Product Description

Neko's many fans hang on her impressionistic lyrics, classic pop harmonics, and luxurious voice, and her new album revels in all three. MIDDLE CYCLONE fuses her longtime themes of nature versus man into a shining lyrical broadsword. Numerous guests include M. Ward, Garth Hudson of the Band, Sarah Harmer, and members of the New Pornographers, Los Lobos, Calexico, the Sadie's, Visqueen, the Lilys, and Giant Sand.

Amazon.com

Its apt that this record opens with tense, trembling guitar tones: ominous beacons of the gale-force songs to come. Middle Cyclone finds Neko Case--she of the flaming hair and unforgettably tremendous voice--returning to the darkly romantic sound of 2006s near-perfect Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, only this time the songs are even more fervid and more troubled. Take the title track, a sylphic, heartbreaking confession of love. Case has never had qualms about baring her soul; by now its actually a signature element of her charm and power as a performer. And whether shes declaring herself a maneater (People Got A Lotta Nerve) or covering Harry Nilsson (the touchingly plaintive Dont Forget Me), the results are always epic and visually loaded. The Pharaohs, for example, might be the best ancient Egyptian-themed love song ever written. Middle Cyclones biggest statement, though, is the sprawling, organ-driven Im An Animal, in which Case doesnt so much sing as brazenly, decisively intone, Im an animal / Youre an animal too. Neko Cases frequent employment of nature-based imagery--singing magpies, tornadoes, killer whales--only underscores the sweeping, organic quality of her music. --Erin Thompson

• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
• Product Dimensions : 4.88 x 5.55 x 0.43 inches; 3.03 ounces
• Manufacturer : Anti
• Original Release Date : 2009
• Date First Available : December 3, 2008
• Label : Anti
• Number of discs : 1