, Will Oldham, or is producer Rick Rubin turning him onto this stuff (we think the latter). Some of the delivery is a bit wooden, but hey that's Cash's style, and the music definitely benefits from the added talents of Merle Haggard, Benmont Tench, Randy Scruggs, Marty Stuart, June Carter Cash, etc.
RealAudio clip: "I See a Darkness (by Will Oldham)"
RealAudio clip: "The Mercy Seat (by Nick Cave and Mick Harvey)"

CASH, JOHNNY American V (American) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Right up to the time of his death Johnny Cash was still very much alive, thinking, breathing and making amazing music. The partnership he forged with Rick Rubin was incredibly special, not the normal artist producer relationship as is evidenced in the five albums they made together. These records, in many ways, gave Cash a new lease on life and helped to introduce his music to a whole new generation. You can't escape the feeling that Cash knew his last days were near as he was recording his vocals for this record. Almost like he knew if he stopped making music he would die. There is a vulnerability and hurt in his words yet his undying spirit remained fully intact. While past entries in the American series featured many contemporary and surprising covers (Bonnie Prince Billy, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, etc) this final disc found Cash covering more traditional sorts of tunes by songwriters like Larry Gatlin, Gordon Lightfoot, Hank Williams, Bruce Springsteen, etc. As always Cash always makes the songs very much his own with his timeless crooning and undeniable charisma. There were rumors that Cash had heard a Black Heart Procession record that he fell in love with and was going to cover one of their songs, it never happened but listening to "God's Gonna Cut You Down" you can hear that some of their sound still seeped into his delivery and into Rubin's production. So great how someone who was a legend, and with a clearly defined sound, was always still soaking in so much from the world around him. A heartbreaking, but amazing swansong. A final classic recording in an amazing musical career.
MPEG Stream: "God's Gonna Cut You Down"
MPEG Stream: "Like The 309"

CASH, JOHNNY American VI: Ain't No Grave (American) cd 13.98
Like Tupac, Johnny Cash keeps putting out records from the great beyond. American VI: Ain't No Grave is billed as his last recordings before passing away. And it marked another collaboration between him and producer Rick Rubin, who really did help inject new life into Cash and Cash's music at the dusk of his career. Like many of the Cash / Rubin American recordings, VI features lots of covers (Kris Kristofferson, Tom Paxton, Porter Wagoner, Sheryl Crow even, etc.). But it's the albums lead off track, the crushing, mournful yet triumphant "Ain't No Grave" that really steals the show. It's like some amazing deep and soulful and apocalyptic country-gospel DOOM. Unfortunately the rest of the record doesn't quite live up to the power of that lead off track, but damn we've been listening to that one on repeat...
MPEG Stream: "Ain't No Grave"
MPEG Stream: "Cool Water"
MPEG Stream: "Satisfied Mind"

CASH, JOHNNY American VI: Ain't No Grave (American) lp 13.98
Like Tupac, Johnny Cash keeps putting out records from the great beyond. American VI: Ain't No Grave is billed as his last recordings before passing away. And it marked another collaboration between him and producer Rick Rubin, who really did help inject new life into Cash and Cash's music at the dusk of his career. Like many of the Cash / Rubin American recordings, VI features lots of covers (Kris Kristofferson, Tom Paxton, Porter Wagoner, Sheryl Crow even, etc.). But it's the albums lead off track, the crushing, mournful yet triumphant "Ain't No Grave" that really steals the show. It's like some amazing deep and soulful and apocalyptic country-gospel DOOM. Unfortunately the rest of the record doesn't quite live up to the power of that lead off track, but damn we've been listening to that one on repeat...
MPEG Stream: ""
MPEG Stream: ""
MPEG Stream: ""

CASH, JOHNNY At Folsom Prison (Sony) cd 9.98

CASH, JOHNNY At Folsom Prison (Sony / BMG) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

CASH, JOHNNY At Folsom Prison (Sundazed) lp 21.00

CASH, JOHNNY At Madison Square Garden (Columbia) cd 16.98
Johnny Cash is finally released from prison, so to speak. Previously unreleased, this 1969 live recording finds Johnny performing to a packed crowd of non-incarcerated fans in New York City. The concert is presented in its entirety, with all of Johnny's remarks -- both rehearsed and off the cuff -- included, retaining the live feel of this concert recording that's so often lost in most efficiently trimmed and crossfaded live albums. As well as being accompanied by his band, the Tennessee Three (Marshall Grant on bass, W.S. Holland on drums and Bob Wooten on electric guitar) there are several guest appearances from The Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins, The Carter Family and even Johnny's younger brother Tommy. The resulting 26 songs on the setlist have a running time just under 80 minutes, so you're getting your money's worth in time alone. Along with all this are included a couple reviews of the concert, including one that appeared originally in the New York Post three days after the performance.
RealAudio clip: "Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream"
RealAudio clip: "He Turned The Water Into Wine"

CASH, JOHNNY At San Quentin - Legacy Edition Box Set (Columbia) 2cd+1dvd 45.00