Neko Case - Live From Austin, TX

Recorded in August of 2003, the show contains tracks from Neko's first three albums (Furnace Room Lullaby, Canadian Amp, and Blacklisted), presented with a very minimal band (Kelly Hogan on vocals, Jon Rauhouse on pedal steel, guitar, and banjo; and Rom V. Ray on bass; with Neko's guitar), on the very minimalist ACL stage. The result is fantastic entertainment, or just some plain ol' good music. Starting out powerfully with "Favorite," Neko presents a strong collection of her own songs (she wrote eight of the songs - the rest were composed by fellow artists such as Bob Dylan and Hank Williams). Her hard-to-classify style and silvery voice are well-suited not only to the songs she chose to perform here, but also to the Americana showcase of ACL. Austin City Limits has long been the perfect place for the vaguely-defined genre performers, those who are definitely outside of the mainstream, the folks- blues-country singers who can't get showcased on most radio (although admittedly satellite radio is giving these Americana performers a better place to be heard than corporate radio gave them), it gives Neko a chance to shine like the star she should be, with songs from "Ghost Wiring" to the glorious "Maybe Sparrow," from the beautiful "Wayfaring Stranger" to Hank Williams' haunting "Alone and Forsaken." And shine she does, from beginning to end, without artifice or tricks - just herself, her guitar, and a few great musicians behind her.

Entertainment has come to mean a lot of glitter and flash to a lot of people out there, and it's rare to hear those who really concern themselves with actual talent and quality music rather than flash and dazzle - rare enough for these ACL performances to stand out in the general wasteland of much of mainstream music (I'm not saying that all mainstream is worthless, but I will admit I haven't really listened to the radio in almost a year now, and the last time I did, I really didn't like what I heard). Austin City Limits remains, as it has been since it was first broadcast in 1976, a magnificent showcase for artists of every American roots music genre, from jazz to country to blues to folk - Americana to the bones. I don't put a lot of stock in the "extra tricks" that technology has brought to the music business - it's fine for the thump-thump-thump of dance music that's specifically tinkered with just to make it long enough to keep couples on the floor practically forever, but not when I'm just listening to be impressed, soothed, captivated, or comforted. Neko Case manages to do all these things, just with the raw and tender emotion of her voice. It's one of the finest instruments I've ever heard.