From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V8 #53 Reply-To: loud-fans@smoe.org Sender: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk loud-fans-digest Thursday, March 12 2009 Volume 08 : Number 053 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [loud-fans] Neko Case [Gil Ray ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:56:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Gil Ray Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Neko Case Ok, I just went through it the second time, this time in more optimal listening conditions (my car), and musically and arrangement-wise I believe she has taken a pretty good sized leap forward. Always a good thing! Much more sophisticated arrangements. As Bradley mentions, her lyrics are fabulous and not the usual stuff. Maybe it's her singing cadence that gets a wee bit monotonous for me... I bet I'll be raving on the 3rd listen. Gil - --- On Tue, 3/10/09, treesprite@earthlink.net wrote: > From: treesprite@earthlink.net > Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Neko Case > To: loud-fans@smoe.org > Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 11:00 PM > I guess i've had a somewhat different experience with > Neko's stuff. I haven't warmed to the NPs at all, > and though I liked the Furnace Room Lullaby quite a bit, I > wasn't a huge fan of her more straightforward, > alt-country stuff (in the studio anyhow -- she's always > been amazing live.) It wasn't until Fox Confessor that I > really thought she was on to something -- and it was partly > because I thought she'd finally started writing more > melodically realized songs. "More pop" instead of > "less pop", in other words! It's funny how > that perception can differ from listener to listener! I also > love how she's found her own voice as a lyricist -- > it's really distinctive and evocative, almost like folk > songs drawn from a mythology of her own creation. She's > become one of my very favorite artists with these past two > records. > The live record's great, too -- I actually think her > version of "The Train From Kansas City" might be > the definitive one! Blasphemy. > I worked with Neko briefly at a record store in Tacoma. I > was 16 and too nervous to talk to her. The great Tacoma > garage band Girl Trouble wrote a song about her called > "Neko Loves Rock'n'Roll", long before > anyone knew what a brilliant singer and writer she was going > to be. She appears in one of their videos as a go-go dancer. > I've got a tape of that somewhere... > > I forgot to mention that the Dan Auerbach solo album is > really great. I haven't really liked the Black Keys > much, but the solo album is really soulful and interesting. > > And the Morrissey record just gets better and better. How > did he manage to land a Jeff Beck cameo? Bizarre. > > B ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V8 #53 ******************************