choo-choo-charlie Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Amazon listing: The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You And as expected/hoped, weird album art! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chriscolbert Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I got front row seats for Charlottesville and cannot wait to see her again! Like many I was caught off guard with "Man" but in the best way possible. Some of my favorite songs she sings are the up-tempo New Pornographer ones and I'm curious if there is more of a balance on the new album or if "Man" is the only "rocker". However, my two year-old daughter's name is Neko Grace Colbert so I may be a bit biased. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Article from Billboard.com: Neko Case's New 'Fight': Inside Her Most Revealing Album Yet"I was really depressed and in mourning . . . and I'd never slowed down to just feel it," Case says of recording her new full-length. Curled up on a plush green chair in the lobby of New York's Soho Grand Hotel, Neko Case admits that, throughout her career, she's used her mighty voice to tell stories from perspectives that aren't her own. Her 2006 breakout, "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood," was highlighted by morbid anecdotes like "Dirty Knife" and "Margaret v. Pauline," while on 2009's "Middle Cyclone," Case sang from a twister's point of view on "This Tornado Loves You." But for "The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You," the alt-country singer/songwriter forced herself to take stock of a career that had produced five solo albums, another five as a member of the New Pornographers and countless live shows but no immediate family. "It's weird to look down and go, 'Yeah, I'm 42, and I'm in a world that doesn't really think it's very normal to be single, not have any kids and be a straight American woman in her 40s,'" Case says. "It's like, 'Are you crazy? Why don't you have these things?' I had to go through all of my personal paperwork and go, 'I really did choose that. I own it.'" The new album, due Sept. 3 on Anti-, finds Case making the most incisive lyrical declarations of her career, often in first person point-of-view, on songs like the venomous "I'm From Nowhere" and the heartbreaking "Calling Cards." The self-examined songwriting was dictated by a painful four years for Case since the release of "Middle Cyclone," which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and received two Grammy Award nominations. The critical acclaim and commercial success washed over Case, who felt a "numbness" while experiencing the loss of multiple family members and friends following the release, and went through a period of having "absolutely no self-confidence" while touring. "I was really depressed and in mourning . . . and I'd never slowed down to just feel it," Case says. The creation of the new album, then, became her time to "feel it": Recorded in Tucson, Ariz.; Portland, Ore.; Los Angeles; and Brooklyn, Case describes the process as a necessary time of catharsis. Case recruited an impressive array of collaborators for the album, including M. Ward, My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Mudhoney's Steve Turner and bassist Tom V. Ray. That guest list, combined with Case's consistently robust sales ("Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" has sold 232,000 copies while "Middle Cyclone" has moved 223,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan), makes the release "the biggest of the year" for Anti-, according to director of marketing Matt McGreevey. For the label that signed Case in 2004, the new album presents an opportunity to transform her from a veteran alternative star into a more mainstream presence. "With Neko Case, there's always more to get — she's just scratching the surface of what she can achieve and the people she can reach," McGreevey says. The campaign began June 6, when a stark, 85-second teaser trailer for the album directed by Xan Aranda was posted on YouTube; five days later, a release date and track list were announced, and rollicking first single "Man" was unveiled. According to McGreevey, Case will start a promotional run on Aug. 25 at the First City Festival in Monterey, Calif., then head east to be in New York for release week. A performance on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" has been confirmed for release date, and after festival appearances in Chicago and Portland later that week, a North American headlining tour begins Sept. 11 in San Diego. Meanwhile, Case will continue to serve as an ambassador for the Best Friends Animal Society during her promotional duties. In the month prior to the album's release, fans who make a monetary contribution to the organization for abused and abandoned animals will be able to hear multiple songs from the new album before its release. The partnership comes four years after Anti- donated $5 to Best Friends for every blog that posted Middle Cyclone's "People Got a Lotta Nerve" as a free download. Manager Amy Lombardi says Case will tour through 2014 after her fall trek wraps Nov. 1, and that she'll likely tour with the New Pornographers whenever the indie-pop supergroup, which also boasts Destroyer's Dan Bejar and singer/songwriter AC Newman, reassembles for the follow-up to 2010's "Together." "The new songs sound good to me and I'm really excited to go back," Case says of the next New Pornos full-length. "We'll probably have most of the vocals done in late July." She also describes her next album, which she has already started writing, as "a companion piece" to "The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You," and believes her seventh LP won't take another four years — or another emotional roller coaster — to complete. "I feel like I kind of fixed my engine," she says. "I went and got a rebuild from Chevy, with all new parts. It's bigger. It's kick-ass. I've got a nitrous button now. I'm back." