Neko Case Blacklisted Zip

Neko Case is blessed with a dynamic clarion of a voice- emotionally powerful, yet expressing a beguiling openness and vulnerability. On this, her third full-length record, she's left the scattershot variety of her debut, 'The Virginian' and the torch and twang-rock of her follow-up 'Furnace Room Lullaby' behind for darker territory. Listen to Blacklisted on Spotify. Neko Case Album 2002 14 songs.

Overview

While the spare and often haunted sound of Neko Case's home-recorded Canadian Amp EP seemed at the time like a late-night detour from alt-country's leading songbird of the North, listening to Case's first full-length album following Canadian Amp suggests it may have been the first step along a new and different path for her. Blacklisted is a considerably darker and more understated affair than The Virginian or Furnace Room Lullaby, and its sometimes stark, sometimes elegant 3 a.m. sound is informed as much by pop, jazz, and blues flavors as the country & western-slanted melodies of her first two solo albums. Which isn't to say Blacklisted is a total departure for Neko Case; her big, bold, but silky smooth voice is still a thing of beauty, and if anything, she's still learning more remarkable things she can do with it, with the result being some of her finest and most insightful performances to date. And Case continues to grow as a songwriter; penning most of the album all by herself, Case is a lyricist willing to answer to both her heart and her head, and she had a fine ear for a melody to boot. With Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico, Howe Gelb of Giant Sand, Dallas Good of the Sadies, and Kelly Hogan all contributing to Blacklisted, Neko Case has crafted an album whose quiet drift only adds to its power; it's hard to say if hanging out with Nick Cave on tour had much of an influence on her, but this disc sounds a bit like Case's version of The Boatman's Call, a personal exploration of the heart and soul that proves sad and beautiful can often walk hand in hand. Highly recommended. [Blacklisted was re-released on LP in 2016.]

Album

Relationships

Discogs:	https://www.discogs.com/master/33141[info]
reviews:	https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/bxn8[info]
Allmusic:	https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000227893[info]
Wikidata:	Q4923119[info]

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Neko Case Blacklisted Zip Download

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Already doing fine business in the UK as an import, this third album by Ms Case advances the argument that the North American continent at present produces the best modernfolk music that speaks from a tradition unbroken by generation gaps or stylistic differences. Whereas the UK seems shackled to the notion of tradition as a fixed and immutable entity akin to sacred texts resistant to any modernising blasphemy, the USA constantly plays with the notions of its past, bending genres to reflect present-day concerns. Touted as alt country, Blacklisted is, simply put, a country folk album that is as modern as it can be. Oh yes - and it's also a work of some beauty.

From indie roots in Vancouver's Maow, Case has steadily turned a love affair with Nashville (and Loretta Lynn in particular) into a career that's wholly her own. Recognizing talented co-conspirators is already an established talent for her (the last album, Furnace Room Lullaby featured Ron Sexsmith) and this time she's wisely teamed up with Giant Sand/Calexico luminaries Joey Burns, Howe Gelb and John Convertino. Along with Mary Margaret O'Hara guesting on backing vocals this adds up to a fabulously dark slice of future folk. Whereas Gelb and Co. have the dry desert textures of Arizona as their touchstone, Neko utilises an eery early-hours-insomnia spaciness in the production, to bring to mind whistling pines in a deserted northern forest.

Brian Connelly's baritone guitar recalls a Twin Peaks-style murderous undertone, especially on 'Deep Red Bells' and 'Tightly', and it's this aspect of Case's work that impresses most. In the same vein as tour-mate Nick Cave she employs a disturbingly accurate 50s retro feel to subvert her very modern tales of distrust and displacement. On 'Look For Me (I'll Be Around)' her voice (and what a voice -all Rosemary Clooney meets Shelby Lynne) soars over toothsome vibes and vibrato guitar in a way that just makes one think of soda pop, truck stops and menace - all at the same time. If further proof were needed as to her abilities, it's not everyone who could take on an Aretha Franklin standard ('Runnin' Out Of Fools') and come away with their head held high. She does.

Neko Case Blacklisted Zipper

This isn't to say that Blacklisted strays too far from a country template. Opener 'Things That Scare Me' is as valid a contemporary take on Bluegrass as any Union Station track you'd care to mention, while 'Stinging Velvet' has all the best music row licks buried in its heart. It's just marvellous that America still has the ability to revitalise its indigenous art forms. Another blow against those who equate country with stultifying conservatism. Rednecks beware -these currents run deep...

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