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Neko Case — Red Tide
Album: Middle Cyclone
Avg rating:
7.4

Your rating:
Total ratings: 457









Released: 2009
Length: 2:34
Plays (last 30 days): 0
There's a smell here that stands my hairs on end
Dog hair in the heater,
Gas pumps and cedar
And jack knives on the 9
And sea birds choked in fishing line

The clouds say hush but the chainsaws mush on
Through Cluster and Columbia
Salty tentacles shrink in the sun but the red tide is over
The mollusks they have won

There's a smell here of gravel and cigarettes lit
When the match made them sweet
When the engine turned over and beat up our street
Oh, that was a day to remember

I remember because of the fires that left
From the caves of the things that have not happened yet
When I think of them now they smell to me quite sinister

I want to go back and die at the drive-in
Die before strangers can say
"I hate the rain"
"I hate the rain."
Comments (68)add comment
 ziakut wrote:

Just saw her a few days ago at the Hideout in Chicago with 'Trampled by Turtles' and Mavis Staples. It was a great show. It was the first show to promote her new album on this tour...which she said will last about 2 years. She was great and her voice was stellar. I agree that Kelly Hogan seemed to try and talk quite a bit between songs...with Neko just listening and smiling or laughing. Would have rather heard Neko's comments. They were too few in my opinion. Great show nonetheless!



I was lucky enough to see Neko live just before the pandemic hit. She was amazing live and one of the best concerts I've attended.
Re Red Tide: Greetings from Florida! 
I'm pretty sure Quentin Tarantino must have done that album cover?

Just saw her a few days ago at the Hideout in Chicago with 'Trampled by Turtles' and Mavis Staples. It was a great show. It was the first show to promote her new album on this tour...which she said will last about 2 years. She was great and her voice was stellar. I agree that Kelly Hogan seemed to try and talk quite a bit between songs...with Neko just listening and smiling or laughing. Would have rather heard Neko's comments. They were too few in my opinion. Great show nonetheless!
I will weigh in since I too saw her recently...outdoors. Her voice was amazing, she seemed to take back seat to Kelly Hogan and she laughed and joked during her solo portion of the show. Quite silly she was actually. the ONLY complaint I would have is her songs are too short!

Love her more now than before I saw her live!
 ThePoose wrote:


That was confirmed for me when I saw her in concert a few months ago. Turns out her range in vocal and songwriting ability is quite limited. Plus, she has a HUGE ego, which was offputting. Sigh.



 

A couple others have already replied, both agreeing and disagreeing.

I'm a big fan, which obviously means I like her voice and song writing.

I've only seen her live once, at an outdoor show and I thought her voice was clear and strong.

As far as her ego I got exactly the opposite impression. Actually her backup singer, Kelly Hogan, handled most of the between song chat. It was as if Neko was the lead singer in Kelly's band. The very fact that the "star" didn't seem to feel threatened says to me that her ego is in check.

BTW - why no Kelly Hogan on RP?


 ThePoose wrote:


That was confirmed for me when I saw her in concert a few months ago. Turns out her range in vocal and songwriting ability is quite limited. Plus, she has a HUGE ego, which was offputting. Sigh.
 
I had the opposite experience when she was in Minnesota a couple of years ago.  She played a mid-sized theater and was very engaging.  She chatted with the audience between songs, talked about the location, and seemed pretty down to earth.  And I love her voice, limited range or not. 
 ziakut wrote:
Sigh.
 

I agree...  love this song...  love her...  sigh...
 
 ThePoose wrote:


That was confirmed for me when I saw her in concert a few months ago. Turns out her range in vocal and songwriting ability is quite limited. Plus, she has a HUGE ego, which was offputting. Sigh.
 
I just love it when someone who probably doesn't have abilities remotely like the artist assigns them self the mantle of the critic.
Sigh.
 ThePoose wrote:


That was confirmed for me when I saw her in concert a few months ago. Turns out her range in vocal and songwriting ability is quite limited. Plus, she has a HUGE ego, which was offputting. Sigh.
 