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 "Nitrous Neko." Thanks for sharing that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 Looks like is she is quite busy these days: Vocals for the group's first album in three years could be done by the end of the month, according to Neko Case.The New Pornographers are currently hard at work on their sixth studio album, which would be the Canadian indie-rock supergroup's first full-length since 2010's "Together." In an interview last month, Neko Case told Billboard that she has heard "a few of the songs" that would be on the Matador Records collective's next album, which would follow the September release of Case's latest solo effort, "The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You." "The new songs sound good to me and I'm really excited to go back," says Case. "We'll probably have most of the vocals done in late July. And then I don't know what they have going for a release date yet. I leave that up to them, because I'm like, 'I can only make so many decisions.' It's actually really freeing for me to go in there and just be an instrument, basically." The New Pornographers are the long-running brainchild of singer-songwriter Carl "A.C." Newman, and also includes Case, Destroyer's Dan Bejar, solo artist Kathryn Calder and multi-instrumentalist John Collins, among other members. Since the release of "Together," which has sold 85,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan, Newman released his third solo album, "Shut Down the Streets," in 2012, while Destroyer issued "Kaputt" one year earlier. Case's "The Worse Things Get…" album is due out Sept. 3 on Anti- (click here for more on the album). "I've worked with all these people for so long that you get in the studio and it's the same thing -- it's the joy of that moment where you can let go and you know, 'Okay, somebody wants to hear this music, we cannot worry about it,'" says Case on concurrently working with the New Pornographers as well as on her solo material for over a decade. "It's like being born twins. I can't imagine life without the New Pornographers." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Oh man.... this is good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Christ that is a great tune. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KevinG Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Christ that is a great tune. I am so excited for this album. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Will see her at the Hideout Block Party. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted August 19, 2013 Author Share Posted August 19, 2013 Album stream (legal) by way of NPR: First Listen: Neko Case. . . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 btw, something called "Neko Jump" has 3x the likes as Neko Case on Facebook. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 In addition to the NPR stream, there is one here: http://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2013/08/18/first-listen-neko-case-the-worse-things-get-the-harder-i-fight Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Ok.... one listen in, it's good. Maybe great. I like how she seems more emotionally vulnerable on this one. I like the more rocking elements, as well as the super stripped down acapella moments. I'm not sure about a couple of arrangements that sound like Middle Cyclone retreads, but that worry might go away after I get to know the songs better. I spent the album thinking about how amazing of a person she seems to be, and how she might be really hard to be in a relationship with. Maybe a little crush there.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
knotgreen Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 On my third listen... I love it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brownie Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 The song that has really jumped out at me is Calling Cards. It jumped out at me on my third listen through the album, and now I've repeated it five times in a row. Love the subtle trumpet bits, and the drumming. That has to be Jacob Valenzuela and John Convertino on that track. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dondante Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 i don't really want to listen to this album for the first time on my computer, and i'm too lazy to hook my computer up to my stereo, which really wouldn't be that hard. but anyway, i'm dying to hear it. i've already pre-ordered the deluxe vinyl, so i'm not one to steal from such a lovely lady....but if anyone happened to rip and track the stream, and would like to do me a solid...please drop it in my inbox. the anticipation is killing me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 I gave this a bit of a listen. Sounds good to me. Would rather listen to it on a stereo also. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 the stream is probably 128 bit, so hooking to a stereo won't be much of an improvement... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 I think "Nearly Midnight, Honolulu" doesn't really work for me. I'm really glad she did it. It was a bold-ass artistic statement and probably the biggest risk on the record. It just doesn't quite work for me. I love the line "Hey little girl, would you rather be the kings pet, or the king?" There are a lot of cool gender/power lines on this album. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
knotgreen Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 I think "Nearly Midnight, Honolulu" doesn't really work for me. I'm really glad she did it. It was a bold-ass artistic statement and probably the biggest risk on the record. It just doesn't quite work for me. I love the line "Hey little girl, would you rather be the kings pet, or the king?" There are a lot of cool gender/power lines on this album.Funny you say that... "Nearly Midnight, Honolulu" is my current fav on the record. It was the biggest the surprise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 It's not my favorite on the album, but the choice to go a cappella with it really makes it work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I got the deluxe LP in the mail yesterday, well worth the twenty-whatever dollars it cost. One lp with the album, a second with 3 bonus tracks on one side and a sweet snake picture on the other. Came with a cd that includes the bonus tracks, and all the art is really cool. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chriscolbert Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 I got the deluxe LP in the mail yesterday, well worth the twenty-whatever dollars it cost. One lp with the album, a second with 3 bonus tracks on one side and a sweet snake picture on the other. Came with a cd that includes the bonus tracks, and all the art is really cool. Is this what you got and where you ordered it from? It says it only comes with a download but if it comes with the CD that's awesome! http://kingsroadmerch.com/neko-case/view/?id=4415&cid=423 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 wow, she covers a Robyn Hitchcock tune?! awesome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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