Neko Case : Middle Cyclone

  Barry Mirochnick - Drums
  Carl Newman - Vocals (Background), Choir, Chorus
  Carolyn Mark - Vocals (Background)
  Dallas Good - Guitar (Electric), Fuzz Guitar
  Garth Hudson - Organ, Piano
  Howe Gelb - Piano, Guitar (Electric)
  Joey Burns - Bass, Cello, Bowed Bass
  John Convertino - Drums
  Jon Rauhouse - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Pedal Steel, Guitar (Steel), Hawaiian Guitar
  Kelly Hogan - Vocals (Background)
  Kurt Heasley - Guitar, Vocals (Background), Choir, Chorus
  Lucy Roche - Vocals (Background)
  M. Ward - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar
  Neko Case - Guitar (Electric), Tambourine, Vocals, Vocals (Background), Guitar (8 String)
  Nora O'Connor - Vocals (Background)
  Paul Rigby - Organ, Dulcimer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Piano, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (12 String Electric), Guitar (12 String Acoustic)
  Rachel Flotard - Vocals (Background), Choir, Chorus
  Sarah Harmer - Vocals
  Steve Berlin - Organ, MIDI Sax
  Tara Szczygielski - Violin
  Travis Good - Guitar (Electric)

Neko Case looks formidable on the cover of Middle Cyclone, brandishing a sword in one hand while crouching low on a muscle car's hood. It's mostly camp, of course -- the sort of superwoman image Quentin Tarantino might have used for Death Proof's ad campaign -- but it also draws contrast with the songwriter's previous albums, two of which featured moody shots of Case sprawled on the floor, ostensibly knocked out. Middle Cyclone isn't the polar opposite of Blacklisted's downcast Americana; there are still moments of heartbreak on this release, and Case channels the sad cowgirl blues with all the rustic nuance of Patsy Cline. Multiple years in the New Pornographers' employ have brightened her outlook, however, and Middle Cyclone balances its melancholia with some of the most pop-oriented choruses of Case's career. 'I'm a man-man-maneater,' she sings during 'People Got a Lotta Nerve,' a snappy nugget of harmonies and jangled guitar that helps strengthen her Mercury Cougar-riding cover pose. The mammal metaphors continue with 'I'm an Animal,' where a coed choir hums a wordless, hooky refrain. Such songs are still rife with earth tones, perhaps preferring the Southern comfort of roots music to the sparkle of Carl Newman's power pop, but their venture into brighter territory is both assured and tuneful.Of course, Neko Case already explored the animal world with 2006's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, and Middle Cyclone devotes more time to weather, nature, and the stormy atmospherics of her backup band. There are few voices as hauntingly beautiful as Case's alto, a siren call fashioned from country's might and pop's melody, and she trains those tones over a number of semi-ballads, from the cinematic 'Prison Girls' (a country-noir love letter to someone with 'long shadows and gunpowder eyes') to the sparse title track. She does a surprise duet with chirping birds during 'Polar Nettles' -- a result of the pastoral recording sessions, which took place in a barn -- before offering up a cover of Sparks' 'Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth,' which very well may be the album's mission statement. There's still room to tackle love from the perspective of different characters -- a man in 'Vengeance Is Sleeping,' a disbeliever in 'The Next Time You Say Forever,' a smitten wind vortex in 'This Tornado Loves You' -- but nature remains at the forefront of Middle Cyclone, whose 14 songs conclude with a half-hour field recording of chirping crickets and frogs. Moody, cinematic, and engaging throughout, Cyclone is another tour de force from Neko Case, if not as immediately arresting as Fox Confessor. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide

2009 album from the singer/songwriter, her first studio album in three years. With Neko's indefatigable touring band building the bedrock of the tracks, Case was able to bring in a collection of friends and fellow travelers including M. Ward, Garth Hudson, Sarah Harmer, and members of The New Pornographers, Los Lobos, Calexico, The Sadies, Visqueen, The Lilys, and Giant Sand. From the ragtag 'piano orchestra' that drives the Phil Spector majesty of 'Don't Forget Me,' to the guitar/vocal intimacy of 'Middle Cyclone,' this album represents both a continuation and a profound leap for Neko Case - the fusing of her long-term themes of nature vs. man into a shining lyrical broadsword, like the one she wields on the album cover.