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EDIT INFONeko Case - Middle Cyclone
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Album Details
- Artist: Neko Case
- Album: Middle Cyclone
- Label: Anti
- Year of Release: 2009
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: tosnob on 2009-03-19
Media
RecommendNeko Case seems to have an unhealthy preoccupation with romancing funnel clouds on her forthcoming album Middle Cyclone. I for one don't think making love to a tornado is really that appealing an idea.
Middle Cyclone kicks off with a bang. "This Tornado Loves You" sets an uptempo tone, uncommon for a Case album. The lead single, "People Got A Lotta Nerve" is plucky and fast paced, making great use of Case's big lunged voice.
Unfortunately, the album quickly settles into a twangy rut. Slowing to a crawl, and lacking the punch of Case's vocals, many of the songs onMiddle Cyclone tend to run together. Distinguishing one from another becomes a challenge.
When Case does give us her booming vocals, like on "Magpie In the Morning", the results are incredible. She simply smolders on "Prison Girls", giving it a '60s spy movie aura. Sadly those songs are too few and far between on the record.
We are treated to a couple of strong covers. Case does an excellent job on The Sparks' "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" and Harry Nilsson's "Don't Forget Me".
Despite a plethora of guest artists including: Kelly Hogan, M. Ward, Sarah Harmer, and members of The New Pornographers, Los Lobos, and Calexico, Middle Cyclone fails to rise to the occasion...that's not to mention the 30-minute closing track which features little more than crickets chirping.
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on 2010-04-19 Jonathan_Kroening Said:
Middle Cyclone shapes a palpable ambience through dense imagery and crafty vocals.
Partially committed to tape in a barn on a farm in Vermont, Neko Cases Middle Cyclone has a noticeable field recording feel that reminisces of a moonlit night and a sea of crickets. In addition to the nearly 32-minute track of just that (crickets in a field) the ambience is felt even in the strumming of the acoustic and the abstinence of Cases vocals. The power of her voice is at times calculatedly restrained, yet still manages to carry all the weight of a belted refrain. Her tone is stoic and sober which lends itself to the mood of each of the fourteen songs in a unique way and thus makes what is not a superlative album impressive for its sheer quantity of songs with memorable hooks.
Middle Cyclone develops themes of nature and dreams and in the first track, This Tornado Loves You , Case appears to be comparing her love to that of the path of a violent wind funnel. In a tone of desperate surrender she sings of an unrequited love. This sad mode continues in The Next Time You Say Forever but is brought to an abrupt halt when the roles are reversed in the standout track People Got A Lotta Nerve , where the narrator is now delivering a warning that she is a man-eater that will take half your leg and both your lungs .
Further along in the album the titular track follows a simple two-chord pattern making it an easy song to like, but an even easier song to quickly tire of. In contrast, the next track Fever is an experimental depiction of a fever dream. Beginning in 4/4 time it quickly falls into a deep sleep of 6/8 and factories and anthills. Decipherable or not, this fever dream is one of the most creative tunes of the album.
Prison Girls offers a groovy instrumental beneath another lyric preoccupied with dream states. The Pharoahs is a pop standard tune of longing with yet another application of tornado imagery, and closer Red Tide is also buoyed by intense imagery as a song that seeks to fend off the stench of cynicism.
Cases alternative country-rock stylings give Middle Cyclone the feel that were sitting on a porch in the Midwest while neighbors chase tornadoes. And at each turn, song by song, there is a clairvoyance of impending doom. Yet the faint hope is that if one can make it to the eye of the storm perhaps there will be a moments peace. Those moments are found all over this album.
3 / 5 stars
- Jonathan Kroening
http://www.itsjustmusic.net
Rating: 6/10
