Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Neko Case

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 7, 2006)
• Original Release Date: March 7, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Anti
• ASIN: B000CS4L1E
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (116 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,574 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #37 in	Music > Country > Alt-Country & Americana
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Nine seconds into her first studio album since 2002's Blacklisted, and there it is. You can't miss it. The voice. Instantly recognizable and uniquely commanding, it has been uniformly overlooked by the masses and beloved by those who have caught on. And, believe it or not, it gets even better, whether Neko Case is warbling like a porch-swing neighbor to Loretta Lynn ("Margaret vs. Paulene," "John Saw That Number"), pontificating from the spiritual pulpit of Etta James ("Lion's Jaws," "Maybe Sparrow"), or unleashing the high-octane zeal of a power-pop spitfire ("Hold On Hold On," "The Needle Has Landed"). Her uncanny, often eccentric lyrics have always been delivered with an inherent passion behind the impulse, but rarely have they approached the boldness of these dozen--many of which were inspired by generations of tales from her Ukrainian ancestors. As usual, Case's industry running buddies collaborate to make the sounds behind her, from Calexico to Howe Gelb of Giant Sand to the Band's renowned Garth Hudson. Still, it all comes back to the voice, that serenading urgency that asks in the title song, "How can people not know what beauty this is?" Yes, there are some to ask, how not? --Scott Holter

More from Neko Case

Furnace Room Lullaby	Blacklisted	The Tigers Have Spoken
Live from Austin, Texas	Electric Version, the New Pornographers featuring Neko Case	Twin Cinema, the New Pornographers featuring Neko Case

Product Description
Neko is a major poet by any standard, a songwriter less interested perhaps in traditional narrative form than in distilling a pure moment of time. She claims no genre, nor utilizes any classic formula for her songs and singing. More than anything she thrives in the spaces in between her music. After two years in the making, "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood" is in many ways the sum total of her journey.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Case for a Great Voice - ****1/2, March 11, 2006

By	B. Niedt (Cherry Hill, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Neko Case's stock must be on the rise - I saw this CD on the "new releases" page of the weekly Best Buy ad, the page usually reserved for the likes of Christina Aguilera and Matchbox 20. This may be her "crossover" album into mainstream success, and I'd be crazy to say it isn't well-deserved. There are two sides to Neko - the rockin' singer in the New Pornographers (whose popularity also seems on the upswing), and the countrified chanteuse of her solo albums. She's been compared vocally more than once to Patsy Cline, and that's a fair analogy. Her clear, achy voice rings out through all these songs, which seem generally more folky, and even at times jazzy, than on the previous albums, which were more steeped in country tradition. There are hints of gospel too (the traditional "John Saw That Number"). The strongest tracks for me, hearing this for the third time, are "Hold On Hold On" and "Star Witness". "That Teenage Feeling" is another fine song (I love the illustration for it in the booklet: a runaway tractor-trailer with "I love you" painted on the side.) The cover art is a bit odd in an Edward-Gorey kind of way, and some of her lyrics are a bit surreal. Also, the production is "alt-country reverb", an effect also used by bands like My Morning Jacket - I find it a little annoying after a while. But quibbles aside, there's no masking or denying That Voice, one of the most impressive in pop music right now. And I'm glad she's getting the widespread recognition she deserves.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive cohesive whole, September 26, 2006

By	Timothy G. Niland (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

With her flaming red hair and imposing good looks, Neko Case strikes an impressive pose, but that's nothing compared to the development of her singing and songwriting over the past few years. This album bathes her strong voice with echoing reverb, making her tales of love and loss seem even more apocalyptic. Case mixes country, folk and pop with an unusual deftness that sets her apart from the veritable army of female singer songwriters on todays music scene, and with backup from the likes of Calexico, one of the finest roots rock groups around, the music meshes very well with the lyrics.

