Middle Cyclone
Encyclopedia
Middle Cyclone is the fifth studio album of American alternative country
singer-songwriter
Neko Case
, released on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 on the ANTI-
record label. Her first solo effort in three years, Case stated that "it took a very long time to make." As the title of the album suggests, the record's lyrics are permeated with imagery of tornadoes and, more generally, nature. Thematically Middle Cyclone concerns how Case's upbringing socialized her to form strong emotional attachments to nature and animals, to the neglect of human relationships, and her reconciling "the fact that I need love".
Middle Cyclone features a variety of guest performers, including M. Ward
, Garth Hudson
, Sarah Harmer
, and members of The New Pornographers
, Los Lobos
, Calexico, The Sadies
, Visqueen, Kurt Heasley of Lilys
, and Giant Sand
. It also features two prominent covers: "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth
" by Sparks
and "Don't Forget Me" by Harry Nilsson
.
Middle Cyclone debuted to strong reviews from contemporary mainstream and independent music critics. In particular, Case's voice garnered unanimous praise for its strength, clarity, and emotional range. In December 2009 Case was nominated for two Grammys
for her work on Middle Cyclone: Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Recording Package (the latter alongside fellow art director Judge).
, Brooklyn
, Toronto
, and Vermont
. Case herself stated that only the "piano orchestra" sessions were recorded in Vermont and that the rest was recorded using WaveLab
in Tucson. At the time, Case was transitioning from living in Tucson to a recently purchased farm in Vermont, where she recorded in a barn
on the property. Case described how the barn was retrofitted to suit her musical needs, as well as the "piano orchestra" that appears in three of Middle Cyclones tracks:
Of the eight pianos that Case rescued, six were playable after two days of tuning by two tuners. One was a broken player piano
, which Case decided had the potential to be repurposed.
The open and unconstrained nature of the barn-as-recording studio
resulted in several of the tracks on Middle Cyclone having elements akin to a field recording
. Case asserted that because of the barn "We ended up with robins
on the recording and frogs and all kinds of stuff. And with a barn, you just don't have control, which was another element I really liked." "Polar Nettles" features the aforementioned birdsong 39 seconds into the track, as well as a chorus of spring peeper
frogs at the track's end. (The latter fortuitous event was recorded on video and published on ANTI-'s YouTube
channel.) "Don't Forget Me" contains a gust of wind close to the song's end. The final track, "Marais La Nuit" (French for "Marsh at Night"), is an actual field recording of the environs around a pond on Case's farm. When asked about the track in an interview with Paste magazine
, Case responded "I actually went down to the pond and recorded that myself."
in Seattle, WA on Saturday August 30, 2008 from 1-2:15 pm. In addition to older material such as "Favorite", "Margaret vs. Pauline", and "That Teenage Feeling", the set included four songs from the unreleased album, including "I'm an Animal", "The Pharaohs", "Don't Forget Me", and "Vengeance Is Sleeping". Fan-made video recordings of the songs were posted the next day to YouTube and received widespread attention shortly thereafter in early September when the videos were posted to websites such as Stereogum
.
The cover art
for Middle Cyclone was released in early December 2008. The image of Case, crouched and ready to spring off the hood of a 1967 Mercury Cougar with a sword in hand received enthusiastic responses from Internet-based media. In a news article entitled "Neko Case, Reigning 2009 Album Art Champ", Matthew Solarski of Pitchfork Media
, stated "So Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
had some awfully lovely, subtle artwork. But this? My friends, pictures created to accompany music just don't come any better than this." "Dear God she is wielding a sword" was the subtitle of the article. Images from the sword-and-muscle car
photo shoot were also used in advertisements on the ANTI- blog to encourage preordering of Middle Cyclone.
On December 15, 2008 ANTI- released an electronic press kit
for Middle Cyclone in the form of a YouTube video. It features selections of an interview with Case, excerpts from several Middle Cyclone songs, footage of Case and her band performing the songs, and collage art and animation to bridge segments. The video also provided fans a first listen to parts of "Magpie to the Morning", "This Tornado Loves You", "Middle Cyclone", "Polar Nettles", and "Fever" (in addition to two already featured at Bumbershoot: "Don't Forget Me" and "People Got a Lotta Nerve").
