27-09-2025, 18:28
NEKO CASE ~ Neon Grey Midnight Green
![[Image: 250px-Neon_Grey_Midnight_Green.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5b/Neon_Grey_Midnight_Green.jpg/250px-Neon_Grey_Midnight_Green.jpg)
This is the first Neko solo album that I’ve listened to at any length. She has a great voice which reminds me now and then of Dani Klein – Vaya Con Dios although she’s substantially more off-the-wall than they ever were. In her less conventional moments, there’s an inkling of Laurie Anderson too, however, that said, comparisons are futile – I can’t think of any other singer who is quite like Ms Case!
She’s referred to as a singer/songwriter which will have to suffice as it's difficult to box her into any particular genre. Alternative will always work for this lady, I think! The personnel listing on this album is exhaustive, and I was interested to see John Convertino (Calexico) making an appearance on drums on one of my three favourite tracks. The instrumentation and orchestration lend considerable interest and depth, which helps the release to sound full and complete, in my view. I like the somewhat quirky lyrics and delivery against the backdrop of a full-on string section, for example.
These are not your common or garden songs and subject matter, as you can tell from the lyrics to “Little Gears” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km8aQVj6DaE one is simply compelled to pay attention to her words …
I watched a spider build her web
It's something I’d never done before
I assumed it was a three-day event
As intricate as they are
As fragile as they are
But she finished it in less than an hour
I felt cheated by how easy it was
No mistakes, no missteps
Born yesterday with the gears of an atomic clock
Is she nothing but a program like love?
A smell on the air that tells us when to go?
Oh, why can't she stay that miracle?
A story written out in stars
And why isn't that еnough?
Why do people need to feel so special all thе time?
So above it all
This morning I went back to see her
To see if she’d caught some fidgety dinner, but her web was gone
Just a few threads hanging on to where they'd begun
You see, a bird or a breeze can be a hurricane to the little things
Why do people need to feel so important all the time?
So above it all
We all crave some wildness we cannot know
We all crave some wildness, some hit and run
To glimpse the side-eyed blurry hide
And thrill at the marks it leaves behind
The police report, an I.O.U
For a miracle which reads:
"Please, stay here on Earth with me
And I'll try not to explain everything away
Little spider"
“Match Lit” which is the one where her vocal reminded me of Dani Klein … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s4MtEDm11U
“Winchester Mansion of Sound” with Convertino on drums … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBdEjoJtQQA
and “Rusty Mountain” -
This is the first Neko solo album that I’ve listened to at any length. She has a great voice which reminds me now and then of Dani Klein – Vaya Con Dios although she’s substantially more off-the-wall than they ever were. In her less conventional moments, there’s an inkling of Laurie Anderson too, however, that said, comparisons are futile – I can’t think of any other singer who is quite like Ms Case!
She’s referred to as a singer/songwriter which will have to suffice as it's difficult to box her into any particular genre. Alternative will always work for this lady, I think! The personnel listing on this album is exhaustive, and I was interested to see John Convertino (Calexico) making an appearance on drums on one of my three favourite tracks. The instrumentation and orchestration lend considerable interest and depth, which helps the release to sound full and complete, in my view. I like the somewhat quirky lyrics and delivery against the backdrop of a full-on string section, for example.
These are not your common or garden songs and subject matter, as you can tell from the lyrics to “Little Gears” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km8aQVj6DaE one is simply compelled to pay attention to her words …
I watched a spider build her web
It's something I’d never done before
I assumed it was a three-day event
As intricate as they are
As fragile as they are
But she finished it in less than an hour
I felt cheated by how easy it was
No mistakes, no missteps
Born yesterday with the gears of an atomic clock
Is she nothing but a program like love?
A smell on the air that tells us when to go?
Oh, why can't she stay that miracle?
A story written out in stars
And why isn't that еnough?
Why do people need to feel so special all thе time?
So above it all
This morning I went back to see her
To see if she’d caught some fidgety dinner, but her web was gone
Just a few threads hanging on to where they'd begun
You see, a bird or a breeze can be a hurricane to the little things
Why do people need to feel so important all the time?
So above it all
We all crave some wildness we cannot know
We all crave some wildness, some hit and run
To glimpse the side-eyed blurry hide
And thrill at the marks it leaves behind
The police report, an I.O.U
For a miracle which reads:
"Please, stay here on Earth with me
And I'll try not to explain everything away
Little spider"
“Match Lit” which is the one where her vocal reminded me of Dani Klein … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s4MtEDm11U
“Winchester Mansion of Sound” with Convertino on drums … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBdEjoJtQQA
and “Rusty Mountain” -
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson
