Album: Middle CycloneAvg rating:
Your rating:
Total ratings: 1507
Length: 2:13
Plays (last 30 days): 2
Yes I still have one
There's no time to second guess it
And yes, there are things that I'm still so afraid of...
But my courage is roaring like the sound of the sun
'Cause it's vain about its mane and will reveal them to no one
I'm an animal, you're an animal, too
Pick up that rock, drink from that lake
I do my best but I'm made of mistakes
And yes there are things that I'm still quite sure of
I love you this hour, this hour today
And heaven will smell like the airport (airport)
I may never get there to prove it
So let's not waste our time thinkin' how that ain't fair
I'm an animal, you're an animal, too
You're an animal, too
Since the album is named Cylone, and the cover prominently features a Mercury Cougar, yet there was another Mercury Sport coupe of the same period called the Cyclone, the album art director has me confused.
Paradoxical?
Based on mathematics alone this theory is false. Just because a later vote appears to have less impact on the average rating does not mean that this is actually true. An average is an average. In this case it is the sum of all votes divided by the number of votes cast. Sequence of vote does not even show up in the formula! If the 1st 100 people vote 10 and the next 100 vote 3, the result is the same as if the 1st 100 people vote 3 and the next 100 vote 10. Either way the result is 6.5.
IMO, the phenomenon behind your observation that "the rating is established and additional votes do no matter" is that the taste of the RP audience is not dramatically shifting over time. In other words, there isn't going to be a scenario like the one I described above, when the 1st 100 voters call a song a "10" but the next 100 call it a "3," moving it down 6.5. Assuming the sample size is big enough, the 2nd 100 voters are going to have an average vote very close to the 1st 100 voters. And as the sample size in each group increases, these two averages will converge. In any survey the sample average approaches the true average as the sample size approaches the actual population.
Well explained!

How did ya do it?
Well by golly, CascadianPDX, I'll be damned if you're not correct. The "search" button did indeed verify that Bill has one Lady Gaga song on the playlist, even though it hasn't been played in the last 30 days, as of this post, and the ratings for that song are poor. But hey, another reason to love Bill and Rebecca and RP.
Cougar is an animal. Cyclone is not.
Good point, but I wouldn't read too much into the cover art choices. It was that or an album titled "Cougar" until some marketing genius saw the light at the 11th hour. BTW, our first car was a Mercury Cougar like the one pictured except yellow. What a POS! All style and little substance. One of the first things that failed was the headlight covers, followed closely by the sequential rear turn signals. But we drove it for many years before selling it to our across-the-street neighbor, and we've seen it several times since around town over the ensuing years. If it came with that "hood ornament," I'd have kept it a lot longer! :-)
We had a '77 Country Squire station wagon, wood sides and all, that had the same issues with the headlight covers and peeling silver paint. Like your Cougar, we kept that car for ages, giving it a series a of nicknames: "the Tank", "the Fridge"(after the heater core failed and the Bears won the Super Bowl), and "Cristine" (Since the car refused to die.) She was sold to a mechanic friend for $50 and carried on for several years after that.
How does she do it?! No, don't tell me! Don't want to know. Just want the emergence.
Good point, but I wouldn't read too much into the cover art choices. It was that or an album titled "Cougar" until some marketing genius saw the light at the 11th hour. BTW, our first car was a Mercury Cougar like the one pictured except yellow. What a POS! All style and little substance. One of the first things that failed was the headlight covers, followed closely by the sequential rear turn signals. But we drove it for many years before selling it to our across-the-street neighbor, and we've seen it several times since around town over the ensuing years. If it came with that "hood ornament," I'd have kept it a lot longer! :-)
She had apparently decided on the album title "Middle Cyclone" before even shooting photos for the cover. It's funny that you still see that same old car around town after all these years.
This can't be turning 10 years old yet. I remember buying this album when it came out just the other day.
Sure wish time would slow back down to what it used to be when I was young.
Good point, but I wouldn't read too much into the cover art choices. It was that or an album titled "Cougar" until some marketing genius saw the light at the 11th hour. BTW, our first car was a Mercury Cougar like the one pictured except yellow. What a POS! All style and little substance. One of the first things that failed was the headlight covers, followed closely by the sequential rear turn signals. But we drove it for many years before selling it to our across-the-street neighbor, and we've seen it several times since around town over the ensuing years. If it came with that "hood ornament," I'd have kept it a lot longer! :-)
If I could only hang onto two artists / groups I found on RP it would be Porcupine Tree and Neko.
Well spake! Though somehow I'd have to squeeze Elbow into my list.
If I could only hang onto two artists / groups I found on RP it would be Porcupine Tree and Neko.
Very powerful when performed live - be sure to catch Neko in concert of you get the opportunity.
Only 12 more days till she's in Anchorage. Looking forward to it.

