Two mighty slabs of vinyl and a gatefold sleeve are sure signs of a successful recipe for good music. It's an old fashioned view but in this case it is true. You can pass the sleeve around your friends. They can touch it and feel it. You can't do that with your poxy little iPod. Oh, you've got ten thousand tracks on it. Can I see them? No. Can I touch them? No.
There's that tactile side to buying music - yes, people used to buy music - that the major record companies forgot about. Ask any car salesman. If you want to close a deal, get them behind the steering wheel soonest.
So this album spins up to 33rpm on the trusty Bluesbunny turntable. It all seems right from the word go. There's a comfortable feel to this album. It doesn't sound old or new. It sounds classic. The songs are given room to breathe and an elegant simplicity pervades the lyrics. It's not that its poetry, it's more like Neko Case has managed to leave the emotion in. So many forget to do that. The arrangements are relaxed and unforced. Everything seems in balance. She sings "… I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes" and I know what she means. This album is one that you can connect to.
I'm listening to this album as the sun sets on this god forsaken dismal town and it convinces me of the beauty and elegance that is out there. As I put the record back in its sleeve and look at the cover for the last time (for today), I thought to myself that you, "Middle Cyclone", are sure to become a good friend that I will turn to time and time again.