I had a similar experience in Kingston. Glad to read your view, I thought it was the hall she played in. Her vocals were non existent and I went home empty. sigh............
always makes me think her music would be a perfect melancholia soundtrack for a road trip through the great plains...I always thought she was born and raised there (I'm surprised she isn't)...her music is so country...
The cougar on the cove gets a 7 from me. ☺
eve_silver wrote:
Too much Neko Case on RP... At first - a few years ago - I considered her one of the extraordinary discoveries through RP, by now though I got terribly fed up with her always the same sounding pseudo strong singing and the shrill undertone of her voice.
  
Interesting thought. Tend to agree.
 
 rtrudeau wrote:

I'll see your Radiohead and raise you David Byrne. If you take his solo work plus collaborations with Brian Eno plus Talking Heads, you get 67 songs in the RP database.

 
There are at least 73 Tom Petty song titles, over 60 tunes featuring some manifestation of Mark Knopfler, and 33 song titles from J.J. Cale.  It would appear that a lot of listeners like those artists and the others mentioned in the quoted post.
oui pas mal en effet ...un peu de baume au coeur avant le virage socialo communiste de la France
 
Works in the spring as well.
 eve_silver wrote:
Too much Neko Case on RP... At first - a few years ago - I considered her one of the extraordinary discoveries through RP, by now though I got terribly fed up with her always the same sounding pseudo strong singing and the shrill undertone of her voice.

 

That was confirmed for me when I saw her in concert a few months ago. Turns out her range in vocal and songwriting ability is quite limited. Plus, she has a HUGE ego, which was offputting. Sigh.


 vit wrote:
Gah. That's the second time today I've come aboard to hear the tail-end of a decent song and then have Neko freakin' Case come on afterwards.
 
Wow, so you've tuned in twice and heard the end of a decent song and then a great song! You got your freak on man! {#Wink} Lucky you; but then again this is RP, so it's really no surprise. I suggest you stay tuned in, that way you'll always hear good music.

 eve_silver wrote:
Too much Neko Case on RP... At first - a few years ago - I considered her one of the extraordinary discoveries through RP, by now though I got terribly fed up with her always the same sounding pseudo strong singing and the shrill undertone of her voice.

 
I don't hear anything shrill or pseudo in her voice.  I don't think I could ever get sick of listening to Neko.  7 > 8.

Too much Neko Case on RP... At first - a few years ago - I considered her one of the extraordinary discoveries through RP, by now though I got terribly fed up with her always the same sounding pseudo strong singing and the shrill undertone of her voice.

A big fan of Neko Case, but this album has failed to really move me like some of her others have.  This piece however has gotten an instant 7 and that may go to an 8 with more listening.
 vit wrote:
Gah. That's the second time today I've come aboard to hear the tail-end of a decent song and then have Neko freakin' Case come on afterwards.
 
Not surprised... she's on all the time
 
Like it a lot but am worried as to how a woman that sounds and looks like this slipped by me.
Gah. That's the second time today I've come aboard to hear the tail-end of a decent song and then have Neko freakin' Case come on afterwards.
A genius in our time. 
Love her musical style... guttsy
 Great artist. She evokes nice emotion in her tunes.

Neko is the bomb!!!!!! keep up the classic sound and tunes
I have this album on my iPod heavy rotation. Neko is one of my favourites.
 Rotterdam wrote:


Yeah, that's the irritating thing about internet radio, isn't it? Those of us outside of the USA aren't exposed to the things you are, so a lot of this music remains fresh for us...
 
Where I live in the Good 'ol US, I'm not exposed to any Neko except for R. Paradise and every once in a while KCRW. (And I have to be creative to even get that).

Thank you Bill for the exposure! {#Mrgreen}

 bbgun wrote:
 Cachatons wrote:
 ercasul wrote:
RP introduced me to Neko Case, and for that I'll be forever grateful.   Her voice gives me the shivers, in the best of good ways.

Amen to that!
 
I second that "Amen to that"!

