Neko Case at the Allen Theatre on Tuesday — Neko Case never seems to have as much fun on her own albums as she does on the ones she makes with the New Pornographers. On Middle Cyclone, she finally has some fun. She’s still moody, conjuring ghostly spirits and crafting torch-country and splintered pop tunes. But the album’s earthy tone mingles nicely with Case’s big, open-prairie voice. Swelling strings, acoustic guitars, overlapping pianos, and thick slabs of reverb all figure into the record's theme of tornadoes, twisters, cyclones, or whatever you want to call them. Case, meanwhile, holds on for dear life and emerges with the best album of her career. —Michael Gallucci
