New Music Picks: The Antlers and Neko Case
We’ve been enjoying the new record by The Antlers, Hospice, released March 3. All Songs Considered puts it at the top of their best music of 2009 (thus far) list. The project is essentially one person, 23 year old Peter Silberman, but he’ll be playing with his band (Michael Lerner, Darby Cicci) tonight at Union Hall. The entire album is steaming over at Bandcamp and here’s a couple of MP3s:
DOWNLOAD: The Antlers: Bear (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Antlers: Two (MP3)
We’ve also been enjoying Neko Case’s latest, Middle Cyclone. It’s her strongest work since Blacklisted and contains some of her best songs to date. We can’t stop listening to “This Tornado Loves You.”
Here’s a great in the studio video of the first single, “People Got a Lot of Nerve:”
DOWNLOAD: Neko Case – People Got a Lot of Nerve (MP3)
After the jump, Neko Case ‘Middle Cyclone’ Making of Documentary EPK- Directed by Ruth Leitman. [Hat tip Rumproast... who also has a link to a cool Harry Nilsson cover by Neko]
Here’s the scoop on the above documentary, in Ruth Leitman’s words:
I love doing this kind of work for artists I admire as much as Neko Case. The record is amazing! For those of you who know my film Lipstick & Dynamite, you may not know that Neko is the long lost niece of lady wrestler Ella Waldek. I kid you not! Enjoy
In this “making of” teaser, Neko describes locating themes for the the followup to 2006′s Fox Confessor Brings The Flood as akin to “locating a serial killer.” Of course it was. We also see Case in the creaky, pretty barn where she moved to record the album (check out the piano lineup and cardboard booth), live footage, Case talking about building an Eiffel Tower out of popsicle sticks, and explaining what she thinks it would be like to have a tornado fall in love with you (A: stormy, dangerous). She also finds time to check out bird nests, listen to the frogs, and smell the flowers.
