Blacklisted [Bonus Track]

1	The Things That Scare Me 2:30
2	Deep Red Bells 4:01
3	Outro with Bees 1:35
4	Lady Pilot 2:26
5	Tightly 2:16
6	Look for Me (I'll Be Around) 3:21
7	Stinging Velvet 2:55
8	Pretty Girls 3:24
9	I Missed the Point 1:52
10	Blacklisted 2:22
11	I Wish I Was the Moon 3:34
12	Runnin' out of Fools 3:05
13	Ghost Wiring 3:54
14	[Untitled] 2:24

Barnes & Noble

At last, a chance to experience Neko Case totally naked…more or less. Having ditched her omnipresent band, the Boyfriends, this time around, the vagabondish alt-country thrush pushes her voice to the fore more than on any of her previous releases, heightening both the power and poignancy of her stellar songs. Blacklisted is surprisingly traditional sounding, given Case's genre-bending tendencies of yore, but there are still plenty of elements of surprise, like the vibraphone and cool jazz organ that invest "Look for Me (I'll Be Around)" with a wonderfully torchy feel. Likewise, "Running Out of Fools," a keening ballad that's guaranteed to send a shiver up even the stiffest of spines, dips deep into the blues well that Bessie Smith excavated so many years ago. For most of the disc, however, Case stays rooted in the country -- not the Nashville stripe (or even the comparatively sophisticated Bakersfield variety), but in the sounds that wafted up from the Dust Bowl and the Appalachian coal country decades ago. Whether presented undiluted and simple (as on the longing "Tightly") or infused with modern-day complications (like the white-knuckled, steel-guitar laden "Things That Scare Me"), Case's songs prove that real passion need not be gussied up to be contagious. David Sprague

All Music Guide

While the spare and often haunted sound of Neko Case's home-recorded Canadian Amp EP seemed at the time like a late-night detour from alt-country's leading songbird of the North, listening to Case's first full-length album following Canadian Amp suggests it may have been the first step along a new and different path for her. Blacklisted is a considerably darker and more understated affair than The Virginian or Furnace Room Lullaby, and its sometimes stark, sometimes elegant 3 a.m. sound is informed as much by pop, jazz, and blues flavors as the country & western-slanted melodies of her first two solo albums. Which isn't to say Blacklisted is a total departure for Neko Case; her big, bold, but silky smooth voice is still a thing of beauty, and if anything, she's still learning more remarkable things she can do with it, with the result being some of her finest and most insightful performances to date. And Case continues to grow as a songwriter; penning most of the album all by herself, Case is a lyricist willing to answer to both her heart and her head, and she had a fine ear for a melody to boot. With Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico, Howe Gelb of Giant Sand, Dallas Good of the Sadies, and Kelly Hogan all contributing to Blacklisted, Neko Case has crafted an album whose quiet drift only adds to its power; it's hard to say if hanging out with Nick Cave on tour had much of an influence on her, but this disc sounds a bit like Case's version of The Boatman's Call, a personal exploration of the heart and soul that proves sad and beautiful can often walk hand in hand. Highly recommended. [A Japanese version added a bonus track.] Mark Deming

Spin Magazine

She treats Americana like a wellspring of weirdness, not a retro refuge. (8)

Entertainment Weekly

On her third solo album, Case swaps sassy alt-country for aching torch 'n' twang... [and] emerges as a roots powerhouse. (A-) Meredith Ochs