Neko Case

In the liner notes to her Canadian Amp EP, Neko Case enthuses about the joys of home recording, writing "it's so much easier than I thought, and you can do it in your underwear!" As befits such an attitude, Canadian Amp sounds a good bit more casual and (pardon the expression) stripped-down than Case's two full-length albums, and the disc's emphasis on covers puts the focus squarely on her gifts as an interpretive singer rather than her impressive abilities as a songwriter (Case wrote only two of the EP's eight tunes and, except for Hank Willliams' "Alone and Forsaken," all the songs are the work of artists born and raised in Canada). Cut in Case's kitchen with a handful of friends pitching in (among them Andrew Bird, Jon Rauhouse, Tom Ray, Kelly Hogan, and Brett Sparks), Canadian Amp is purposefully sparse, with Case's voice front and center throughout. Thankfully, she sounds just as strong, sure, and emotionally true singing other people's material as she does on her own stuff; while Neil Young's "Dreaming Man" might seem like an odd choice for Case, she effortlessly slips into its weary mood, and her take on Lisa Marr's "In California" manages to sound cynical, plaintive, and heartsick all at once. Canadian Amp sounds like a between-albums stopgap project rather than a full-fledged album, but that's not to discount its charm or the subtle impact of this music. Everyone who enjoyed The Virginian or Furnace Room Lullaby will want to find places in their CD racks for this brief but beautifully rendered set of late-night music. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide