Neko Case - The Tigers Have Spoken (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

Put this tiger in your tank

Fred Rudofsky | upstate NY United States | 11/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is yet another tremendous Neko Case release, and her first official live record (unless you count OTHER WOMEN with her Corn Sisters cohort Carolyn Mark). Though it's a short cd, it succeeds on many levels in showing the full range of Neko's talents. Two new songs, co-written with Canada's finest band, The Sadies, stand out. "If You Knew" is an upbeat lament about a naive love, while the title track is an allegory (perhaps) about not only how we treat this planet's most beautiful creatures but how we humans have lost something in the quest to be civilized. Always an amazing interpreter, like Emmylou Harris, Neko can find a song and make it her own. "Soulful Shade of Blue" and "The Train from Kansas City" sound like nuggets from the golden age of radio in the late 1960's--Neko's voice soars and entices while joined by the Sadies and Carolyn Mark and Kelly Hogan on harmonies. Hearing Neko tear it up on the garage classic "Loretta" and minutes later paying tribute to Loretta Lynn herself (a kickass rendition of "Rated X") is revelatory about how diverse and classy Neko's tastes are. It's no wonder she has such genius as a singer=songwriter--the two originals she revisits here, "Favorite" (see the must-have EP CANADIAN AMP) and the title cut of the essential BLACKLISTED resonate vividly (I can picture the audience just being mesmerized by Neko's voice and Jon Rauhouse's pedal steel guitar). Never one to forget her grandmother's roots, Neko with support from Jim and and Jennie and the Pinetops raises the roof with the gospel of "This Little Light of Mine". Yet that's not all! "Wayfaring Stranger" gets choral help from the ideaCity03--a Toronto audience!--that is one of the most sublime, fun moments of interaction I've ever heard. I'd love to see a DVD of Neko's shows come out, but in the meantime this live cd will suffice. If you're new to Neko, or curious as to why she has smitten fans like me all over the world, you ought to pick up this album and get ready for her next masterpiece, which is due in the spring. Do yourself a favor, put this tiger in your tank."

A Case for Neko

Chuck Hancock | McDonough GA | 03/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My shelves are stuffed with CDs that never get played. This one gets played every few days, sometimes more than once. For me, that says a lot. I usually buy a couple of CDs a week, at least, and I just keep coming back to this one. It's concise, energetic, with twangy wall of sound arrangements. It rocks. It's one of those live albums where you can feel the energy from one end to the other. It reminds me of The Who's Live at Leeds (the original, rather than the reissued longer version) where every song counts and there's no filler.

Neko Case's singing is perfect for the material. She has a great voice and knows how to use it. I don't know how she does it, but it's almost unreal. She has a sweet voice, but not too sweet, more like ginger snaps than honey. There are few singers who do as well as her so consistently. The backup singers do a wonderful job, too. It sounds like they really have got the hang of it.

I'm not a fan of regular country music, but this is like punk country or something. They band seems to have taken the cool parts, and left the bogus parts outside the door. The playing is just right with a mix of electric, acoustic, steel guitars, banjo (but not too much banjo), and plenty of reverb. The rhythm section is good, too, anchoring the generally tight arrangements. There's no excess baggage here in the form of extended solos. There are solos, but they make their point and get out of the way. Eleven songs in about 38 minutes. The band doesn't waste your time.

No excess songs either. All are well chosen, and they all speak to matters of the heart and mind in some way, stuff like love, loss and death, songs of the spirit. Some are what I would call poetic, and some are more literal, some have a little bit of each. All of them are good songs, though. About the last two songs: they've been done a thousand times before. But, Neko and the band still do a decent job and make them listenable.

The sound is excellent. Not studio slick, but LIVE like you are there. The album art is interesting, with some cool drawings

I don't know if they play Neko's stuff on the radio or not, but somehow I doubt it. This CD just rocks too much to attract widespread attention. But this is the real deal, so do yourself a favor. Download the two free songs from this site. If you like them, be assured that these two are representative of the album as a whole."

Neko never disappoints.....

S. Moore | Melbourne, Aus | 11/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've seen quite a few reviews of Neko Case's latest offering, the live 'the tigers have spoken', and alot of them seem to be making the point that due to the high number of covers in the set, added with it being at least two years since her last studio release, the excellent 'Blacklisted', that it could be seen that 'tigers' is almost a bit of a cop out and stop gap to keep the fans happy until her next studio release due in spring 2005.

That could not be further from the truth.

'the tigers have spoken' is a rarity in the genre of live albums. In that rather than been given a 'greatest hits package, just played live', Neko gives us something that is new and fresh and engaging. Long time Neko fans have been dying to hear her backed by a full band (drummer complete!) live, the role admirably filled by toronto's finest, the sadies, as well regular sidekicks in crime, jon rauhouse, kelly hogan, and carolyn marks (corn sister extradonaire), not leaving out some newcomers, jim, jennie and the pinetops. As well as having her cover of the most brilliant 'hex' finally captured for repeated listings (a popular request ever since she performed it on austin city limits), and the traditional song 'little light of mine' that she has performed live in the past with both the sadies and one of her side projects, the corn sisters.