My instinctive response is that this song be soooo good... sigh...
Very powerful when performed live - be sure to catch Neko in concert of you get the opportunity.
My instinctive response is that this song be soooo good... sigh...
That's great and all except that for the fact that after the first 100 votes (or maybe even quite less), the rating is established and additional votes do not matter. It's a statistical thing. It would be more interesting methinks if the voting was more thumbs up/down like on the LRC channel. Then if a vote was close your vote could matter - assuming Bill gave a rat's ass.
Based on mathematics alone this theory is false. Just because a later vote appears to have less impact on the average rating does not mean that this is actually true. An average is an average. In this case it is the sum of all votes divided by the number of votes cast. Sequence of vote does not even show up in the formula! If the 1st 100 people vote 10 and the next 100 vote 3, the result is the same as if the 1st 100 people vote 3 and the next 100 vote 10. Either way the result is 6.5.
IMO, the phenomenon behind your observation that "the rating is established and additional votes do no matter" is that the taste of the RP audience is not dramatically shifting over time. In other words, there isn't going to be a scenario like the one I described above, when the 1st 100 voters call a song a "10" but the next 100 call it a "3," moving it down 6.5. Assuming the sample size is big enough, the 2nd 100 voters are going to have an average vote very close to the 1st 100 voters. And as the sample size in each group increases, these two averages will converge. In any survey the sample average approaches the true average as the sample size approaches the actual population.
Everybody in my church loves this song...
If I could only hang onto two artists / groups I found on RP it would be Porcupine Tree and Neko.
That's great and all except that for the fact that after the first 100 votes (or maybe even quite less), the rating is established and additional votes do not matter. It's a statistical thing. It would be more interesting methinks if the voting was more thumbs up/down like on the LRC channel. Then if a vote was close your vote could matter - assuming Bill gave a rat's ass.
C'mon, you think he might have the voting feature there for no reason? Of course he cares. There is some movement over time. Averages usually move up because the more songs are played, the more chance they have to sink in and elicit a response from the listener, plus the song begins to become a classic the longer it gets airplay, and people become too frightened to appear negative and going against community norms, and so they just reflexivly give it a higher rating. You have to make mental adjustments to the ratings, and you have to throw out some votes. For example, some songs are magnets to haters, for whatever reason. Usually because they are overplayed here and elsewhere.
This makes me want to eat Neko Case. Just sayin'
This song puts a spring in my step this spring day...
Hey Romeo I think I'm seeing a pattern beginning to form here.
All Neko, all the time!
She's an animal? Rowr...
love it!
Eeeyup!
Neko could barf her lunch ONTO ME and I'd thank her. (And give her an 8!)

Thanks for the visual. Yes, 8.
In other words- am listening to RP after midnight, enjoying it (as usual), get involved in something… then realize I'm listening to RP-flavored noise. I pay attention, realize there's not much there. Hence… filler, not even worth rating.
That's great and all except that for the fact that after the first 100 votes (or maybe even quite less), the rating is established and additional votes do not matter. It's a statistical thing. It would be more interesting methinks if the voting was more thumbs up/down like on the LRC channel. Then if a vote was close your vote could matter - assuming Bill gave a rat's ass.
Show your support for the artists you like on RP and give them a high rating. If you don't rate them, you can be sure that the people who hate those artists will give them a low rating. It's like politics, if you don't vote then you have no right to complain. Use your democratic right, (bye the way, in Australia it is against the law not to vote) hit that keyboard and rate songs! You have a right to rate a song, why not use it? Support Your Favorites! Cheers.
Hear hear !

My daughter (age 5) runs around the house singing the lyrics to "This Tornado Loves You", which I think might be the best song on the album... though the lyrics aren't really butterflies and flowers, even if the music sounds upbeat. "Their broken necks will line the ditch until you stop this madness..."
Why's it bad? I think that's one of the best new album covers I've seen in quite a while.
It's her car, she can do what she likes with it. :-p
I'll listen to anything, once. In the case of Lady Gaga, I do mean once.
Show your support for the artists you like on RP and give them a high rating. If you don't rate them, you can be sure that the people who hate those artists will give them a low rating. It's like politics, if you don't vote then you have no right to complain. Use your democratic right, (bye the way, in Australia it is against the law not to vote) hit that keyboard and rate songs! You have a right to rate a song, why not use it? Support Your Favorites! Cheers.
You are one lucky animal! So, if you like Neko , why haven't you given any of her songs on RP a rating? And the same question is directed at you Spud.
I didn't realize that one's appreciation of an artist was predicated on rating that artist on an internet radio station. The things you learn here on RP! I'd better get busy rating songs, or all the people out there will never know if I like them or not.
"and heaven will smell like the airport"...
As a young kid, my grandmother use to take our family to the Caribbean every winter, and I always remembered how much I loved the smell of the airport. That smell always meant something great was about to happen!
Yep! Saw her there! She made me melt!

Yes it is. Great tune. Great gal.


