A natural torch singer gifted with a big, gorgeous instrument that twangs like Patsy Cline and croons like Loretta Lynn, Neko Case continues to refine her mix of alternative-country music and film-noir sensibility on Blacklisted. On tracks such as the shimmering "Tightly" and the plangent "Deep Red Bells," Case puts her voice front and center, burying her roots ever deeper in the rich soil of American C&W. She's also sounding more idiosyncratic and more melancholy: Case claims that she is "hunted by American dreams" on "Things That Scare Me." And though her music suggests a more than casual acquaintance with loss, she admonishes, "Don't you try and stop me/I cling tightly to this life." Such passion serves Case well, allowing her to create truly hellbent music.

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."