Publicity
New material from Middle Cyclone was first widely publicized when Case performed at Bumbershoot in Seattle, WA on Saturday August 30, 2008 from 1-2:15 pm. In addition to older material such as "Favorite", "Margaret vs. Pauline", and "That Teenage Feeling", the set included four songs from the unreleased album, including "I'm an Animal", "The Pharaohs", "Don't Forget Me", and "Vengeance Is Sleeping". Fan-made video recordings of the songs were posted the next day to YouTube and received widespread attention shortly thereafter in early September when the videos were posted to websites such as Stereogum.
The cover art for Middle Cyclone was released in early December 2008. The image of Case, crouched and ready to spring off the hood of a 1967 Mercury Cougar with a sword in hand received enthusiastic responses from Internet-based media. In a news article entitled "Neko Case, Reigning 2009 Album Art Champ", Matthew Solarski of Pitchfork Media, stated "So Fox Confessor Brings the Flood had some awfully lovely, subtle artwork. But this? My friends, pictures created to accompany music just don't come any better than this." "Dear God she is wielding a sword" was the subtitle of the article. Images from the sword-and-muscle car photo shoot were also used in advertisements on the ANTI- blog to encourage preordering of Middle Cyclone.
On December 15, 2008 ANTI- released an electronic press kit for Middle Cyclone in the form of a YouTube video. It features selections of an interview with Case, excerpts from several Middle Cyclone songs, footage of Case and her band performing the songs, and collage art and animation to bridge segments. The video also provided fans a first listen to parts of "Magpie to the Morning", "This Tornado Loves You", "Middle Cyclone", "Polar Nettles", and "Fever" (in addition to two already featured at Bumbershoot: "Don't Forget Me" and "People Got a Lotta Nerve").
On February 18, the entirety of Middle Cyclone was streamed by NPR until the album's release on March 3.
On February 24 the ANTI- blog released a free mp3 of Neko Case's song "Middle Cyclone" to commemorate the one year anniversary of the label's blog. The promotion also included a give-away of four autographed copies of the album, with the fifth winner receiving not only a signed copy of Middle Cyclone but also her entire ANTI- catalog: The Tigers Have Spoken, Blacklisted (reissue), Furnace Room Lullaby (reissue), Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (bonus), and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.
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Famous quotes containing the word publicity:
“Publicity is the life of this culture—in so far as without publicity capitalism could not survive—and at the same time publicity is its dream.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)
“I saw the best minds of my generation
Reading their poems to Vassar girls,
Being interviewed by Mademoiselle.
Having their publicity handled by professionals.
When can I go into an editorial office
And have my stuff published because I’m weird?
I could go on writing like this forever . . .”
—Louis Simpson (b. 1923)
“All publicity is good, except an obituary notice.”
—Brendan Behan (1923–1964)