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Neko Case


scolfax

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I've recently been turned onto Neko Case. Can someone describe the genre to me? It sounds familiar but I can't place it.

 

Anyway, the guitar playing is tasty and understated. What other guitarists play in this style?

 

439420962_eb1573045f.jpg

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Kap'n pretty much nailed it. I guess it falls under the bigger rubric of "Alt Country" but she's got her own thing going.

 

I haven't heard the new album but I have all of her back catalog and you should check 'em all out. Not a clunker in the bunch.

 

If you like the guitar work in her stuff, check out Calexico. Joey and John from that band almost always play on her recordings and sometimes Calexico is Neko's backing band. They have a "Southwest Noir/Neo Mariachi" vibe going in some of their albums. Good stuff if you're willing to wander off the main path.

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Kap'n pretty much nailed it. I guess it falls under the bigger rubric of "Alt Country" but she's got her own thing going.


I haven't heard the new album but I have all of her back catalog and you should check 'em all out. Not a clunker in the bunch.


If you like the guitar work in her stuff, check out Calexico. Joey and John from that band almost always play on her recordings and sometimes Calexico is Neko's backing band. They have a "Southwest Noir/Neo Mariachi" vibe going in some of their albums. Good stuff if you're willing to wander off the main path.

 

 

I just bought Calexico's latest album the other day on a whim because I read an interview with Neal Casal where he mentioned them. I didn't know the Neko Case connection, but it definitely makes sense now that you mention it. If you like Neko definitely check out Calexico.

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I'd call her alt country in the loosest sense of the term. Or Americana maybe.

 

 

Yeah, I also like the "country torch noir" someone mentioned above.

 

But really, all these genre classifications are meaningless. Ultimately, she's a singer-songwriter. Yeah, her music seems informed by country and it has some twang, but I feel no need to pigeonhole it.

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Kap'n pretty much nailed it. I guess it falls under the bigger rubric of "Alt Country" but she's got her own thing going.


I haven't heard the new album but I have all of her back catalog and you should check 'em all out. Not a clunker in the bunch.


If you like the guitar work in her stuff, check out Calexico. Joey and John from that band almost always play on her recordings and sometimes Calexico is Neko's backing band. They have a "Southwest Noir/Neo Mariachi" vibe going in some of their albums. Good stuff if you're willing to wander off the main path.

 

 

I prefer the term "Y'allternative," but yeah, that's pretty much it, with a little bit of folk thrown in for good measure.

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I like Neko Case a lot, and I'm excited to see her solo. I've only seen her with the New Pornos, but she was awesome (singing and between-song banter).

 

While her stuff is still very much grounded in American roots music, she's not very close to alt-country any more. And apparently she hates the term alt-country. To her, the modern Nashville pop-country scene is the splinter from traditional country music.

 

Check out Andrew Bird for another combination of traditional and modern sounds. His new album Noble Beast is fantastic.

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I like Neko Case a lot, and I'm excited to see her solo. I've only seen her with the New Pornos, but she was awesome (singing and between-song banter).


While her stuff is still very much grounded in American roots music, she's not very close to alt-country any more. And apparently she hates the term alt-country. To her, the modern Nashville pop-country scene is the splinter from traditional country music.


Check out Andrew Bird for another combination of traditional and modern sounds. His new album Noble Beast is fantastic.

 

 

 

+1 on Andrew Bird.

 

Just got Noble Beast and listened a couple of times. It hasn't grabbed me like his last two albums, which are fran-friggin-tastic.

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I read an interview she did a while back for Guitar World Acoustic. She bagged on Clapton's tone cause he played so many notes and repeatedly called herself stupid. Haven't payed attention to her since except to note that you can get a couple of her songs from gibson.com for free.

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Yeah, I also like the "country torch noir" someone mentioned above.


But really, all these genre classifications are meaningless. Ultimately, she's a
singer-songwriter
. Yeah,
her music seems informed by country and it has some twang,
but I feel no need to pigeonhole it.

 

 

Some of her early stuff is VERY country. The first time I listened to The Virginian all the way through I got a little nostalgic for the country & western records my dad used to listen to when I was little.

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I've recently been turned onto Neko Case. Can someone describe the genre to me? It sounds familiar but I can't place it.


Anyway, the guitar playing is tasty and understated. What other guitarists play in this style?


439420962_eb1573045f.jpg

 

I saw her last year, didn't now what to expect. Didn't like what I got. I will admit that I simply did not get her at all. Her music did absolutely nothing for me. She is kinda attractive and the lesbian community in town really seemed to dig her.

I don't know what ALT country is or is supposed to be. The best description I could come up with is: Country Music on Quaaludes. Everything she sang that night as super slow dirge-like and without much of a melody.

To the curious and uninitiated I would recommend that if you get a chance to see her - don't.

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I don't know what ALT country is or is supposed to be. The best description I could come up with is: Country Music on Quaaludes. Everything she sang that night as super slow dirge-like and without much of a melody.

To the curious and uninitiated I would recommend that if you get a chance to see her - don't.

 

 

I think you went to the wrong show. She has great melodies.

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I saw her last year, didn't now what to expect. Didn't like what I got. I will admit that I simply did not get her at all. Her music did absolutely nothing for me. She is kinda attractive and the lesbian community in town really seemed to dig her.

I don't know what ALT country is or is supposed to be. The best description I could come up with is: Country Music on Quaaludes. Everything she sang that night as super slow dirge-like and without much of a melody.

To the curious and uninitiated I would recommend that if you get a chance to see her - don't.

 

:confused:

 

Well... like you said, you just didn't get it.

 

Anyway... I think the alt country label is appropriate, but for lack of a better description, maybe a bit limiting. I would also agree with some of the earlier posters regarding the very tasty guitar playing. I only have one of her discs (Fox Confessor Brings the Flood), but it's pretty awesome, and I'm surprised that it didn't bring her more attention.

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Love her. I saw her live a couple of years ago; she was playing the 4-string guitar (looks like an SG) she's pictured holding in the image below. I'd never seen anything like it--it's definitely a guitar, not a bass (she was playing chords on it). Does anyone know anything about it?

 

nekocase4string.jpg

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