Of all of Neko Case’s many skills, her most notable is the innate ability to make haunting music for those who yearn to be haunted. Blacklisted, the second “solo” album released after leaving the Pacific Northwest, is perhaps her darkest recorded hour. It’s also one my favorites; a disc that can change or enhance a mood in an instant. Not the kind of music for a noisy cocktail party, though I’m sure it has made its way into many a background, nonetheless.
Highlights abound on the no-filler album: the creepy “Deep Red Bells,” “Things That Scare Me’s” banjo-driven Western epic; “Ghost Writing’s” searing soulfulness, the ethereal pleas of “Runnin’ Out Of Fools.” Outrageously well-produced and arranged, incredibly well-written, Blacklisted is a perfect companion to the jaw-dropping singer’s 2000 masterpiece, Furnace Room Lullaby. I run them back-to-back on my iTunes.
In the midst of the album’s darker explorations lies a simply beautiful ode to loneliness, “I Wish I Was The Moon.” Watching a live performance of this song, listening to the lyrics, hearing Case’s unbelievable pipes (auto-tune? what’s that?) – one might wonder what would’ve become of this self-made artist if she wasn’t so bold, so outspoken, so eccentric. So real. If Case wasn’t also a New Pornographer with punk roots; someone who wouldn’t hesitate, at least in the old days, to call out a loudmouth from the stage while singing a ballad.
The answer is that Neko Case would be one of the western world’s biggest superstars, instead of just a revered musician who’s been banned from the Grand Ol Opry. Perhaps being merely a “star” is best in the long run, anyway; worked for Johnny Cash.
Neko, I’ve loved you from afar ever since I first heard your Siren’s call so many years ago… though I’ve always been aware that a wrong written word from me might result, if we ever meet again, in a black eye. Or worse, blacklisted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fhur6g8_BM
Please see also – Neko Case – Furnace Room Lullaby, By Steve Stav