On February 18, the entirety of Middle Cyclone was streamed
by NPR
until the album's release on March 3.
On February 24 the ANTI- blog released a free mp3 of Neko Case's song "Middle Cyclone" to commemorate the one year anniversary of the label's blog. The promotion also included a give-away of four autographed copies of the album, with the fifth winner receiving not only a signed copy of Middle Cyclone but also her entire ANTI- catalog: The Tigers Have Spoken
, Blacklisted
(reissue), Furnace Room Lullaby
(reissue), Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
(bonus), and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
.
blog and the day after on their website. In celebration of Best Friends Animal Society
's 25th anniversary in 2009, for every blogger that reposted "People Got a Lotta Nerve" or iLike
user who added it to their profile, Neko Case and ANTI- made a cash donation to the charity. The promotion ran from January 13 to February 3, 2009, with five dollars donated per blog post and one per iLike profile-add.
On February 24, "People Got a Lotta Nerve" was featured as a downloadable track in the "Alt Country Pack 01" extension for the video game Rock Band 2
.
Case was interviewed and performed "People Got A Lotta Nerve" live for QTV
on February 24, accompanied by Paul Rigby on acoustic guitar and Kelly Hogan on backing vocals. On March 4, 2009 Case performed on The Tonight Show
.
On March 20 ANTI- released a music video
for "People Got A Lotta Nerve" on both MTV2
's early-morning show "Subterranean" and its YouTube channel. The animated video, created by brother/sister team Paul and Julie Morstad, depicts a red-headed schoolgirl - ostensibly Case - who is ejected from a Killer Whale's blowhole onto the grounds of an estate
. The red-head witnesses the interactions of a multitude of other girls with animals, but is returned to the belly of the whale when she takes aim at one of the animals with a rifle found in the estate's manor house.
Various types of interactions between humans and animals are presented in the video, including the care, stewardship and play associated with domesticated animals, hunting
, animal servitude, and man-eating
. Despite the prominent repetition of the lyric "man-eater" the video does not depict men or boys. The schoolgirls' child-like activities (climbing, swinging, walking on stilts
, jumping rope
, piggy-back riding, pillow fight
ing, and clapping game
s) take place near and even on animals such as elephants, greyhounds, tigers, rheas, falcons, and monkeys. Animals are depicted in the video with as much agency as the humans: monkeys read pieces of paper, falcons intervene to prevent the red-head from shooting a monkey, the rhea allows two girls to ride on its back, and the tiger eats the girls brushing him. The video also contains several depictions of Case in the form of a portrait hung in the manor's stairwell and the transposition of one of Case's promotional portraits from Middle Cyclone onto the paper one of the monkeys possesses. The black comic
scene in which the tiger has eaten his youthful groomers (their shoes and brushes have been left behind as the animal licks its chops) alludes to Case's song "The Tigers Have Spoken
", whose lyrics describe a man-eating tiger driven mad by the isolation of captivity and shot on his chain.
On the vinyl release "Marais la Nuit" is shortened to about 15 minutes and takes up all of Side Four.
praised the songs of Middle Cyclone as "heartbreakingly beautiful and, at times, comical" and praised Case's as "one of the most memorable and seductive voices in music." The New York Times
' Daniel Menaker praised her "real richness and body," writing that "She has often been described as a belter, a force of nature, a kind of vocal tornado. So this increased admixture of playfulness, delicacy and orchestral effects strikes you as the kind of variegation that artists — and species — make in order to survive and thrive."
charts in its first week of release, making it Case's first album ever to reach the Top Ten in the United States.
Middle Cyclone Tour The Europe February 2009 Tour, described as "a sneak of the new album", began in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday February 18, 2009 and ended on the 23rd in London England. A second, longer tour of Europe is in the works.
Middle Cyclones Spring 2009 Tour begins at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, TX on March 31, 2009. It will then snake through the Southeast, East coast, Canada, and Midwest through the end of April. It will be expanded to include locales in the Southwest, West coast, other locales across North America, and eventually expand to other continents/countries such as Australia. The band Crooked Fingers
will open for the majority of Case's Spring 2009 shows.
