Neko Case tops Amazon's Best of 2009 list

OK, so I guess I should go back and listen to Neko Case's "Middle Cyclone" a few more times.

It didn't make all that big of an impression on me when it came out in March. But now it sits on top of Amazon's Best Albums of 2009, one of the first year-end lists to hit the web (they do, after all, need to sell stuff).

The top 10 is:

Neko Case

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Phoenix

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

Avett Brothers

Girls

Animal Collective

K'Naan

Jay-Z

Camera Obscura 

My favorites on the list are the Avett Brothers and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. 

It forced me to go to the myspace page for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and I wasn't blown away by the band's retro-pop, which falls somewhere between the Pet Shop Boys and Jesus and Mary Chain. Girls' "Album" sounds really good, a bit like a lo-fi Elvis Costello with a noisy bent.

I'm glad I have another month to work this out...

Posted Nov 05 2009, 12:52 PM by Scott Mervis
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Comments

Hughshows wrote re: Neko Case tops Amazon's Best of 2009 list
on Thu, Nov 5 2009 3:47 PM

Don't bother going back to listen to the Neko. I hated the album at first, then really liked it, then immediately got bored with it. Strange I know but there are many, many more albums released this year better than hers.

Pains are better live than on the record, especially with the added guitarist that usually plays with them.

Still working on my year end and decade lists.

LarryZ wrote re: Neko Case tops Amazon's Best of 2009 list
on Thu, Nov 5 2009 4:47 PM

My best of 2009 (so far) has to be Yusuf / Cat Stevens' "Roadsinger".  Wow, I had forgot how good he is.  Simple and very comforting. Nice guiatr playing.  Not a challenging record, but thats not what I want.  

The judge of how good a release is depends on how long it stays in my player and how often it's played.  Not interested in something "cool" for cool's sake, but is played only once or twice.  

mlaser wrote re: Neko Case tops Amazon's Best of 2009 list
on Fri, Nov 6 2009 8:13 PM

My best are the Avett Brothers, Justin Townes Earle, Pearl Jam, and Ray LaMontagne.  

The Avetts are such a great band, but you really have to see their live performance they will blow you away!

Rusty Spanner wrote re: Neko Case tops Amazon's Best of 2009 list
on Fri, Nov 6 2009 10:27 PM

Glad to see Camera Obscura make the Top 10.

Scott Mervis wrote re: Neko Case tops Amazon's Best of 2009 list
on Thu, Nov 12 2009 11:52 AM

I've been trying again to connect with this Neko record, but just can't. Hard to pinpoint why. Love her voice, but not crazy about how high it is in the mix. The songs just don't appeal to me, melodically or lyrically, especially that 'man eater' one -- have to skip it. Maybe someday a bell will go off and I'll think it was brilliant. Not happening now.

LarryZ wrote re: Neko Case tops Amazon's Best of 2009 list
on Fri, Nov 13 2009 4:38 PM

Don't tell me Neko case is covering Hall & Oates now.. ("Maneater").

Seriously, I never really listened to her until this year.  I was really impressed at first.  She's different and unique.  But nothing I want to hear on a repeated basis.  You can't sing along to her tunes very much. :)

Scott Mervis wrote re: Neko Case tops Amazon's Best of 2009 list
on Sun, Nov 15 2009 12:38 AM

No choruses, really. Seems every year there are a few records I make an extra effort to try to like. This is a tough one for me -- despite agreeing that her voice is stunning.