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COUNTRY NEKO CASE Barfly, Glasgow, Wed 22 Jan
She could have been a contender - up there treading in the boot steps of Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn, performing her magical torch-and-twang thang at the Grand Ole Opry - when a mischievous spirit possessed Neko Case, and mid- act she went topless. Uh-oh.
Nashville was royally unamused.
‘I wasn’t trying to be sexy or rebellious,’ she told Rolling Stone. ‘l was just getting heatstroke up there . . . I wouldn’t want to see me with my shirt off either.’
Well who wants to be mixing with those Nashville phoneys anyhow. There is however still the issue of the c-word.
‘I feel disappointed that people feel they have to call it “alternative” because I listened to country music growing up and that was my influence, and I don’t feel I should have to justify what I do like that . . . there’s no way in hell somebody’s going to mistake my music for “new” country anyway. I don’t have to separate myself from that because I’m nowhere near it.’
Hooray for the anti-Shania!
Never the Twain and all that. ‘The fact is country music is evolving, whether or not a bunch of cunts took the word “country” and slapped it on some AM bullshit they
play on the radio.’ Yeah!
For those unfamiliar with an artist your Sunday paper would label ‘feisty’, Case is a 32 year old Wrginian-born computerphobe who loves pinhole cameras, Guinness meatloaf, knee high socks and magpies. No, really. She made it to number one in Peel’s Festive 50 in 2000 and when not performing ‘Iike Patsy Cline gone wild’
Pornographers.
They’re usually fawning over her but this young crowd were hard to win over
(thanks again Rolling Stone), she enjoys playing with her ‘fantasy kick ass rock band’ the New
Plus just to persist with the nudity theme, she has been known to whip off her knickers during a gig, hang
them on the mic, and sing through said smalls. More pantsy karaoke than Patsy Cline. But so much for the saucy side of Ms Case. Fact is, the lady is a champ, a star and a real punk rocker who plays country from the heart. Only now she knows nipples and Nashville don’t go. (Rodger Evans)
003. A new year has started. 2 as I'm sure everyone is utterly
aware. A time traditionally associated with resolutions and re- evaluations. new starts and clean breaks etc etc. Since columns are essentially an opportunity for the self- obsessed to obsess in a selfish manner. and me being no different from other columnists other than having only ever entered a university to purchase cheap drink, I'll follow suit.
Since most resolutions are decisions to not do something that you had been doing, I'll list some of my habits that i feel I need to address before deciding if I‘ll address them:
1 Teletext This is basically a ghetto version of the internet and there is
New Year, new danger . . .
absolutely no excuse for checking it more than once a day. By the fact that I'm even mentioning it I'm sure the sleuths among you will have deduced that I check it a lot more than that. Verdict Must stop.
2 Doing nothing This particularly vulgar, sloth-like behaviour pattern has emerged mostly in the last few months while our drummer Martin recovered from an operation (he's fine now, thanks). This virtually student- like existence can lead to intense over-exposure to daytime television and local news. From these two factors I have fortunater gained some insights. That Jack McConnell is a tube; that the film review guy on Scot/and Today is woeful; and that I need to get out more. Since our
40 THE LIST 16—30 Jan 2003
concert booking agent has already got more flags on the map than Adolf Hitler did before visiting Poland I can be safely assured that I won't be seeing much daytime TV this year. Thank fuck.
Verdict Solved for me.
3 Not go to war or prison This may seem completely obvious but you can‘t take any chances. What with USA and Tony Blair taking random decisions to attack countries miles away who have no way of attacking back. who knows when the time will come fOr a big strapping lad like myself to get called into the equation? My incarceration w0uld lead to me being unable to mock Jeffrey Archer as righteously as l presently can, I'd get bummed and not be allowed outside. No fun. Verdict I can but try.
So there you go. there’s my 'what not to do's. so here's the ‘what I intend to do's. Make an album. Play some concerts. Try and write more (and better). Sort everything out. Be happy. Make my friends happy. If only everything was a simple as cutting down on Teletext!
Surface noise
All the hangovers, rollovers and pullovers in the wonderful world of music
IT MAY SEEM HORRIBLY
early. but the festival season is upon us. Well. not exactly upon us. more being spoken about in hushed tones in various promoters' offices. T in the Park tickets are already on sale, with REM confirmed as headliners for the Ballado shindig on 12 and 13 July. Other names Currently Circulating in the rumOur mill include Travis. ldlewild. Foo Fighters and Coldplay. but it is unlikely any other annOuncement Will be made before March. On a more disheartening note the future of Gig on the Green is in d0ubt due to financial strife. FOr more on GOTG see News. page four.
A VERY SMALL PACKAGE arrived at The List offices the other day that put some colour back into Surface noise’s pallid complexion. Inside was an immaculately packaged 3in CD from an outfit calling themselves Calamateur. The Autocity EP is a quite beautiful quartet of ‘tunes’, the kind that would be branded ambient by less considerate souls - ambient in that there isn’t a sha-la-Ia chorus or drum solo to be heard, but instead, droning synths, muttered voices and hazy street noises woven into a criss-cross of finely spun guitar patterns. Hardly brand new l’lI grant you but there is a fresh and inspiring feel to it all that all the new year colonic irrigation in the world couldn’t shift. More than this, the makers have distributed 15 of the discs in variety of public places - in airports, on buses, at service stations, a list of which will be posted on www.calamateur.co.uk soon - and you could do well to keep and eye out for one, or better still make for your local quality record store and ask for it by name. Oh and while your there buy the new Flaming Lips single and a copy of that rereleased Board of Canada Album Twoism: you won’t regret it.