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Neko Case
Neko Case
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....
, released on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 on the ANTI-
ANTI-
ANTI- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label of Epitaph Records.While Epitaph's focus has shifted over the last decade from mostly punk rock, nowadays ANTI- has a more diverse roster, ranging from country , hip hop , reggae , Soul , folk , rap-rock , indie rock...
record label. Her first solo effort in three years, Case stated that "it took a very long time to make." As the title of the album suggests, the record's lyrics are permeated with imagery of tornadoes and, more generally, nature. Thematically Middle Cyclone concerns how Case's upbringing socialized her to form strong emotional attachments to nature and animals, to the neglect of human relationships, and her reconciling "the fact that I need love".
Middle Cyclone features a variety of guest performers, including M. Ward
M. Ward
Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
, Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...
, Sarah Harmer
Sarah Harmer
Sarah Harmer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist.-Biography:Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sister Mary started taking her to concerts by the well-known Tragically Hip. At the age of 17, she...
, and members of The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia.-History:The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a...
, Los Lobos
Los Lobos
Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
, Calexico, The Sadies
The Sadies
The Sadies are a Canadian indie rock and alternative country band from Toronto, Ontario.-Background:The band consists of Dallas Good , Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky...
, Visqueen, Kurt Heasley of Lilys
Lilys
Lilys are an American indie rock band formed in Washington, D.C in 1988. The only constant member is Kurt Heasley, with the line-up changing regularly...
, and Giant Sand
Giant Sand
Giant Sand is an American rock band, based in Tucson, Arizona, USA. The name is shortened from the original Giant Sandworms, a reference to the creatures in the Dune books. Overseen by singer-songwriter Howe Gelb, its membership has shifted over the years—at times with each album...
. It also features two prominent covers: "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth
Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth
"Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" is a song by the American group Sparks. The song was recorded by the group's mid-seventies 'Glam' line-up. It was released in late 1974 as the first single from the group's fourth album, Propaganda....
" by Sparks
Sparks (band)
Sparks is an American rock and pop band formed in Los Angeles in 1968 by brothers Ron and Russell Mael , initially under the name Halfnelson...
and "Don't Forget Me" by Harry Nilsson
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
.
Middle Cyclone debuted to strong reviews from contemporary mainstream and independent music critics. In particular, Case's voice garnered unanimous praise for its strength, clarity, and emotional range. In December 2009 Case was nominated for two Grammys
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
for her work on Middle Cyclone: Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Recording Package (the latter alongside fellow art director Judge).
Conception and recording
The recording of Middle Cyclone took place in TucsonTucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. Case herself stated that only the "piano orchestra" sessions were recorded in Vermont and that the rest was recorded using WaveLab
WaveLab
WaveLab is a digital audio editor by Steinberg aimed at the professional as well as the semi-professional market. It supports multi-channel files, DirectX plugin, VST plugin and DVD-Audio creation. WaveLab was for a long time the main competitor to Sound Forge. Wavelab was started in 1995 and it is...
in Tucson. At the time, Case was transitioning from living in Tucson to a recently purchased farm in Vermont, where she recorded in a barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
on the property. Case described how the barn was retrofitted to suit her musical needs, as well as the "piano orchestra" that appears in three of Middle Cyclones tracks:
Of the eight pianos that Case rescued, six were playable after two days of tuning by two tuners. One was a broken player piano
Player piano
A player piano is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in...
, which Case decided had the potential to be repurposed.
The open and unconstrained nature of the barn-as-recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
resulted in several of the tracks on Middle Cyclone having elements akin to a field recording
Field recording
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside of a recording studio. The recording is typically recorded in the same channel format as the desired result, for instance, stereo recording equipment will yield a stereo product...
