Archives for August 2018

Certain Songs #1299: Neko Case – “The Train From Kansas City (Live)”

August 21, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Tigers Have Spoken
Year: 2004

Because it it’s always been seen as a stopgap between Blacklisted and the leveling-up of Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, Neko Case’s 2004 live album, The Tigers Have Spoken has always been kind of underrated.

But to me, it’s an absolutely essential record. Not only does it have many songs that aren’t on any of her other albums, it also contains my favorite Neko Case original — which we’ll talk about tomorrow — and my favorite Neko Case cover, her take on The Shangri-Las “The Train From Kansas City,” which is one of the greatest songs ever written.

Certain Songs #1298: Neko Case – “South Tacoma Way”

August 20, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: Furnace Room Lullaby
Year: 2000

On each of her first three studio albums, you could see Neko Case move ever forward: if her debut, The Virginian was an equal amount of covers and originals, and her third album, Blacklisted — which is where I think I came aboard — is pretty much all songs Case wrote on her own, her sophomore album, Furnace Room Lullaby, was all collaborations.

But there was no question that Case was running the show, and Furnace Room Lullaby is probably my favorite of the records she made during this period, with the highlight being the torch elegy, “South Tacoma Way.”

Certain Songs #1297: Neko Case – “Duchess”

August 19, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Virginian
Year: 1997

When Neko Case’s debut album — credited to Neko Case & Her Boyfriends — The Virginian debuted in 1997, I doubt anyone knew how much of a major artist she would end up being.

For one thing, the alt-country music on the album was miles away from the good-time pop-punk of her original band, Maow, and furthermore, she only had writing credits on half of The Virginian, the last time that would happen on one of her studio albums.

Certain Songs #1296: Neil Young – “My Pledge”

August 18, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: Peace Trail
Year: 2016

Recorded at Shangri-La Studios, Malibu on September 10, 2016

So, after nearly 50 years and over 60 posts, we come to the end of Neil Young. Well, not really the end of Neil Young, per se — he put out The Visitor in 2017 and a film directed by Daryl Hannah called Paradox just a few months ago — but the end of the Neil Young songs I’m writing about.

So why not end it with a weird, surrealistic confessional from a man who his still burning brightly well into his eighth decade?

Certain Songs #1295: Neil Young – “Peace Trail”

August 17, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: Peace Trail
Year: 2016

Recorded at Shangri-La Studios on September 11, 2016

After putting out two Crazy Horse albums in 2012, Neil Young didn’t release any new music in 2013, but put out two albums in 2014.

The first was A Letter Home, and it was recorded with Jack White, which on paper seems great until you read the fine print: it was a bunch of covers recorded on something called the Voice-o-Graph, which was basically a phone booth sized chamber with a mic that allowed you to record directly to vinyl. The result was fun, but non-essential.

Certain Songs #1294: Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Ramada Inn”

August 16, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: Psychedelic Pill
Year: 2012

Recorded at Redwood Digital on February 26, 2012

So naturally, after perhaps the most experimental album of his entire career, Neil Young returned to the basics, and after the longest non-Crazy Horse drought of his career, released not one, but two NYCH albums in 2012.

The first one, Americana, is a bit of a controversial entry in the canon: it’s all covers, and covers of traditional songs — and, er, “Get a Job” — to boot. Oh, and they fucked with the melodies of the more well-known songs as well.

Certain Songs #1293: Neil Young – “Hitchhiker”

August 15, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: Le Noise
Year: 2010

Recorded at Le Noise, Silver Lake on March 29, 2010

After Prairie Wind, each of the new studio albums that Neil Young released for the balance of the 2000s had an interesting backstory, as well a few good songs, maybe even great ones.

In 2006, Living With War tried literally to raise rabble with pointed songs about Gulf War II like the title track and “Shock and Awe,” as well as the controversy-generating “Let’s Impeach The President,” (for lying, which seems both quaint and totally apropos today), though the best one was “The Restless Consumer,” a catchy commentary on late capitalism which was nevertheless too strident by half.

Certain Songs #1292: Neil Young – “No Wonder”

August 14, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: Prairie Wind
Year: 2005

Recorded at Masterlink, Nashville on March 19, 2005

It would be 2005 before we got another good Neil Young album.

That’s not as bad as it sounds, I guess. First off, Broken Arrow was his last album of the 20th century, unless you count 1999’s CSN&Y album, Looking Forward, which I don’t even remember, so I guess I don’t.

But even a glance at the always helpful timeline on the invaluable Neil Young Archives shows an absolute paucity of studio recording during that period, and no lost albums.

Certain Songs #1291: Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Slip Away (Los Angeles 09-11-1996)”

August 13, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: Year of the Horse
Year: 1997

Recorded at the The Forum, Inglewood on September 11, 1996

Along with “Big Time” and “Music Arcade,” “Slip Away” was a definite highlight of Broken Arrow, but where it truly shone was on Year of The Horse, where it had time to slowly unfold.

I mean, sure, it slowly unfolded on Broken Arrow, too, but it kinda got lost a bit, being the third long slow song in a row to start off on that record, whereas on Year of the Horse, it was the first song on the second disc, following a pair of shorter songs that ended the first disc.

Certain Songs #1290: Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Barstool Blues (Santa Cruz 05-09-1996)”

August 12, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: Year of the Horse
Year: 1997

Recorded at the Catalyst, Santa Cruz on May 9, 1996

One of the fun things about Year of the Horse, the live album that Neil Young culled from the nearly year-long tour he undertook with Crazy Horse, was that it contained not one, but two songs originally on Zuma, neither of which was “Cortez The Killer.”

One of those songs was an utterly epic take on the long-lost “Danger Bird,” and other was a great, jammy version of “Barstool Blues,” which was definitely not a blues, but felt like it was written at last call.