While I am sorry to hear that the animal is not attuned to Ms. Case's voice, it's no reason to call names. Being an old cranky animal myself... Still, music hath a power to soothe the savage breast.
I was just pointing out that a crockydile is a reptyle and reptyles are cold blooded (and yes, I am aware of the spelling) I was also going by the emoticon and here I admit I made a mistake, I confused grumpy with cranky. But hey, I knew it was one of those dwarfs (Snow White reference).
Maybe it's just a phase. On the other hand, we all get a little crankier as we get older...unless we win the lottery.
For some reason I get a little defensive when it comes to Neko. I'm not sure why, I mean she's never been a Bond girl, either musically or romantically. 
Apparently, we're of similar species. I just don't get it.
Reptilian overlords, perhaps?
Yah. I've noticed this about myself of late. Especially a bit of a crank when it comes to my musical tastes. Ah, well.
I think I see the problem; yes, you are an animal but this song is directed at warm blooded mammals and you, Mr crockydile, are a cold blooded reptile. And a cranky one at that.
D'oh! Peter!
While I am sorry to hear that the animal is not attuned to Ms. Case's voice, it's no reason to call names. Being an old cranky animal myself... Still, music hath a power to soothe the savage breast.

I think I see the problem; yes, you are an animal but this song is directed at warm blooded mammals and you, Mr crockydile, are a cold blooded reptile. And a cranky one at that.

Grand Rapids
In Atlanta she was wearing a little black dress... hot, hotness! and then there is her voice *melting*
She was wearing that in Philadelphia on Wednesday!
In Atlanta she was wearing a little black dress... hot, hotness! and then there is her voice *melting*
You are one lucky animal! So, if you like Neko , why haven't you given any of her songs on RP a rating? And the same question is directed at you Spud.

ha! "you're a melon ball, too."
Yes, we're all melon balls!
I bought an Altec-Lansing iMotion speaker to use with my laptop on travel. It's light, sounds surprisingly good, and folds into a neat package for travel. Made for docking an iPod but includes an external audio cable. There are others out there that probably sound better but may be less portable. I also pack a lightweight outlet block that takes several power blocks for chargers.
ha! "you're a melon ball, too."
Great...now you just ruined for me.
I had the same reaction to that comment!

+1 to that.
Saw her at the Raleigh concert recently. Great show!
Wash your mouth out!
I had the same reaction to that comment!

Wash your mouth out!
Well, I for one LOVE the sound of her voice.
And this album is growing on me quickly.
Me, too!
Couldn't have said it better myself. RadioDoc, I understand that you might not like the sound of her voice, or the way she uses it, or the content of her music, but let's get it straight: Neko is a very good musician and is quite "in key".
Well, I for one LOVE the sound of her voice.
And this album is growing on me quickly.
If you don't like her, you don't like her, and that's fine. But saying she sings "off key" is not a matter of opinion, and it's just plain wrong. Not liking the timbre of someone's voice doesn't mean she sings off key.
Couldn't have said it better myself. RadioDoc, I understand that you might not like the sound of her voice, or the way she uses it, or the content of her music, but let's get it straight: Neko is a very good musician and is quite "in key".
have you seen the movie? how about the girl on the hood of the car?
Feature article in this week's New Yorker Magazine on our Neko. Last week she was on Leno. The secret is OUT.

I don't see it as a rip off. do you?
Yes , there is a 2-CD re-release of Fox Confessor doing the rounds (mine should be arriving from Amazon any day now)
Tricky decision.
Ah... maybe both? hmmm....
Anyone know any states where I'd be allowed to marry both Jenny Lewis and Neko Case? (apart from my current delusional state, of course)
Bill can play her day and night. I'll never tire of her songs.

keller1 wrote:
I think it's the way a sound interacts with an individual ear.
The RP audience loves Radiohead, for instance, but to me Thom Yorke sounds like he has his nuts caught in a blender.
So I understand exactly what RadioDoc is saying.
FWIW, though, I love Neko's music.
RadioDoc please, I implore you, get your hearing checked. This is the wonderful, critically acclaimed Neko Case. This new album has already received 4 star (out of 5) reviews from Rolling Stone and All Music Guide. Here is a quote from All Music Guide 'There are few voices as hauntingly beautiful as Case's alto, a siren call fashioned from country's might and pop's melody'
Thank you Bill and Rebecca for jumping on this release. The majority of RP listeners look forward to hearing this song and others from this cd.
For the most part she sings off key and shrieks rather than sings anyway. Rolling Stone and AMG are controlled by hacks who think they dictate pop culture. Sorry, but their so-called critical acclaim doesn't mean squat. My ears are just fine, and I hear the artists she is trying to imitate laughing at her.
I think it's the way a sound interacts with an individual ear.
The RP audience loves Radiohead, for instance, but to me Thom Yorke sounds like he has his nuts caught in a blender.
So I understand exactly what RadioDoc is saying.
FWIW, though, I love Neko's music.
Sir, your ears are obviously obstructed. The question is: are they obstructed internally (ear wax, chalk, unmentionable organic matter) or are they obstructed externally (sphincter muscle, fingers, football helmet).
Once we have ascertained the answer to this question and taken corrective action, we can begin the healing process. I suggest a palliative treatment of Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark", Patty Griffin's "Flaming Red", and perhaps further along, "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood" by your nemesis Neko Case.
That is the only logical course of treatment. If you refuse this treatment, you should abstain from listening to progressive, eclectic rock radio. I suggest music that requires less articulate listening skills, such as commercial Top 40 pop or country radio. In any event, get help somewhere.

Funny stuff toterola!



1971 Cougar?
'68 I think