. Case asserted that because of the barn "We ended up with robins
American Robin
The American Robin or North American Robin is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the flycatcher family...
on the recording and frogs and all kinds of stuff. And with a barn, you just don't have control, which was another element I really liked." "Polar Nettles" features the aforementioned birdsong 39 seconds into the track, as well as a chorus of spring peeper
Spring Peeper
The Spring Peeper is a small chorus frog widespread throughout the eastern USA and Canada.-Subspecies:There are two subspecies of the Spring Peeper, the Northern and the Southern Spring Peeper . The Northern is similar to the Southern except for a strong dark marking on the Southern frog's belly...
frogs at the track's end. (The latter fortuitous event was recorded on video and published on ANTI-'s YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel.) "Don't Forget Me" contains a gust of wind close to the song's end. The final track, "Marais La Nuit" (French for "Marsh at Night"), is an actual field recording of the environs around a pond on Case's farm. When asked about the track in an interview with Paste magazine
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
, Case responded "I actually went down to the pond and recorded that myself."
Publicity
New material from Middle Cyclone was first widely publicized when Case performed at BumbershootBumbershoot
Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend at the 74-acre Seattle Center, which was built for the 1962 World's Fair. Seattle Center includes indoor theaters,...
in Seattle, WA on Saturday August 30, 2008 from 1-2:15 pm. In addition to older material such as "Favorite", "Margaret vs. Pauline", and "That Teenage Feeling", the set included four songs from the unreleased album, including "I'm an Animal", "The Pharaohs", "Don't Forget Me", and "Vengeance Is Sleeping". Fan-made video recordings of the songs were posted the next day to YouTube and received widespread attention shortly thereafter in early September when the videos were posted to websites such as Stereogum
Stereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
.
The cover art
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
for Middle Cyclone was released in early December 2008. The image of Case, crouched and ready to spring off the hood of a 1967 Mercury Cougar with a sword in hand received enthusiastic responses from Internet-based media. In a news article entitled "Neko Case, Reigning 2009 Album Art Champ", Matthew Solarski of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
, stated "So Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is a 2006 album by Neko Case. It was her first solo studio album in four years.The album was recorded at Wave Lab Studios in Tucson, Arizona, except the beginning of "John Saw That Number", which was recorded in a stairwell at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern; and "At...
had some awfully lovely, subtle artwork. But this? My friends, pictures created to accompany music just don't come any better than this." "Dear God she is wielding a sword" was the subtitle of the article. Images from the sword-and-muscle car
Muscle car
Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." Usually, a large V8 engine is fitted in a...
photo shoot were also used in advertisements on the ANTI- blog to encourage preordering of Middle Cyclone.
On December 15, 2008 ANTI- released an electronic press kit
Electronic Press Kit
An electronic press kit is a press kit equivalent in electronic form. An EPK usually takes the form of a website or e-mail, though they are also known to exist in CD and DVD form....
for Middle Cyclone in the form of a YouTube video. It features selections of an interview with Case, excerpts from several Middle Cyclone songs, footage of Case and her band performing the songs, and collage art and animation to bridge segments. The video also provided fans a first listen to parts of "Magpie to the Morning", "This Tornado Loves You", "Middle Cyclone", "Polar Nettles", and "Fever" (in addition to two already featured at Bumbershoot: "Don't Forget Me" and "People Got a Lotta Nerve").
On February 18, the entirety of Middle Cyclone was streamed
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
by NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
until the album's release on March 3.
On February 24 the ANTI- blog released a free mp3 of Neko Case's song "Middle Cyclone" to commemorate the one year anniversary of the label's blog. The promotion also included a give-away of four autographed copies of the album, with the fifth winner receiving not only a signed copy of Middle Cyclone but also her entire ANTI- catalog: The Tigers Have Spoken
The Tigers Have Spoken
The Tigers Have Spoken is a 2004 live album by Neko Case. The album was recorded at three live shows, one in Chicago and two in Toronto, in the spring of 2004...
, Blacklisted
Blacklisted (album)
Blacklisted is the third album by American vocalist Neko Case, released in 2002.The album marked a departure from the alternative country sounds of Case's first two solo albums...
(reissue), Furnace Room Lullaby
Furnace Room Lullaby
Furnace Room Lullaby is an alternative country album by Neko Case and Her Boyfriends, released in February 2000, on Mint/Bloodshot Records. It was Case's second solo album....
(reissue), Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is a 2006 album by Neko Case. It was her first solo studio album in four years.The album was recorded at Wave Lab Studios in Tucson, Arizona, except the beginning of "John Saw That Number", which was recorded in a stairwell at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern; and "At...
