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Middle Cyclone |  | Artist: Neko Case
Label: Anti
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $9.95
as of 7/29/2010 18:44 PDT details
You Save: $8.03 (45%)
New (30) Used (8) from $7.17
Seller: beaches_entertainment
Rating:  109 reviews
Sales Rank: 1394
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.4
UPC: 045778697328
EAN: 0045778697328
ASIN: B001MWGZDG
Release Date: March 3, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | This Tornado Loves You | | • | The Next Time You Say "Forever" | | • | People Got A Lotta Nerve | | • | Polar Nettles | | • | Vengeance Is Sleeping | | • | Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth | | • | Middle Cyclone | | • | Fever | | • | Magpie To The Morning | | • | I'm An Animal | | • | Prison Girls | | • | Don't Forget Me | | • | The Pharaohs | | • | Red Tide | | • | Marais La Nuit |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Middle Cyclone is the fifth studio album of American alternative country singer-songwriter Neko Case, released on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 on the ANTI- record label. Her first solo effort in three years, Case stated that "it took a very long time to make." As the title of the album suggests, the record's lyrics are permeated with imagery of tornadoes and, more generally, nature. Thematically Middle Cyclone concerns how Case's upbringing socialized her to form strong emotional attachments to nature and animals, to the neglect of human relationships, and her reconciling "the fact that I need love".
Amazon.com
It’s 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 2006’s 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 it’s actually a signature element of her charm and power as a performer. And whether she’s declaring herself a maneater (“People Got A Lotta Nerve”) or covering Harry Nilsson (the touchingly plaintive “Don’t 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 Cyclone’s biggest statement, though, is the sprawling, organ-driven “I’m An Animal,” in which Case doesn’t so much sing as brazenly, decisively intone, “I’m an animal / You’re an animal too.” Neko Case’s frequent employment of nature-based imagery--singing magpies, tornadoes, killer whales--only underscores the sweeping, organic quality of her music. --Erin Thompson
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 109
 Orchestral and Dark: In Defense of Frogs March 4, 2009
Lara Chetkovich (Houston, TX United States)
85 out of 97 found this review helpful
I'm going to start my review talking about the album art, which is spectacular. It has more of Neko's signature artwork than her other albums and expresses the concept of the album much like her drawings on "The Tigers Have Spoken" and "Fox Confessor"--if there were some kind of award for this, Neko would win it.
What is so great about Neko Case is that nobody captures the essence of nostalgia quite like her. Her nostalgia is not the sentimental kind--not a wistful longing for what once was--but a deep ache for what we have unthinkingly destroyed. Her voice itself has an organic reverb that is not created by a production mixer. For people who tuned into Neko as an indie rocker, I encourage you to download individual tracks that sound like her old work, like "This Tornado Loves You" and "The Pharoahs"--"Middle Cyclone" is kind of a departure from her previous work if you are looking for songs that use her voice as the main instrument to play darkness with sweet melodies.
"Middle Cyclone" uses experimental sounds like the "piano orchestra" made up of forsaken and abandoned pianos, music boxes, and the notorious 32 minute track of frogs being so panned by critics. I think these experimental instrumental changes make the album less "poppy" because they decenter Neko's vocals inside a wall of sound, a move that reflects her collaborations with the New Pornographers and The Sadies. I'm really curious how these arrangements will play live on tour. I think some fans are going to be disappointed with "Middle Cyclone," though there are a few catchy tunes on the album. Long-time fans will see this album as a constellation of her work with other musicians, a return to psychedelic instrumentation, and "get" the centerpiece--a rework of the 1974 "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth."
About the frogs. The 32 minutes of frogs, which play like a sleep-sound machine at the end of the album, had the same impact on me as the song "The Tigers Have Spoken." They're lovely, like the melody to "Tigers," but their message is wrenching. How many of us would give anything to fall asleep to the sound of real frogs rather than blasting a sound machine of "nature" to mask the noise pollution of subwoofer terrorists, the whine of freeways and traffic, and the hum of our own houses/heads? What we have damaged is irretrievable...completely razed. Like the found pianos that make up the piano orchestra on the album, the frogs are free to sing; Neko found some frogs outside of the barn-studio that make a wall of sound; it is a frog orchestra. For the "Mother Earth" we have turned our backs on, not a maudlin song about saving, but a long, dark goodbye.
