Neko Case

Despite her confident stage presence and camera-friendly genes, Neko Case hates having her picture taken. That’s why the steel-voiced singer decided to have a little fun with the cover of her fifth solo studio album, Middle Cyclone. Case thought to make the idyllic 9-year-old boy record cover, a cartoonishly designed picture of her balancing on one knee, sword in hand, atop her 1967 Mercury Cougar. Don’t let the cover fool you, though; Cyclone isn’t child’s play. It’s a typically pastoral, mournful affair that finds Case further fleshing out the reverb-soaked, late-night country of 2002’s Blacklisted. Opening act Crooked Fingers has never fully escaped the shadow of Eric Bachmann’s long-departed former band, Archers of Loaf, but 2008’s Forfeit/Fortune, which features guest vocals from Case, makes a valiant attempt.