Neko Case - The Tigers Have Spoken

Neko Case’s voice is a force of nature. It is very big, in a way I can only describe as being old-fashioned; John Doe (no stranger to the phenomenon himself) has compared her favorably to Brenda Lee and Patsy Cline. Hers is a purely human voice, in the best possible way – not manufactured, not a function of software and knob-twiddling, just a set of vocal cords grabbing the listener by the ears and demanding attention.

Last week I borrowed my fiancee’s copy of Neko’s new live album, The Tigers Have Spoken. Usually the way I hear a new CD for the first time is by putting it in my portable disc player and taking the dog for a walk. That way I can get an overall feel for the thing without focusing on too many details at first.

Except that didn’t really happen this time around. Hearing the harmonies on “Hex” (provided by Case, Kelly Hogan, and Carolyn Mark) actually made me stop walking; I could not continue until it was over. I know how contrived that must sound, but I promise you it’s the truth. “Otherworldly” is a term that gets knocked around a lot, but it actually applies this time. The word “devastating” also comes to mind, although I was gonna save that for Case’s vocal on “Favorite”, which stopped me in my tracks as well. (The dog was none too happy about any of this, but she’s learned to live with my idiosyncrasies.) I’ve listened to both tracks probably fifteen or twenty times since then and they still cause me to catch my breath every time I play them.

This is not one of those “live” albums so crammed with overdubs and re-recorded vocals that the nature of the original performance is lost. According to the Anti Records website, there’s only one overdub on the whole disc, which is pretty amazing. They quote Case as saying, “I wanted it to be as live a recording as possible, with the bleeding and the weird notes and everything preserved.” The Sadies back Ms. Case, abetted by pedal steel ace Jon Rauhouse, The Pinetops, and the aforementioned Hogan and Mark on backing vocals. It’s pretty much an all-star line-up, and everyone acquits themselves nicely. There’s nothing real flashy going on, just good solid musicianship.

Article Author: bmarkey

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