News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
Home » Blogs » scribegrrrl's blog » All the things that make Neko Case heavenly

All the things that make Neko Case heavenly

by
scribegrrrl

You know how sometimes you discover a great, great band and nobody else knows about them and you revel in your discovery and then suddenly everyone knows about them and you're like, wait, they're MINE? I used to feel that way about the Canadian band New Pornographers, but I've gotten over it. Now I'm just glad they're still making consistently great music.

I like them best when Neko Case is with them, but that's not a common occurrence. So I was thrilled to see her in this new live performance video of "All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth" from the Challengers album.



Shake that tambourine, Neko! But I don't mean to ignore Kathryn Calder — she rocks too. The whole band does, and their sound remains unique. AOLmusic has several other performances of songs from Challengers, as well as an interview with the band.

But allow me to further sing the praises of Neko Case.

She has one of the clearest voices I've ever heard. If water could sing, it would sound like her. I saw her in concert last year, and she seemed superhuman: She never sang even slightly off-key, never made a strange choice of phrasing, never took any kind of misstep. It was either the best or second-best concert I saw last year — I can't decide between Neko and Amy Winehouse (flawless vs. raw; who can decide?).

And the song of hers that always moves me, often to the point of tears for my misspent youth, is "Deep Red Bells." Here's a live performance of that one.



That song is from my favorite Neko solo album, Blacklisted.

I also love Furnace Room Lullaby, which is technically a Neko Case and her Boyfriends album.

I came across something kind of weird while I was looking for videos for this post. Apparently Neko was recently on (well, her voice was on, and she was on in cartoon form) Aqua Teen Hunger Force.



Wow. Trippy. Case is also slated to voice a character (but not sing a song) in the pilot for Cheyenne Cinnamon and the Fantabulous Unicorn of Sugartown Candy Fudge, which is a new offering from Aqua Teen Hunger Force co-creator Dave Willis. She has so many skills!

Meanwhile, I think I'll just put on Blacklisted and enjoy that lucid, soaring voice.

  • scribegrrrl's blog
  • Login or register to post comments
    • Submitted by
    scribegrrrl
    on February 15, 2008 - 2:00pm.
    TAGS :: 
    Crank Heart's picture

    Neko!

    Submitted by
    Crank Heart (143 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 2:05pm.

    She really does have a beautiful voice. Neko is wonderous.  

    ---------------
    3waytv.tv Go now, go often.  

     

    chanticorae's picture

    that voice.

    Submitted by
    chanticorae (69 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 2:06pm.
    it really is astouding.
    frik's picture

    i knew when i saw the name

    Submitted by
    frik (5 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 2:11pm.
    i knew when i saw the name "neko case" this would be a scribe post. go neko!
    pass's picture

    I also thought the same when

    Submitted by
    pass (16 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 2:40pm.
    I also thought the same when I saw Neko Case, a scribe post. Glad to see I wasn't mistaken.
    scribegrrrl's picture

    gosh, that's high praise

    Submitted by
    scribegrrrl, Senior Writer (5435 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 2:58pm.
    If I am never known as anything more than "likely to write about Neko Case," I'll be satisfied!

    That would make a good epitaph, actually.
    homeslice's picture

    neko

    Submitted by
    homeslice (20 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 2:16pm.

    I had the pleasure of seeing her open for Rufus Wainwright. She was hilarious! And mesmerizing. And flat out amazing. Thanks for the post. That's funny about Aqua Teen!

    ///atxxx///

    alexc9's picture

    amazing

    Submitted by
    alex (60 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 2:44pm.
    so happy about this post - neko is incredible. that voice! those songs! that hair!
    monkey9's picture

    aaaah

    Submitted by
    monkey9 (34 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 2:48pm.

    I remember the first time that I heard Furnace Room Lullaby. It quickly became the bane of my roomate's existence as it played over & over & over. Still one of my favourites.

    If you ever have chance to see her play with The Sadies, do it! Tons o' fun.

    Clonchi's picture

    I'll read anything

    Submitted by
    clonchi (151 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 3:18pm.

    by scribegrrl and love it...

     

    period.

    scribegrrrl's picture

    thank you

    Submitted by
    scribegrrrl, Senior Writer (5435 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 5:40pm.
    I had no idea a Neko post would inspire such love in the comments! Thank you, everybody, and have a great weekend. :)
    gypsywee's picture

    Listen, for free!

    Submitted by
    gypsywee (967 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 4:29pm.

    Neko Case has a disproportionate amount of musical real estate on my iPod. My favorite album is Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.

    You can listen to a few of her live concerts on the NPR Music site: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16220628.

    Na's picture

    Thanks!

    Submitted by
    Na (130 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 7:29pm.

    I didn't know her (shame I know but hey, I've lived in Europe until now, well that's my excuse anyway and I'll stick with it) and am so glad to discover her.

    Also thanks gypsywee for the link! I'm listneing to the concert right now and it's great plus I didn't know npr and that's a cooool web site.

    Wow, I love Fridays like that.

    grandma's picture

    i love neko! she's so funny.

    Submitted by
    grandma (16 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 8:50pm.
    i love neko! she's so funny. and obviously she has a great voice. i first saw her in a small bar in edmonton in 2001. i got food poisoning mid show though and had to run as fast as i could out of there. it wasn't pretty. any time i wanted to see her after that the tickets were super expensive. i saw her once with the new pornographers but it wasn't the same. carl newman's ridiculous faux british accent and general obnoxiousness almost outweighed neko's amazingness. almost. "no need to cry" is a very cute song.
    tam358's picture

    the dude...

    Submitted by
    Tam Gorzalka (84 posts)
    on February 17, 2008 - 6:54am.

    Is Carl Newman the NP's singer? I own Challengers but I'm too lazy to go look at it right now. His voice is so strange. He has a weird lisp thing going on. I like it sometimes but it tends to bug me more in live stuff. Is he really doing a faux british thing?

    And what Edmonton bar?

    alexc9's picture

    ac newman

    Submitted by
    alex (60 posts)
    on February 20, 2008 - 6:32pm.
    ... is the lead singer for the new pornographers. but Dan Bejar also does vocals. I think he's actually responsible for "myriad harbour" on challengers, which just flat out rocks.
    grandma's picture

    it sounds faux british to

    Submitted by
    grandma (16 posts)
    on February 25, 2008 - 10:24pm.

    it sounds faux british to me. i hear he's a nice dude but he's an obnoxious performer i think.

    the edmonton bar was "the rev". i hear they changed the name a couple years ago.

    catscratchfervor's picture

    I love Neko as well...

    Submitted by
    catscratchfervor (21 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 9:28pm.

    and Aqua Teen Hunger Force can be pretty awesome. I would have missed that clip, since I haven't really watched that show since its first season.

    I think Neko Case has maybe the best voice of any female rock/pop/whatever singer currently active. Blacklisted is totally my favorite.

    Can you post about Mirah next?

    catscratchfervor's picture

    I love Neko as well...

    Submitted by
    catscratchfervor (21 posts)
    on February 15, 2008 - 9:28pm.

    and Aqua Teen Hunger Force can be pretty awesome. I would have missed that clip, since I haven't really watched that show since its first season.

    I think Neko Case has maybe the best voice of any female rock/pop/whatever singer currently active. Blacklisted is totally my favorite.

    Can you post about Mirah next?


    Home » Blogs » scribegrrrl's blog » All the things that make Neko Case heavenly

    User login

    Recent comments
    After Ellen home page on logo online