' North' cover location finally revealed

[johnfoyle]

http://www.musicomh.com/albums/elvis-costello.htm

Costello's debut album was called My Aim Is True but throughout his career I've always thought he was a bit hit and miss. I mean, Oliver's Army on Armed Forces was all right and an obvious hit; my favourite Watching The Detectives (on the aforementioned debut) was tops; and So Like Candy was fun; but he has always been a bit of a freewheeler flitting from genre to genre in an apparent loss for inspiration (or is it a fear of being too predictable?).

His latest attempt at turning heads and tables, quite frankly, made me feel a bit nauseous. From the opening gentle strings to the final lilting melody, I could hardly keep the tracks going or my dinner down. It was like an undulating ocean rocking my boat gently from side to side till I got sea sick.

Has he been watching the scene in Moulin Rouge over and over and over again, where Nicole Kidman and Ewan Mcgregor are singing their "secret song" to each other, fawning over the melancholy that is their doomed love? Or perhaps he's been hanging around "l'entrée des artistes" outside the Sadler's Wells' theatre accosting people coming out and asking them for their favourite '50s crooner. My flatmate said it reminded him of Wings-era Paul McCartney...

So its basically a mix of jazz skiffle and drums with slightly classical piano breaks draped with trembling violins and static oboes. Schmaltz. Pure schmaltz. I even like some Dean Martin and I loved High Society but this is far too much for my poor stomach.

In You Turned To Me he sings, no wait, opines, "How I was lost... All I did was dream." He's positively dripping with the stuff. Is this man in love or has he been dipped in honey and Frank Sinatra tabs? He's like one of those lounge singers in Vegas you imagine killing themselves by stuffing hair gel and sequins down their own throats.

In Fallen, which is one of the funniest things I've heard all year, there is an actual violin flourish over the bridge. I kid you not, I laughed out loud and didn't stop till the end of the song.

So I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. It's sort of like songs for people called Colin or Herbert, for men who long for the love of a woman but are actually gay.

- Rose Dennen

[Jackson Doofster]

'He's like one of those lounge singers in Vegas you imagine killing themselves by stuffing hair gel and sequins down their own throats'

Huh???

[cbartal]

I respect peoples' musical opinions, I mean music, as all art is, is subjective. But I still can't help feeling a little disappointed with Rose's review. I think that perhaps we should get a group together, head down to her place of residence with a bunch of shovels, kidnap her, and bury her alive.

[bobster]

Why is it that liberal reviewers who would never dare say anything homophobic are nevertheless able to put down artists or fan for being supposedly cyypto-gays (A common tactic ultra-hip reviewers use in reviewing macho action films.) I think they should be forced to add the words "not that there's anything wrong with that" whenever they "accuse" John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart of wanting to get it on.

Also, I don't think she knows what "opine" means.

[Mr. Misery]

She evidently thinks "opine" means he's pining after Cait. There are obviously many words and much music that she doesn't comprehend, and like a black hole in space her darkness is not penetrable.

"Fallen," which made the reviewer laugh aloud (what a disturbing image), is such a gorgeous and deceptively simple song with many associations: the season Fall, falling from grace, falling out of love, falling in love. And the strings are a magnificent flourish, signaling a possible new beginning: "I want to know what happens next."

It escapes me why it's wrong to feel lost or to dream, and to express that in a song. And never before have I heard the phrase "dipped in honey" used as an intended criticism. A contemporary praised "the melliflous and honey-tongued Shakespeare."

I think that perhaps we should get a group together, head down to her place of residence with a bunch of shovels, kidnap her, and bury her alive.

This is an immoderate suggestion. I'll bring the shovels.

[BlueChair]

Let's kill this guy!

[Pov]

http://www.musicomh.com/albums/elvis-costello.htm

My flatmate said it reminded him of Wings-era Paul McCartney...

I can't take seriously a review from someone who lives with a "flatmate." I prefer reading stuff written by grown-ups.

[johnfoyle]

So I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. It's sort of like songs for people called Colin or Herbert, for men who long for the love of a woman but are actually gay.

- Rose Dennen

I've always loved the ludicrousness of this line. Similarly I've wondered where the cover of North was taken. We finally, at last , find out so this is as good a reason as any to dig up and delight, yet again, in this review.

http://www.silive.com/entertainment/mus ... _musi.html

November 29, 2008

"The Music Book" by Mark Seliger (teNeues Publishing, $75)

(extracts)

Mark Seliger (MarkSeliger.com) says he doesn't like jockeying around the live stage, and claims music photos just aren't his strong suit.

Could've fooled us. "The Music Book" features some of the most iconic images of musicians in recent memory.

"What I love to do is I love to stumble on something," says Seliger. "I enjoy the process of finding a way to do something that I've never done before."

MARK SELIGER ON MEMORABLE SHOOTS:

Elvis Costello (2003): He knew I was a big fan of the music. He asked me to come to the studio, and it was just him there. We listened to the entire record, and he said, "What do you think?" I asked him what he thought about being in a beautiful New York street, wearing a long coat, and it's just raining. He said, "Well, I like that idea." So we went out and did it -- really non-fussy.