The Severed Cortex

Link: http://www.nekocase.com/

I am fixated with Neko Case. If there were a way for me to carry her baby to full term I would do it. She'd just have to agree to make sweet, sweet love to me and sing while doing it. I'd probably goof it up by crying the whole time. Was that too much information?
There is just something about Neko Case's voice that makes me feel ... well ... probably the same way that 15 year old girls felt about Elvis. Cool late 50's Elvis, not the fat bloated 70's Elvis doing karate in rhinestone jumpsuits. Neko's voice is instantly recognizable and so incredible that she can instantly stop you in your tracks. I felt the same way about Natalie Merchant's voice from 1986 until the late 1990's. Both can do whatever they like to me as long as they sing while doing it. Hmmm ... how about me, Neko Case, Natalie Merchant, a hot tub, and a Super 8 camera.
Middle Cyclone, the follow up to the very successful Fox Confessor Brings the Flood treads pretty much along the same path as its predecessor. Why ruin a good formula right? Usually these sorts of two trick ponies never work. If they do, everyone says the second one never reaches the promise of the one that blazed the trail. It's a tough call for me to say that Middle Cyclone is not up to the task though. The material might be slightly weaker but that's really splitting hairs. There are just as many good songs on both, and neither one has a bad song in the bunch. On the positive side, Middle Cyclone gives you two more tracks, three if you count the 30 minute bird chirping track, which I do not. It's not like the extra songs are junk (30 minute bird chirping aside). I assure you they are not. When the rubber meets the road of the 1970 Cougar (how apropos is that?) displayed on the album cover, this is another solid artistic production by one of the finest voices in any genre of music.
If you are unfamiliar with Neko Case then you need to become spellbound by her voice this instant. Try People Got a Lotta Nerve or my personal favorite The Next Time You Say "Forever". It's one of those songs that makes the hair on your arm stand up. Magpie to the Morning and I'm An Animal are also outstanding as is the epic Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth. I'm going to bet that if you listen to one song you'll want to buy the whole release.