Let's Play Twister March 3, 2009
Chuck Hancock (McDonough GA)
28 out of 35 found this review helpful
Another good one from Neko Case and her band. This CD has all that Neko's fans have come to expect from her, chapter 5 of her studio releases, if you will. The melodies resonate strongly with those on her earlier works. Her fans will recognize the instrumental invention here as a direct descendant of the previous albums. Where she breaks new ground is the subject matter of her lyrics: more love songs - with a twist. Neko still delivers the dark stuff, too, but just in smaller doses. Oh, yeah, let's don't forget the perfect backing vocals thoughout - but especially in "Prison Girls".
The trajectory of the album, overall, is remarkable. It starts out with high energy for 3 songs. Then, the good stuff, the middle songs, and here going on for 11 tracks strong. By the time you get to the last track, you're ready to wind down.
If you like Neko, you'll probably love this CD. Not revolutionary, just a nice evolution. And you can still count the animal references! Way to go y'all!!
It comes as no surprise April 11, 2009
Steve M. Tornatore (San Francisco, California)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
A review in The New Yorker claims "Middle Cyclone" is Neko Case's best album "by a generous margin." This at first seemed misleading because all of her albums are very good. I have given it over a month before writing this review and have to say that this album is so good that the New Yorker claim now doesn't seem so overblown. Last week, "The Pharaohs" was my favorite song, earlier, "Vengeance Is Sleeping." This album is tremendously strong throughout. I heard "Don't Forget Me" on UC Berkeley's college radio station and to me a song hasn't sounded so precious and perfect on the radio since probably the time that song was first written (the 70's). One cannot help but be somewhat surprised at how high Ms. Case has raised the bar. Bravo!
long shadows and gunpowder eyes April 14, 2009
gonzobrarian
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Neko Case's new album Middle Cyclone, is well titled. A force of nature, it's a commanding collection of songs not only showcasing the beauty and strength of her voice, but it's also an intelligently conceived expression of a bold though suppressed anger of the overlooked feminine psyche. More overtly, the album is a warning not to overlook the force of mother nature herself; in the closing thirty minutes Case deliberately bends our ears toward the night music of the marsh, the crying of crickets and frogs. But more than that, Case alludes to the theme of the feminine being taken for granted, and the resulting cyclone in wait.
Be forewarned, the first half of the record starts with the "tiniest sparks" and the "tenderest sound", a lovely beginning to the showcase, as it were. Once the listener reaches "I'm an Animal", however, the cyclone becomes manifest, a darkening crescendo of turbulence. While all songs are fairly short and predictably impressive, the absolute masterpiece for me is the longer "Prison Girls"; it's a funeral dirge for those women eternally unimpressed, who've "traded more for cigarettes than I've managed to express".
Middle Cyclone is an hugely solid album with incredible accompaniment. The sound is awash with the drums, upright bass, piano, and guitars from eternal alt-country ambassadors Howe Gelb, Calexico, and M. Ward. Case's own band is impeccable as well, not only highlighting her voice but surrounding it with a fullness that nearly suffocating. As usual, the lyrics are as haunting as in any prior Neko Case release, too. Standing equal with Fox Confessor, Middle Cyclone is yet another jewel in Case's crown.
love-love-love it!! March 4, 2009
tankgrrl29 (Chicago-ish)
25 out of 33 found this review helpful
just picked this up this afternoon and i almost couldn't wait to finish listening so i could start it all over again!
i read the reviews on the npr site (they were streaming the cd before it was released). there were many fans who were raving, but many were disappointed. i guess i feel blessed that i don't know neko's music so well that i had any expectations, because i'm so in love with this already.
fox confessor tops my most-played in i-tunes, so i did have a bar i was holding this one up to. while there are some similarities (how could you not have, with this killer vocalist?), the make-up of the songs is different. the instruments (both traditional and non) are rich and layered. there's a ton of stuff going on, but i don't feel overwhelmed or bombarded. it feels akin to being in a forest and slowly taking each new thing into focus.
many albums start out strong only to disappoint as each subsequent track is less and less inspired. not so with Middle Cyclone. each song brings new delights and surprises.
sorry this is so subjective, but really, what about music isn't subjective? just look at the wide range of reviews from hardcore fans. all i can say is that to me it feels fresh and creative and exciting. a bit leaning toward pop, yes, but still with enough edginess to blur the lines between country and indie-rock. awesome!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 109
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