Earlier this month Neko Case was a guest curator on TCM. She showed four of her favorite films and then discussed them with Robert Osborne; this was one of the few times I wish I had cable.
What movies did she pick?
If I were you, I’d check out these flicks. I’m sure my baby wouldn’t lead you astray. And if that weren’t enough fun for this Friday here’s a link to Neko performing live; thanks to NPR for posting this for free earlier this year.
At the 5 o’clock hour this morning, while I waited for a reel to wrap after five hours on the job, I ran out for coffee. In the car I caught the tail end of an interview and I knew I had to hear the whole thing.
At the 7 o’clock hour I caught NPR interviewing Rachel Flotard, lead singer of Visqueen, about her latest album, “Message to Garcia“.
Allow me a digression. I stumbled upon this band and album when Amazon offered a free download of the lead single and said “…with Neko Case singing back up.” Here’s that song.
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The song kicked around my iPod and I kinda liked, it was growing on me, but there was also this “other” attraction. It’s hard to describe but that song was resonating with the dark of my heart and creating some interesting harmonies. I download the rest of the album from eMusic and my unspoken relationship with this set of songs grew more intense. I can’t tell you how many hours I sat absorbing the pop-rock that emanated from my speakers.
And then I heard this NPR interview
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I sat in my car leveled. It all makes perfect sense. I get why that harmony happened. I now love this album and band more that you can possibly imagine, more than I care to share.
That’s all I have to say about that.
As the summer of 2009 draws to a close, allow me a few minutes to look back at what I did for my summer vacation.
Vacation? Bull! I worked my ass off this summer (and I managed to have some fun, too). What did I do this summer?
I’d say that’s a pretty damn productive summer.
Of all the pop shows I’ve seen at The Hollywood Bowl, this was by far the most consistently enjoyable. By that, I mean that all the bands were good, not one was a dud (as is usually the case but I’ll address that phenomenon at the end of this post).
The first opener was The New Pornographers. While their melodies are sweet, clean pop confections their sound last night was anything but. It felt like they needed another 30 minutes for a sound check… or maybe the bowl just swallowed them up. It’s been known to happen to good bands and I can vouch for The New Pornographers. These guys rocked their SXSW set a few years back.
Also, as good as their female singer was, she can’t compare to the power and clarity of Neko Case.
The second opener was Tegan and Sara and they were much improved since I saw them open for Ryan Adams (dude, when you gonna make another album that floors us?). First, it helped that this time they had a backing band; the two of them acoustic = tedious. Second, their sound was clean and tight (New Pornographers, take note of what they did for next time). Lastly, these two girl have a great stage presence/banter. They reminded me of the Smothers Brothers. Hey, Logo, are you developing a variety hour for these two?
Finally, Death Cab for Cutie took the stage. Like all previous pop acts that have played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the first half of Death Cab’s set was loaded with their heavier songs while the second half focused on slower songs with a more cinematic scope. In my humble opinion, I thought Death Cab did a great job.
Now, those points I was going to address. First, The Hollywood Bowl is an unforgiving space for pop acts. While it’s a cool novelty for a band to play there and it’s awesome that the audience can bring in a picnic, I think most bands should avoid the Bowl. Second, if you’re gonna play with the LA Philharmonic, embrace it, don’t treat it like jamming with a buddy. Death Cab should have dumped their usual instruments and only had the orchestra backing them. That would have been amazing. Lastly, Transatlanticism is their best album but this might be my favorite song/video of theirs:
Sigh.
This tall, red-headed southern chanteuse is my latest obsession and with good reason. I caught her at The Greek Theater and her voice was crisp, clear and powerful. Every note perfect.
The opening act was Jason Lytle (lead singer of Grandaddy). As I sat down in my seat, he got up and said, “good night!” Oh well. Not who I was there to see.
Neko played a lot of songs off the new album, tons of old hits, a few covers and a couple of deep cuts. According to her, she’ll be back in LA this fall. Don’t miss her.
Do you want a free song by this chanteuse?
I have two Starbucks cards for a free Neko Case download I’ll never use (I already own the album). As they expire in seven days and I’d rather spread the good word of Neko than throw them away, drop me a line and I’ll give you one. In return, all that I ask is that you post your thoughts about song on my blog. Also, I have one free song by The Airborne Toxic Event and one by The Boxer Rebellion for the first person that asks.
Have you ever been so badly wrecked by a woman that she haunts your dreams for years to come? Have you ever had a woman swear up and down how much she loves you and her proof was the swath of destruction that lead right to your door? Did she cruelly cut you down without an iota of hesitation and then instead of offering you the decency of an apology she just sighed, “what did you expect?” Does this jubilant song ring painfully true?
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If so, then allow me to introduce you to an artist & album you’ll want to get to know better.
Those of you outside of the indie music or alt-country scenes may have never heard of Neko Case and while this album is not for everyone let me tell you that the first three tracks will knock you out. First they’ll hit you in the gut, then sock you in the heart and finally finish you off with a perfectly landed blow to the flat of your face.
Picking yourself up from the ground, you’ll tilt your head to the sky and see this undeniable sight.
Goddamn it! I’m in love again.
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Oh, how I look forward to Neko haunting my dreams.
(BTW, these MP3s are available for free from Stereogum)
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