SOUNDTRACK: ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE IMPOSTERS-Momofuku (2008).
I’ve enjoyed Elvis Costello for many years. I’m not a die hard fan, but his Best of is often in play in our house. I got into a little phase where I was buying a bunch of his things, but that has more or less subsided now. And, since he has become somewhat more classically oriented I’ve basically just stopped listening. So, when I heard that on this release he was returning to his rocking days, well, I figured I’d give it a go.
My initial reaction was somewhat muted as I thought I’d be getting a whole disc of “Pump It Up”s and “Oliver’s Army,” which you don’t. But what you do get is almost 
a condensation of his albums from My Aim is True through to about Spike (a long period, granted, but it makes sense).
The album opens with a few rocking tracks that hearken back to his earlier punkier songs. Although “No Hiding Place” sounds “fuller” than his 1970s records, it doesn’t sound out of place with classic tracks. But really, it’s “American Gangster Time” that brings back that classic Costello organ sound. This track could have been written thirty years ago and would easily fit on any Best Of. “Harry Worth” hearkens back to Costello’s ballads. It’s a bit less punchy than say “Everyday I Write the Book,” but the wit is in high marks. “Drum & Bone” has the fun tongue twisting chorus of “I’m a limited, primitive kind of man.” One of the highlights is “Flutter & Wow” a potentially timeless love song that somehow rings of Van Morrison. It’s really stellar track.
Side Two (his phrase not mine) starts off rocking once again, and, while “Stella Hurt” rocks pretty hard, it tends to drag on a bit long. But it quickly moves to another beautiful ballad, “My Three Sons.” The album ends with “Go Away” another organ-heavy rocker.
And so the album is mixed nicely with some rockers and ballads balancing out the totality of the disc. Lyrically, the songs are tight and witty. The ballads are lovely. I don’t know if Costello’s work with more more mature performers has affected him a lot, but it certainly hasn’t impacted his ability to write good rock songs. Welcome back Elvis.
[READ: November 20, 2008] Pnin
I harp on the appearance of book covers a lot. I know that the contemporary covers are fine and they try to retain a consistency for each author. But, I love this early cover. I especially like that there’s an artist’s rendering of Pnin himself. It really paints an immediate picture of the man.
I bought my copy of Pnin many, many years ago, probably right after I had read and enjoyed Pale Fire so much (I had a coworker who really loved Nabokov and insisted that I keep reading him). It has been sitting on my bookshelf for all this time just waiting for me to read it. About three months ago, I decided I would like to read all of Nabokov’s works, so I brought it out of the basement and left it next to my bed. Then, I got the October 2008 Believer. The first article, “Amerikas,” by Adam Thirwell (excerpted here) was about novels and translations. And, since Nabokov is a novelist and translator, he was included in the article. About seven pages into the article is an excerpt from Pnin. And the excerpt was quite amusing, so, I took it as a sign to read Pnin next.
The most fascinating thing to me about the book is that is told by a narrator whose name we never learn, and whom we don’t actually meet until the last chapter. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: AGAINST ME!-New Wave (2007).
SOUNDTRACK: THE FUTUREHEADS-News and Tributes (2006).
SOUNDTRACK: BARENAKED LADIES-Everything to Everyone (2003) & Barenaked for the Holidays (2004).
Everything to Everyone. I was pretty down on this album when it first came out. I remember being rather disappointed in it because BNL had, gasp, matured somewhat, and were making more “serious,” less “wacky” songs. To me, the whole CD was somewhat flat. But, after a recent listen (possibly the first time in 4 years) and expecting the worst, I was pleasantly surprised by the record.
Barenaked for the Holidays. This has become one of my favorite Christmas/holiday records (and it’s a good time of year to be writing about it.) It ranks up there with Brave Combo’s It’s Christmas, Man, 
South Park’s Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics, 
Sufjan Steven’s great boxed set Presents Songs for Christmas, 
and Brian Wilson’s What I Really Want for Christmas, 
which has also quickly jumped to the top of my Xmas list.
SOUNDTRACK: TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS-Anthology: Through the Years (2000).
To me, Tom Petty suffers more than anyone else from egregious overexposure. I’m not sure if it’s just me who feels that way, but in my experience, “Free Fallin'” was utterly inescapable for what seemed like an eternity. And, geez, his mug was all over MTV when that album came out. It got so bad that I simply decided I was done with him.
SOUNDTRACK: MARILLION-Fugazi (1984).
Ah, the delights of Marillion. My best friend in high school, Al, got me into Marillion. And he started me off with this record. As such, I can’t imagine how I could realistically critique it. I must have listened to this thing hundreds of times at this point. I also got into the other Marillion albums (until the theatrical madman and lead singer, Fish, departed). I did get one post-Fish album, Season’s End, but didn’t think too much of it. Although I still regard them highly, and anyone who names an album Anoraknaphobia is still alright in my book, I haven’t heard a note of anything post-Season’s End.
SOUNDTRACK: GUSTER-Parachute (1995) & Goldfly (1997).
Parachute: A really great debut, that, in retrospect, sounds almost nothing like the Guster we know and love. This sounds a bit more like the Indigo Boys. Solid harmonies over a very acoustic sounding record. Over the years, Guster have written fantastic melodies and lyrics. And this album is no exception. It’s really the production that sounds so unusual here. Very sparse and almost cool, as opposed to the warmth that they bring to their later albums. The songs are top notch, though.
Goldfly: “Airport Song” is such a fantastic single, and such a great precursor of what’s to come from Guster, that it tends to overshadow the rest of the album. Goldfly starts Guster down the road of what we’ve come to 
SOUNDTRACK: RICHARD THOMPSON-Industry (with Danny Thompson) (1997), Mock Tudor (1999), 1000 Years of Popular Music (2003).
SOUNDTRACK: DEFTONES-B-Sides & Rarities (2005).
The Deftones are fascinating. They play some really really heavy metal, and yet they have a softer side, like Sears. One of the all-time great metal songs is the Deftones’ “My Own Summer (Shove It)”, it has a dynamic loud-soft interplay and an excruciating chorus. Sheer madness. And then, you get their B-Sides collection and find out that they do an awesome cover of the Cocteau Twins’ “Wax and Wane.”
I Just Read About That... 