New songs 'if you only knew' and 'the tigers have spoken' are some of Neko's best work to date, the later showing an interesting and exciting more rockier edge than some of her past work, which fans of 'the new pornographers' would probably appreciate. But for newcomers, the beauty of Neko Case is that she never limits herself to just one thing or one style, illustrated in her choice of covers, ranging from the buffy sainte marie 'soulful shade of blue', to the garage punk of 'Loretta' and the bouncing pop of the shangala's 'train from kanas city'. Not to mention the hot smoking cover of Loretta Lynn's 'rated x'. Neko doesn't totally neglect her own fine body of work however, providing a haunting version of the title track of her last album, 'blacklisted', and probably the best version I've heard yet of one of her greatest songs that is not on one of her full length releases, 'favourite'.

If you are new to Neko Case, then take 'tigers' as a fantastic introduction to her world and an affirmation of why she is considered one of the finest singers in country music today (and I sure as hell aint talking about the crap that is coming out of Nashville that is being tried to be passed as 'country music'). For the already converted, then 'tigers' is an opportunity to have a permanent copy of those songs that we have heard live for the first time and fell in love with, as well as something to bring back some of the best memories we have gotten from seeing a great performer live."

The Other Side of Neko

Stephen B. Baines | Lwonk eyelant, NY | 11/26/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a very solid and appealing CD. I'm actually surprised to be writing that. Even though I am a big fan of Neko, my first time listening to Tigers left me a bit underwhelmed. It seemed like a wispy, if pleasant, good-natured, well-executed effort. At ten bucks, it was basically a morsel meant to keep those starving tigers in her audience at bay until spring when her next studio effort is released. I was going to leave it at that.

However, after a few listens the disc has moved steadily to the front of my CD changer. There is just something immensely... listenable about it. It is absolutely captivating how that voice anchors every song on this album, serving as foundation and superstructure supporting the instrumentation (from the Sadies) and often exquisite harmonizing (courtesy of her friends Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark). Even when she's basically singing background, as in the raucous version of "This Little Light of Mine," her voice provides a center around which everything else revolves. And she is pitch-perfect in her choices, letting her voice inhabit the songs rather than overwhelm them, only revealing that trademark wail at the right moments (near the end of "If you knew.."), and belting and lilting when appropriate. She and her colleagues are clearly having fun.

As for the "muddy sound" that some complain about, well I've seen her twice now in NYC and I can say that this album represents a pretty good facsimile of what you hear live, which is probably exactly the effect she was looking for. Neko is not keen on cleaning up the sound of her performances, preferring an organic quality of the live thing with all its warts and diamonds. It's impressive that some of these performances could pass for studio cuts were it not for the crowd noise. The real differences from the live experience is the banter, which is frequent and lively, and the fact that the entire range of her collaborators are never present at one concert. She will tour with the Sadies OR with Hogan and Mark OR solo with Rauhouse, Ray and assorted others. It's a real treat to hear them all together.

I see now that this CD serves a larger purpose too. It reveals a side (or rather several sides) of Neko that aren't as obvious in her studio efforts. Blacklisted virtually dripped with an aching (if abstract) sadness and dread. The contrast with her live presence, which is earthy, rambunctious, literate, self-deprecating and very funny, is so jolting that I have wondered if that album were merely an elaborate musical joke. This album has helped put that concern to rest. Neko picks songs that reflect her wide-ranging influences: pop, country, and folk. Even Velvet Underground-inspired punk makes an appearance (Loretta). While at first glance the collection seems random, each song has a similar plaintive strain, reflecting Neko's affinity for any part of american culture that gives voice to the struggles, fears, and hopes of the simple people in the street. It's that common strain which links this release with Furnaceroom Lullabye and Blacklisted. It also makes it clear that those albums represented just a small part of a very large musical ice-berg, most of which is yet to surface in the studio.

"

Her Best

W. Davis | PA/DE | 04/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Of all her albums (including Fox Confessor...), this is the best. First, it's staggering that her voice can be as amazing live as it is on the studio albums; really, it's something special. Second, her 'magnetism' comes out much more in the live recording than it does in the studio albums. When I listen to the studio albums I feel like something is missing; what is on this album is exactly what's missing. It's like the difference between a Grateful Dead live album versus a Grateful Dead studio album (well, maybe not that severe, but you get the point.)

I'd recommend buying this album before any of the others. Standout tracks include 'Train From Kansas City', 'Soulful Shade of Blue', 'If You Knew', and 'Rated X'."

Search - Neko Case :: The Tigers Have Spoken

CD Details

Synopsis

Similarly Requested CDs

CD Reviews