Neko Case "Middle Cyclone" (ANTI-) Sounds like: The wind through a field at night Grade: B+
While garnering comparisons to honky-tonk goddesses Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton with previous albums, Neko Case is no one but herself on her latest album, "Middle Cyclone." Known for her atmospheric alt-country sound, Case comes into her own with "Cyclone," considered by many critics to be the most personal of her albums.
Several songs were recorded in a piano-riddled barn on Case's new farm in Vermont. As a result, the sounds of birds and frogs, even wind gusts, come through on some tracks. The last track, "Marais la Nuit," is just these sounds, which Case recorded by the pond on her property.
The album makes listeners feel like they're vacationing on Case's farm, and she's got them all-ears on her back porch. As a whole, it goes through a gentle series of ups and downs, most of which are original material. Unlike previous albums, "Cyclone" only includes two covers, Harry Nilsson's "Don't Forget Me" and Sparks' "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth." The former uses Case's piano orchestra - six pianos from Craigslist's free section - to full effect, while the latter shows Case's range of genre.
The title song shows off Case at her singer/songwriter best, with winning lyrics like, "I lie 'cross the path waiting / just for a chance to be a spider web / trapped in your lashes," accompanied by the gentle tinkling of a jack-in-the-box. By the time the night sounds and frogs take over, listeners are sure to feel that Case has led them through the night.
-KRISTEN POWELL
Sara Watkins "Sara Watkins" (Nonesuch) Sounds like: Sara standing center stage Grade: B
After playing for so long with Nickel Creek (she began with them in 1989), it's hard to look at Sara Watkins without the ghosts of her brother Sean and bandmate Chris Thile lingering in the background. Still, Watkins manages to make her solo debut all her own.
The fiddle, her signature instrument, plays a prominent role in the album, sliding gracefully through the ballads and plucking exuberantly through the more upbeat tracks. Her vocals soar as if her voice has been waiting almost two decades to stand alone, giving the album an air of intimacy and an almost eerie sense of closeness.
Despite the many guests woven throughout the album, the other two-thirds of Nickel Creek included, listeners can envision the album composing a set with Sara sitting center stage with a single spotlight shining down on her.
Though Watkins has dabbled in wide variety of genres over the years, her solo debut is a decidedly country-folk album, with upbeat foot-stompers such as "Long Hot Summers" and heart-wrenching ballads like "Where Will You Be."
The one departure from twang is on "Too Much," an unabashedly pop track that emerges unexpectedly on the tail end of the record and that listeners probably could've done without.
Overall, "Sara Watkins" is exactly what fans will expect from the tremendously talented Watkins: consistently exemplary musicianship, songwriting and the angelic crooning of a songstress the bluegrass world knows all too well.
-MADALYN WASILCZUK
Paleface "The Show is on the Road" (Ramseur Records) Sounds like: A folk love letter Grade: B-
Some would argue that you can tell where an artist is coming from by the sound of his music, whether it be geographically or psychologically. Paleface's voice alone speaks volumes. His growl, a result of years of alcohol abuse, sets the stage for "The Show is on the Road."
What's more, the album pokes at his new surroundings in North Carolina, where label-mates and friends, the Avett Brothers, convinced him to move. (Seth Avett guest-vocals on several tracks.)
Songs like the title track, "Pondering the Night Sky" and "Raise the Glass" bespeak the openness of Concord, N.C., using catchy, nostalgic hooks and simple instrumentation. Paleface's roots are in the New York anti-folk movement, and these songs are only a few steps away from the proverbial tree, mostly in subject matter. "A Cheatin' Song" takes on country song stereotypes, but Paleface uses his city chops to keep it from sounding cliché.
Paleface doesn't forget Brooklyn on "The Show is on the Road." "New York, New York" pays the city tearful homage in a way only distance can paint it.
The whole album feels like a collaboration between Paleface, the mountains, his past and girlfriend and drummer Monica "Mo" Samalot. Mo takes a turn at vocals on a couple tracks, most notably "If Only I," which she co-wrote. "Pondering the Night Sky," the album's last track combines all of Paleface's influences into one heartrending cliffhanger of a resolution.
-K.P.