 

Third. She sure as hell isn't getting over-played where I live...
 goodpunk wrote:
Sooooooooooooooooooooo sick of Neko Case.  Nice voice, but I hear her everywhere I go...  RP, Sirius, FM, ee gads!  Please, someone put something else on the juke box!!!

 

I wanna live where goodpunk lives—where Neko Case is forever on FM radio.  Sweet Jesus—here in Orlando, Britney Spears is considered the high quality audio entertainment!
no more neko!

talk about over kill 
 goodpunk wrote:
Sooooooooooooooooooooo sick of Neko Case.  Nice voice, but I hear her everywhere I go...  RP, Sirius, FM, ee gads!  Please, someone put something else on the juke box!!!

 

Yeah, that's the irritating thing about internet radio, isn't it? Those of us outside of the USA aren't exposed to the things you are, so a lot of this music remains fresh for us...
 rtrudeau wrote:

I'll see your Radiohead and raise you David Byrne. If you take his solo work plus collaborations with Brian Eno plus Talking Heads, you get 67 songs in the RP database.

 
Ha! That's nothing, The Beatles have 116 songs and The Stones shave 81 songs in the RP library. This Neko Case album is good, I say the more Neko the better! {#Smile}
Sooooooooooooooooooooo sick of Neko Case.  Nice voice, but I hear her everywhere I go...  RP, Sirius, FM, ee gads!  Please, someone put something else on the juke box!!!

sucko-barfo for eveything Neko Case.

she BUGS.  her voice bugs, her demeanor bugs.

she's so the Indie Girl.

If you don't like her you mustn't be cool.

Blech.
 rtrudeau wrote:

I'll see your Radiohead and raise you David Byrne. If you take his solo work plus collaborations with Brian Eno plus Talking Heads, you get 67 songs in the RP database.

 

You made me laugh out loud.

Touche.
 keller1 wrote:


That's nothing.  There are 44 Radiohead tunes.
 
I'll see your Radiohead and raise you David Byrne. If you take his solo work plus collaborations with Brian Eno plus Talking Heads, you get 67 songs in the RP database.

Love this whole album, seeing her live is great
Apparently she has fans in high places...

https://www.politico.com/blogs/anneschroeder/0409/Arne_Duncan_Secretary_of_Surprise.html

Check out her duet with matt pond PA on the track "Taught To Look Away".  So soft, throaty, restrained—you would barely recognize her.
 Cachatons wrote:
 ercasul wrote:
RP introduced me to Neko Case, and for that I'll be forever grateful.   Her voice gives me the shivers, in the best of good ways.

Amen to that!

 
I second that "Amen to that"!



Unique. 

Lyrics that make you pause and ponder.  Art working on a number of levels.

A radical chanteuse.

 UUMike wrote:
I don't need to (get this album).
I can hear Neko Case EVERY time I dial up RP. Not kidding.
I see that there are 26 cuts of Neko in the RP library.

And I'm tired of her voice already.




 

 

That's nothing.  There are 44 Radiohead tunes.
I don't need to (get this album).
I can hear Neko Case EVERY time I dial up RP. Not kidding.
I see that there are 26 cuts of Neko in the RP library.

And I'm tired of her voice already.


 
j3ss1c4 wrote:
this album is excellent. everyone should get it.
(even comes with a 30 minute track of ambient crickets and peepers)
superb
I <3 Neko

 

The "breaking up with Washington State" song.
this album is excellent. everyone should get it.
(even comes with a 30 minute track of ambient crickets and peepers)
superb
I <3 Neko

 ercasul wrote:
RP introduced me to Neko Case, and for that I'll be forever grateful.   Her voice gives me the shivers, in the best of good ways.

Amen to that!

I'm going to have to get this on the way home.  And there's no record store "on the way" home. 
Love it. Wish it was longer.
Note to self...pick-up this new Neko CD.  Oh and to echo the fellow below...thanks Bill & RP for introducing me to NC's work. {#Yes}
RP introduced me to Neko Case, and for that I'll be forever grateful.   Her voice gives me the shivers, in the best of good ways.
No longer our little secret!

Debuts at #3 on Billboard.