(bonus), and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is a 2006 album by Neko Case. It was her first solo studio album in four years.The album was recorded at Wave Lab Studios in Tucson, Arizona, except the beginning of "John Saw That Number", which was recorded in a stairwell at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern; and "At...
.
"People Got A Lotta Nerve"
The first single from Middle Cyclone is "People Got a Lotta Nerve", which initially was released as a free download on January 13, 2009 on the ANTI-ANTI-
ANTI- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label of Epitaph Records.While Epitaph's focus has shifted over the last decade from mostly punk rock, nowadays ANTI- has a more diverse roster, ranging from country , hip hop , reggae , Soul , folk , rap-rock , indie rock...
blog and the day after on their website. In celebration of Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society, founded in its present form in 1984, is an American nonprofit 501 organization that is one of America’s best known animal welfare rescue groups. Best Friends works in outreach programs with shelters, other rescue groups and members nationwide to promote pet adoption,...
's 25th anniversary in 2009, for every blogger that reposted "People Got a Lotta Nerve" or iLike
ILike
iLike is an online service that allows users to download and share music. The website makes use of a sidebar that is used with Apple's iTunes or Microsoft's Windows Media Player. The program and sidebar are not required in order to use the site but allow for ease in discovering new artists....
user who added it to their profile, Neko Case and ANTI- made a cash donation to the charity. The promotion ran from January 13 to February 3, 2009, with five dollars donated per blog post and one per iLike profile-add.
On February 24, "People Got a Lotta Nerve" was featured as a downloadable track in the "Alt Country Pack 01" extension for the video game Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems. It is the sequel to Rock Band and is the second title in the series. The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments...
.
Case was interviewed and performed "People Got A Lotta Nerve" live for QTV
Q (radio show)
Q is a Canadian radio show, which airs on CBC Radio One. Hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, the program is a national arts magazine show. The program is also now syndicated to public radio stations in the United States through Public Radio International....
on February 24, accompanied by Paul Rigby on acoustic guitar and Kelly Hogan on backing vocals. On March 4, 2009 Case performed on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
.
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "People Got A Lotta Nerve" on both MTV2
MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...
's early-morning show "Subterranean" and its YouTube channel. The animated video, created by brother/sister team Paul and Julie Morstad, depicts a red-headed schoolgirl - ostensibly Case - who is ejected from a Killer Whale's blowhole onto the grounds of an estate
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
. The red-head witnesses the interactions of a multitude of other girls with animals, but is returned to the belly of the whale when she takes aim at one of the animals with a rifle found in the estate's manor house.
Various types of interactions between humans and animals are presented in the video, including the care, stewardship and play associated with domesticated animals, hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, animal servitude, and man-eating
Man-eater
Man-eater is a colloquial term for an animal that preys upon humans. This does not include scavenging. Although human beings can be attacked by many kinds of animals, man-eaters are those that have incorporated human flesh into their usual diet...
. Despite the prominent repetition of the lyric "man-eater" the video does not depict men or boys. The schoolgirls' child-like activities (climbing, swinging, walking on stilts
Stilts
Stilts are poles, posts or pillars used to allow a person or structure to stand at a distance above the ground. Walking stilts are poles equipped with steps for the feet to stand on, or straps to attach them to the legs, for the purpose of walking while elevated above a normal height...
, jumping rope
Jump rope
Jump rope or skipping rope is the primary tool used in the game of skipping played by children and many young adults, where one or more participants jump over a rope swung so that it passes under their feet and over their heads...
, piggy-back riding, pillow fight
Pillow fight
A pillow fight is a common game mostly played by young children in which they engage in mock physical conflict, utilizing pillows as weapons....
ing, and clapping game
Clapping game
A clapping game is a type of usually cooperative game which is generally played by two players and involves clapping as accompaniment to a singing game or reciting of a rhyme...
s) take place near and even on animals such as elephants, greyhounds, tigers, rheas, falcons, and monkeys. Animals are depicted in the video with as much agency as the humans: monkeys read pieces of paper, falcons intervene to prevent the red-head from shooting a monkey, the rhea allows two girls to ride on its back, and the tiger eats the girls brushing him. The video also contains several depictions of Case in the form of a portrait hung in the manor's stairwell and the transposition of one of Case's promotional portraits from Middle Cyclone onto the paper one of the monkeys possesses. The black comic
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
scene in which the tiger has eaten his youthful groomers (their shoes and brushes have been left behind as the animal licks its chops) alludes to Case's song "The Tigers Have Spoken
The Tigers Have Spoken
The Tigers Have Spoken is a 2004 live album by Neko Case. The album was recorded at three live shows, one in Chicago and two in Toronto, in the spring of 2004...