Songs like "Star Witness" and "Margaret vs. Pauline" tackle working class themes and issues without the slightest smirk and are devastating performances. Surprising, yet equally powerful are the gospel influences in the music, most overtly brought forth in "John Saw That Number." But the theme that most pervades the album is one of hope amidst a great struggle, exemplified by songs like "That Teenage Feeling" and "Maybe Sparrow" which acknowledge the hardships of ordinary life but never give into depression or clinched optimism, just small hard won triumphs. This album itself is a triumph of class, dignity and open minded musicians drawing from many different genres and ideas to create an impressive cohesive whole.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Down this chain of days, I wish to stay among my people.", August 5, 2006

By	N. Budniewski - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This CD didn't grab me at first -- but somehow, I kind of knew right from the start that it would. I got it to my car. The first song ("Margaret vs. Pauline") started, the music starts off with some innocent strumming, and then all at once hits the most haunting chord progression -- not the innocent kind of anthem I expected from anything with "country" in its description. That's what sat sour the first couple listens: the chord progressions did what they wanted, the songs seemed ready to conform to expectations but then didn't, the melodies changed at will, the production was shimmering and almost too-clean.... It's awkward at first, like a first date or something; it's later that these things precisely, these incongruities, mold it into perfection........

It's all right there, in that first most-unpredictable song, though; all the complexities and paradoxes that come together to, after a little adjusting, make this album a collective masterpiece. First there's the voice: spectacular, evocative, emotive....... Almost too good, at first; the kind of voice that breeds walking puppets, like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. It anticipates flimsy songwriting propped up by indiscriminate wailing -- another cliché of music that is hard to get past at first. Only here, it is used for its own devices... with a nostalgia and respect for tradition, but a startling independence to go with it that gives weight to every note.

Then there are the lyrics which give the voice that weight. Like any good country, they tell stories; only these stories, like the voice, embrace the tradition but leave out the stereotypes. "Margaret and Pauline" for instance: a "story" miles removed from one too many at the bar. Case, instead, uses the voice to give the imagery of two women, "rivals" who probably don't even know each other: one a sex goddess, the other luckless. The lyrics, superficially, say nothing: "The girl with the parking lot eyes / Margaret is the fragments of a name." But emotively, they say everything a create an image that seems to go right to the heart of the matter. Along with the wonderful line of the hard-luck girl's (who had three fingers chopped off) bravery and courage being turned into a spectacle, as fake pictures of the Lochness monster. Who can't relate to stuff like that? It's so profoundly human...... there is nothing political here (I think the religious song is a wonderful touch, on that note), just slightly skewed stories about people and living, and capturing all of the depth of living.

The music is next. It is silky clean, also in the country tradition. Here, indeed, it takes the best of country: relaxed instruments giving each other space, nothing frantic nor hurried nor self-serving about any of it. But, as not really a country fan, this is one aspect of the CD that I did not like at first, until I observed how well it suited Case; how much space it gave to her voice and imagery, how it created a perfect backdrop, like a scene at a musical. But where the music itself is calm, the songwriting is incredibly adventurous for "country." The songs go wherever they want. This is frustrating at first, as it seems to undermine fluidity; but in the long run, after a number of listens, comes the ability to anticipate the changes...... then they no longer throw one off, but do what they are supposed to: give the album a vibrancy, and an ability to adapt and not get bogged down in melodies that lose their spark -- even within a song.

Out of this whole a few highlights stand out ("State Witness," "Hold On, Hold On," etc), But ultimately, it's great songs contributing to an eclectic whole, with songs that stand well both alone and in the wider context. The time spent assembling this masterpiece was well used.

One moment kind of sums of the perfection of this album, the perfect mix of tradition and innovation, for me. It's in the two-chord ballad "At Last". Case sings some gorgeous lines ("Down this chain of days, I wish to stay among my people") and dares death to meet her, not denying that she would be in fear of it, but not bending either. Ordinarily, a powerful song. But it becomes a spectacular song when an electric guitar joins her acoustic and hits the most awful, out of place note........ and yet the two-chords of the guitar plow on through it and regain the drive times five.

Some artists go out to destroy tradition. Some add to tradition, make it even deeper.