Self-described autodidact and three-time Grammy nominee Peter Case has seen it all. As a young musician, he dropped out of high school to travel and make music. He ended up in California, where he built a reputation through a series of bands, including power-pop legends The Nerves. Case eventually found lasting success when he went solo in the mid-1980s.
Case gravitated toward a more acoustic, folksy sound during the course of his career, though he still strives to incorporate strains of new wave, blues, rock, soul and R&B into his music. "I'm trying to forge my own style out of those inherited materials," he tells World Cafe host David Dye.
Case's most recent release was last year's Wig! (Yep Roc). Recorded after open-heart surgery in 2009, the collection of songs is full of electric blues and folk rock — a statement of joy and thanks for good friends and a good life. (link)
Here is the playlist:
| Arcade Fire | Modern Man | The Suburbs |
| Drive-By Truckers | Used to Be a Cop | Go Go Boots |
| David & David | Welcome to the Boomtown | Boomtown |
| Peter Case | House Rent Jump | Recorded Live for the World Cafe |
| Peter Case | Bumble Bee Blues | Recorded Live for the World Cafe |
| Peter Case | The Words in Red | Recorded Live for the World Cafe |
| Peter Case | Thirty Days in the Workhouse | Recorded Live for the World Cafe |
| Ry Cooder | Get Rhythm | Get Rhythm |
| The Black Keys | Next Girl | Brothers |
| The Pretenders | Show Me | Learning to Crawl |
| The Dears | Omega Dog | Degeneration St. |
| Sufjan Stevens | Chicago | Come On Feel the Illinoise |
| Girls | Heartbreaker | Broken Dreams Club EP |
| Gregory Isaacs | Cool Down the Pace | Night Nurse |
| Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti | Round and Round | Before Today |
| Middle Brother | Me Me Me | Middle Brother |
| Lucinda Williams | Drunken Angel | Car Wheels on A Gravel Road |
| Gurf Morlix | Big Cheeseburgers and Good French Fries | Blaze Foley's 113th Wet Dream |
| John Prine | Clay Pigeons | Fair & Square |
| Cake | Sick of You | Showroom of Compassion |
| The English Beat | Tears of a Clown | I Just Can't Stop It |
| Nirvana | The Who Sold the World | MTV Unplugged in New York |
| Deerhunter | Desire Lines | Halcyon Digest |