", whose lyrics describe a man-eating tiger driven mad by the isolation of captivity and shot on his chain.
Track listing
| # | Title | Songwriter | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "This Tornado Loves You" | Case | 3:21 |
| 2 | "The Next Time You Say Forever" | Case | 1:46 |
| 3 | "People Got a Lotta Nerve" | Case | 2:33 |
| 4 | "Polar Nettles" | Case | 2:26 |
| 5 | "Vengeance Is Sleeping" | Case | 3:22 |
| 6 | "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" is a song by the American group Sparks. The song was recorded by the group's mid-seventies 'Glam' line-up. It was released in late 1974 as the first single from the group's fourth album, Propaganda.... " |
Ron Mael Ron Mael Ronald David Mael , is an American musician and songwriter. He and his younger brother Russell, make up the pop duo Sparks.Ron Mael was born in Culver City, California. Ron plays keyboard and writes most of the songs for Sparks... |
2:14 |
| 7 | "Middle Cyclone" | Case | 3:05 |
| 8 | "Fever" | Case | 3:18 |
| 9 | "Magpie to the Morning" | Case | 2:44 |
| 10 | "I'm an Animal" | Case/Heasley | 2:21 |
| 11 | "Prison Girls" | Case | 5:25 |
| 12 | "Don't Forget Me" | Harry Nilsson Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson... |
3:09 |
| 13 | "The Pharaohs" | Case / The Sadies The Sadies The Sadies are a Canadian indie rock and alternative country band from Toronto, Ontario.-Background:The band consists of Dallas Good , Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky... |
3:37 |
| 14 | "Red Tide" | Case | 2:53 |
| 15 | "Marais la Nuit" | (N/A) | 31:39 |
On the vinyl release "Marais la Nuit" is shortened to about 15 minutes and takes up all of Side Four.
Personnel
- Neko CaseNeko CaseNeko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....
- vocals, guitar, piano - Paul Rigby - guitars
- Tom V. RayTom V. RayTom V. Ray is an American bassist living in Chicago. He was born in 1965, and grew up on a farm in Vincennes, Indiana.Ray’s professional musical career began in 1983, when he began performing with local bluegrass, country and classic rock cover bands. In 1990 he moved to New Orleans to join French...
- bass - Kelly HoganKelly HoganKelly Hogan is an American singer-songwriter born in Atlanta, Georgia.In the 1990s, Hogan sang with The Jody Grind , singing on their full-lengths One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure and Lefty's Deceiver . The group disbanded after two of its members were killed in a car crash...
- backing vocals - Lucy Wainwright RocheLucy Wainwright RocheLucy Wainwright Roche is an American singer-songwriter, and the daughter of musicians, Loudon Wainwright III and Suzzy Roche. Preceded by two EPs, 8 Songs and 8 More, Roche released her debut album, Lucy in October 2010....
- backing vocals - Jon Rauhouse - various instruments
- Barry Mirochnick - drums
- Kurt Heasley - guitars, various instruments
- Sarah HarmerSarah HarmerSarah Harmer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist.-Biography:Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sister Mary started taking her to concerts by the well-known Tragically Hip. At the age of 17, she...
- backing vocals - Carolyn MarkCarolyn MarkCarolyn Mark is a Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter. She has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of the duo The Corn Sisters with American colleague Neko Case, as well as with the bands the Vinaigrettes, Jr. Gone Wild, Showbusiness Giants, the Fixin's and the Metronome Cowboys...
- backing vocals - Howe GelbHowe GelbHowe Gelb is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer based in Tucson, Arizona.-Projects:Gelb's approach to music is collaborative and he has recorded with a number of side projects...
