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After leaving home age 15, Case became the drummer in a number of America’s Northwest's punk bands including the Del Logs and the Propanes. In 1994 the musician moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to attend the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, whilst continuing to play drums. Having graduated in 1998, Case was forced with a lack of visa to return to the U.S. and contributed lyrics to The New Pornographers debut album “Mass Romantic” – which became a surprise success. Coupled with her work with The New Pornographers, Case has worked with other Canadian acts The Sadies and Carolyn Mark, and has become a prominent female figure in Canadian music.
Neko Case released her country-inspired debut album “The Virginian” in 1997. The album features both original material as well as covers of artists including Ernest Tubb, Loretta Lyn and Queen. The musician’s sophomore album “Furnace Room Lullaby” was issued on Bloodshot Records in 2000 and earned considerable acclaim for its original and dark compositions. Case has subsequently released the EP “Canadian Amp” in 2001, after relocating to Chicago, Illinois, U.S., followed by the 2002 full-length “Blacklisted”. The album earned even stronger reviews than its predecessor and subsequently landed the singer-songwriter an opening slot for Nick Cave.
In between recording and touring with The New Pornographers on an irregular basis, Case released the live album “The Tigers Have Spoken” in 2004, and the full-length “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” in 2006. The latter proved to be Case’s most accessible album to date and peaked at No. 54 on the Billboard 200. After a live album recorded at Austin City Limits entitled “Live from Austin, TX” and contributions to the New Pornographers album “Challengers”, Case returned to the studio at her home in Vermont, and released the album “Middle Cyclone” in March 2009. The album was followed up by “The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You” in 2013, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album in 2014.
Destroyer’s Dan Bejer made his mark upon Vancouver’s music scene in 1996 with Destroyers’ debut album “We’ll Build Them a Golden Bridge”. Comprised of 16 lo-fi recorded songs featuring un-tuned guitars, seductive melodies and handfuls of static, the folk record set the scene for future Destroyer releases and drew vocal comparisons with David Bowie. Having been requested to contribute a song to a local cassette compilation, Bejer produced a possible 20 tracks, 16 of which made it on to the cassette “Ideas for Songs” in 1997.
By this point the singer and musician’s appeal was going from strength to strength and he subsequently headed to the studio for his next release, the minimalist “City of Daughters”. Released in 1998, the record highlights Bejer’s precocious lyrics and pop melodies, and features a rhythm section for the first time. The full-length “Thief” followed in 2000 marking the band’s expansion into a quartet, and first attempt at the climatic and grandiose sound witnessed on later releases. Conceivably the last in the series preceded by “City of Daughters” and “Thief”, Destoyer’s third full-length “Streethawk: A Seduction” arrived in 2001 earning widespread critical acclaim upon release. With dense, largely indecipherable lyrics the album revels in the unknown and paved the way for the 2002 rock album “This Night”.
His most experimental to date, 2004’s “Your Blues” used MIDI instrumentation for almost the entire album, in a sound described as “European Blues”. In January 2005 the group collaborated with touring partners Frog Eyes to release the six-track EP “Notorious Lightning & Other Works”, featuring new and existing songs. A year later the guitar made a prominent return on the 2006 album “Destroyer’s Bubies”, which echoes the climatic nature of the “Streethawk” LP. The full-length “Trouble in Dreams” arrived in March 2008, followed by the EP “Bay of Pigs” in 2009, the LP “Together” in 2010, and “Kaputt” in 2011.
When I bought my tickets to Coachella this year, there were a lot of bands I had planned to see. I wasn’t even intending on catching the Neko Case set, but I am so glad that I did. She turned out to be one of the best live performances I have ever seen.
The scene for her to take the stage was perfect, the sun was setting, the crowd was warmed up (both literally and figuratively,) and the California mountians were looking over us. With the mood set, her full band took the stage, keyboards, back-up singers, all of it, and they started rocking. She was playing the guitar with passion and belting out the lyrics. Her energy was over the top but she hit all the notes. You could tell that the crowd was really getting into her excitement.
Although the crowd wasn’t packed, she was playing to dedicated fans. I was toward the back and as she played “Man” I could see people everywhere just dancing and having a good time. Up front people were screaming a long and some people were even crowd surfing. The set was short, but everyone seemed to be having a really good time and were really feeling the power in her vocal. A strong group of musicians lead by a strong women.
The beauty in Destroyer’s music translates over perfectly in a live setting. Front man Dan Bejar’s glazed over vocals give a serene sound to the performance that sucks the audience right into the show. Dan Bejar is a talented and busy musician having worked in such bands as The New Pornographers and Swan Lake, but perhaps some of his most catchy and bold writing has come from his work with Destroyer. The band’s work has encompassed various styles of music that sound like anything from glam rock to easy listening music. Dan often has a gentle touch to his live performances singing on stage like a crooner soothing the souls of the audience. The band Dan tours with is usually quite large performing on instruments you would expect a rock band to be playing, but the band also uses such instruments as trumpet, saxophone, flute, and piano to create a more orchestrated and lively sound. The saxophone incorporated into the music conveys a sound you might expect from a hit single in the 80’s or a Steely Dan album.
Although the band often plays in a soft, relaxing manner, they are also known to crank up the volume and incorporate some heavy rock and roll guitar soling. They often include vocal harmonies into their music and have the tendency to gradually build their music up with layers of unique instrumentation. Their setlist usually include songs ranging from all the band’s albums, which is sure to please both new and old fans alike.
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