Neko Case

The March 2009 release of Neko Case's sixth solo album, Middle Cyclone, has brought a maelstrom of critics praising and parsing the Virginia-born, Washington-raised singer's preternatural alto. And while Case has dropped clues to her voice's power on Cyclone ("This Tornado Loves You," "I Am an Animal"), no one has determined its precise correlative in the cosmos. Until now. Using a blend of chaos theory and augury, Pitch scientists have determined that Case's voice is equivalent to the sound made by the psychic energy of an errant Canada goose, which, having been driven to starvation by a wild-corn famine in Alberta, has hitched a ride atop a train that left Medicine Hat at 18:22 traveling south at 35 m.p.h. and set to collide with a train that left Missoula at 15:46 traveling northwest at 48 m.p.h., carrying a Tennessee brush salesman who is reading, at time of impact, a worn translation of The Odyssey. Look for many an unmoored Ulysses lured beyond understanding to Case's call when she and her band of ace musicians, including trusty backup singer Kelly Hogan, whirl into Kansas City on Sunday.