- piano, guitar - Garth HudsonGarth HudsonEric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...
- organ, piano - Dallas GoodThe SadiesThe Sadies are a Canadian indie rock and alternative country band from Toronto, Ontario.-Background:The band consists of Dallas Good , Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky...
- guitar - Travis GoodThe SadiesThe Sadies are a Canadian indie rock and alternative country band from Toronto, Ontario.-Background:The band consists of Dallas Good , Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky...
- guitar - M. WardM. WardMatthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
- acoustic and electric guitar - Nora O'ConnorNora O'ConnorNora O'Connor is an American musician. She sings and plays guitar with numerous bands and individuals from the U.S. and Canada, her primary involvements being Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire and the Blacks...
- backing vocals
Critical reception
The album received largely positive reviews from critics. NPRNPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
praised the songs of Middle Cyclone as "heartbreakingly beautiful and, at times, comical" and praised Case's as "one of the most memorable and seductive voices in music." The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
' Daniel Menaker praised her "real richness and body," writing that "She has often been described as a belter, a force of nature, a kind of vocal tornado. So this increased admixture of playfulness, delicacy and orchestral effects strikes you as the kind of variegation that artists — and species — make in order to survive and thrive."
Chart performance
Middle Cyclone debuted at #3 on the BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts in its first week of release, making it Case's first album ever to reach the Top Ten in the United States.
Middle Cyclone Tour The Europe February 2009 Tour, described as "a sneak of the new album", began in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday February 18, 2009 and ended on the 23rd in London England. A second, longer tour of Europe is in the works.
Middle Cyclones Spring 2009 Tour begins at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, TX on March 31, 2009. It will then snake through the Southeast, East coast, Canada, and Midwest through the end of April. It will be expanded to include locales in the Southwest, West coast, other locales across North America, and eventually expand to other continents/countries such as Australia. The band Crooked Fingers
Crooked Fingers
Crooked Fingers is a North Carolina band led by former Archers of Loaf lead singer Eric Bachmann. The band was previously based in Seattle, Washington and Atlanta, Georgia before moving to Denver. The band released albums on WARM Records and Merge Records before going completely independent in 2008...
will open for the majority of Case's Spring 2009 shows.
| Middle Cyclone Tour itinerary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | City | Country | Venue | ||
| Europe February 2009 Tour | |||||
| February 18, 2009 | Berlin Berlin Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union... |
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
Roter Salon | ||
| February 19, 2009 | Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... |
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
Orange House | ||
| February 21, 2009 | Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... |
France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
Nouveau Casino | ||
| February 22, 2009 | Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population... |
Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
Paradisio (Cancelled) | ||
| February 23, 2009 | London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... |
England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
Bush Hall | ||
| Spring 2009 Tour | |||||
| March 31, 2009 | Austin, TX | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Stubb's BBQ | ||
| April 2, 2009 | Atlanta, GA | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Variety Playhouse Variety Playhouse Variety Playhouse is a music venue in the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is located on Euclid Avenue and features a variety of music acts including rock, country, folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues and world music as well as other live shows.-Details:The building... |
||
| April 3, 2009 | Savannah, GA | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Trustees Theatre | ||
| April 4, 2009 | Birmingham, AL | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Workplay | ||
| April 6, 2009 | Richmond, VA | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Toad's Place Toad's Place Toad's Place is a concert venue and nightclub in New Haven, Connecticut, with two other short lived locations in Waterbury, CT and Richmond, VA.-History:... |
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| April 7, 2009 | Raleigh, NC | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Meymandi Concert Hall | ||
| April 8, 2009 | Washington, DC | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
9:30 Club 9:30 Club Foo Fighters Promise to come back to D.C. and play the 9:30 ClubNightclub 9:30 is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. Originally located at 930 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C., in the 1970s it was called the "Atlantis Club", and hosted primarily rock, New Wave, and punk bands... |
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| April 9, 2009 | Washington, DC | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
