Around this time last year, I was busy comparing 2008 to 2007 counting it didn't size up. Now I want 2008 back. It's not that 2009 has been a terrible year in music, but it's felt really pedestrian: lots of albums that are fine listens but nothing noteworthy. My two favorite listens lately are albums that were released in 2008, but I just didn't get around to: Nick Cave's Dig! Lazarus, Dig! and the self-titled album by Friendly Fires. Otherwise, it's been a meh year.And so, as a protest noted by no one but me, I'm putting forward a lukewarm like on Saturday, because it's just not quite good enough for Friday.
Neko Case, "Red Tide" (2009)
get Middle Cyclone
Neko Case has become infuriating to me. After creating the "this is what country music should sound like" Furnace Room Lullaby in 2000 and then following it with Blacklisted, a spotty record that still contained some brilliant moments and one of my alltime favorite songs in "Deep Red Bells", she's gone a little wonky. Her last record and her new one could be flattered as, say, "patchwork quilts" or as exploring song structure, but they sound to me like unfinished works: moments of brilliant descriptive wordplay forced onto afterthought music and trotting out the same few melodic ideas over and over.
"Red Tide" is an odd song: when I play it at a quiet volume, it catches my ear and I think it's pretty good, but louder volumes don't bring out any depths of the song. It's a brooding song that kind of motors along with the vibe of a good song and it's a pleasant enough listen, but it still feels undercooked, and by the time it's over, I'm more in the mood to listen to something else.