9:30 Club 9:30 Club Foo Fighters Promise to come back to D.C. and play the 9:30 ClubNightclub 9:30 is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. Originally located at 930 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C., in the 1970s it was called the "Atlantis Club", and hosted primarily rock, New Wave, and punk bands... |
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| April 10, 2009 | Glenside, PA (Philadelphia, PA) |
United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Keswick Theatre Keswick Theatre The Keswick Theatre is a privately-owned theater in the Keswick Village section of Glenside, Pennsylvania. It completed in 1928 and opened on Christmas Night that year. After closing in 1985, it reopened in 1988, and has hosted numerous well-known acts, bands, in addition to hosting several... |
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| April 11, 2009 | Boston, MA | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Berklee Performance Center Berklee Performance Center The Berklee Performance Center is a 1,215-seat theatre located on Massachusetts Ave. in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest theatre space on the Berklee College of Music campus and is used primarily for college-affiliated activities. Presenters from outside the Berklee... |
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| April 13, 2009 | New York, NY | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Nokia Theatre Times Square Nokia Theatre Times Square The Best Buy Theater in Times Square is an indoor theatre, owned and managed by Anschutz Entertainment Group , located on 1515 Broadway, at the corner of Broadway and 44th street. It was designed by architect David Rockwell and opened in September 2005... |
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| April 14, 2009 | New York, NY | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Nokia Theatre Times Square Nokia Theatre Times Square The Best Buy Theater in Times Square is an indoor theatre, owned and managed by Anschutz Entertainment Group , located on 1515 Broadway, at the corner of Broadway and 44th street. It was designed by architect David Rockwell and opened in September 2005... |
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| April 16, 2009 | Montreal, QC | Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
Le National | ||
| April 17, 2009 | Toronto, ON | Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
Trinity-St. Paul's United Church Trinity-St. Paul's United Church Trinity-St. Paul's United Church is a church belonging to the United Church of Canada in Toronto, Ontario. It is located at 427 Bloor Street West, just west of Spadina Avenue. The church is formed of a mix of three different former congregations and houses a fourth.Today, Trinity-St. Paul's has a... |
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| April 18, 2009 | Toronto, ON | Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
Trinity-St. Paul's United Church Trinity-St. Paul's United Church Trinity-St. Paul's United Church is a church belonging to the United Church of Canada in Toronto, Ontario. It is located at 427 Bloor Street West, just west of Spadina Avenue. The church is formed of a mix of three different former congregations and houses a fourth.Today, Trinity-St. Paul's has a... |
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| April 20, 2009 | Ithaca, NY | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
State Theatre of Ithaca | ||
| April 21, 2009 | Cleveland, OH | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Allen Theatre | ||
| April 22, 2009 | Charleston, WV | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Charleston Civic Center Little Theatre | ||
| April 23, 2009 | Columbus, OH | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Newport Music Hall Newport Music Hall The Newport Music Hall is a music venue located at 1722 North High Street, Columbus, Ohio, across the street from the Ohio Union of the Ohio State University. It is "America's Longest Continually Running Rock Club".... |
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| April 24, 2009 | Chicago, IL | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Chicago Theatre Chicago Theatre The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban, his brother... |
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| April 25, 2009 | Milwaukee, WI | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Riverside Theater Riverside Theater (Milwaukee) Riverside Theater is a concert hall, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The venue, which has seats for 2,460 people and hosts many different musical artists and shows... |
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| April 26, 2009 | Minneapolis, MN | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
State Theatre State Theatre (Minneapolis, Minnesota) The State Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota is a significant venue in that city.The State Theatre seats 2,181. It opened in 1921 and was considered the most technologically advanced and elaborate theatre in the United States. It was designed by Chicago architect J.E.O. Pridmore in a free Italian... |
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| with Crooked Fingers Crooked Fingers Crooked Fingers is a North Carolina band led by former Archers of Loaf lead singer Eric Bachmann. The band was previously based in Seattle, Washington and Atlanta, Georgia before moving to Denver. The band released albums on WARM Records and Merge Records before going completely independent in 2008... |
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External links
- Middle Cyclone album details at the ANTI- official website.
- Middle Cyclone lyrics at Neko Case's official website.
- Middle Cyclone Electronic Press Kit at ANTI-'s official YouTube channel.
- "People Got A Lotta Nerve" music video at ANTI-'s official YouTube channel.