Pitchfork review of North

[johnfoyle]

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-re ... orth.shtml

Elvis Costello
[Deutsche Grammophon; 2003]
Rating: 3.9

Few musicians have made such successful careers by confounding
expectations as Elvis Costello has. His sprawling, epic discography seems to dutifully cover almost every genre (excluding hip-hop, thankfully): From the ska-inflected wit of his debut, My Aim Is True, to the Byrdsian rock bombast of Armed Forces, to King of America's stripped down Americana, Costello has painted himself as something of a reclusive, embittered Bowie-- a songwriting chameleon given more to political discourse than grandiose, caricatured personas. Unfortunately, with each passing year, his wide-ranging ambitions seem to become more of a nuisance than an inspirational creative light.

Costello has always seemed to have a difficult time reconciling the
critic in him with the artist, and it speaks volumes that one of his most
inspired moments of late took place not in the studio, but at a desk: His Vanity Fair article Rocking Around the Clock was an immensely enjoyable,
meticulously documented, hour-by-hour blueprint for an ideal full day of binge music listening. In a rare moment, Costello flashed his true inner manically obsessive music dork nature. Of course, he's taken the time to indulge many of his inner-music critic's fantasies over the years, and while some of these indulgences have struck musical paydirt, his diverse ambitions have often come at the cost of his own music's consistency, and have largely muddied the proverbial waters of his aesthetic voice.

Unfortunately, North, Elvis Costello's 24th album (yes, I did say 24th)
may be one of his least inspiring to date. Conceptually, the album should
have been a knockout. Costello's music has always fared best when its
arrangements were stripped to their bare essentials, creating an
intimate space for his wry voice, witty narratives, and poignant melodies. And while Costello saw success with his landmark "intimate" guitar album, 1985's King of America, he'd never before made a sister album for it, of piano-based material. Costello's "piano songs" like the pensively yearning "Almost Blue" (from 1982's abstract pop masterpiece Imperial Bedroom) and the gently heroic "Shipbuilding" (off 1983's Punch the Clock) have undoubtedly accounted for some of the most moving and inspired moments of his later career.

The only catch with North is that Costello seems less concerned with
presenting a collection of melodically clever and empathetic songs
filled with his trademark sense of irony and double-entendre, than with
recording an album for the classical and jazz elite. In other words, it looks
like the result of self-conscious pandering to his inner music critic. Note that Costello inexplicably released the album on the "acclaimed" classical
label, Deutsche Grammophon; the beaming yellow of the label's logo jumps out absurdly against the sharp gray contrasts of the album art. And while he might gain "street cred" amongst the classical music in-crowd with this move, the result makes for what may be his least compelling work ever.

North may be better understood as a stylistic experience than as a
musical one-- the music itself is a testament to this: Costello has eschewed all sense of melody and humor in favor of rambling, mock-jazz noodling. Where Costello matched the sparse arrangements of his jazz-influenced classic "Almost Blue" with the nuanced simplicity of standards like "Body and Soul", North defies this simple beauty as one long drab exercise.

The album does find some saving grace in the iconic marvel of Costello's
voice. His delivery on North sounds like a rich, thick slab of wet red
paint, adding rich texture and depth to the dim gray backdrop of his
accompaniment. Also, touches of classic Costello rear their head every
now and again; especially on the yearning nostalgia of "Fallen" ("I
believed that life was wonderful, right up to the moment when love went wrong") and the wondrously elegant love song set amidst New York City, the album's closure, "I'm in the Mood Again".

Still, from the melodramatic opener "You Left Me in the Dark" (sample
lyric: "You left me standing alone/ Although I thought that we could not be
parted"), notes tumble on ad infinitum, leading nowhere and standing in
direct contrast to the meticulously crafted maudlin atmosphere. The
sentimental "When Did I Stop Dreaming" offers a possible excuse for the
album's unrelentingly dim mood: if Costello has indeed become paralyzed
with cynicism as signified by the lyric "Pardon me, if I seem distant and
strange/ Just tell me when did I stop dreaming?", it makes sense that
this batch of songs reeks of such icy indifference.

It could be said that part of what makes Elvis Costello such a
shape-shifting artist is his unrelenting determination to capture the
everlasting beauty he sees within the material of his favorite
songwriters. It's a cruel irony that, as he grows older and aims higher, he only falls further away from himself and fails more profoundly at grasping that elusive quality.

-Hartley Goldstein, November 11th, 2003

[Otis Westinghouse]

Another cloth-eared moron who just doesn't get the perfection of North. What a truly rubbish review (apart from the appreciation of the Vanity Fair article). And what's this?:

From the ska-inflected wit of his debut, My Aim Is True,

Eh? Apart from Watching The Detectives, which, as we all know, isn't really on MAIT at all, there's not an offbeat in sight. Like I say, cloth-eared (and cloth-brained).

[Pov]

I usually enjoy Pitchfork. I think they have some witty critics and, while I don't always agree with them, I usually find myself going out and buying CDs that get a 9-10 from them.

That being said, I knew they would pan North if they reviewed it. This is a site that focuses on modern indie rock, and I figured that most of their critics would be unfamiliar with this kind of music and they wouldn't have a reference point for it. Compared to The Liars and Trail of the Dead North can be pretty boring stuff for younger ears.

[bobster]

Eh? Apart from Watching The Detectives, which, as we all know, isn't really on MAIT at all, there's not an offbeat in sight. Like I say, cloth-eared (and cloth-brained).

Well, "Less than Zero" has a reggae-ish sound, too. But otherwise, yeah. While he's under no obligation to love or even like "North", a lot of this article seems designed to show us how clever the writer is.

And, seriously, does any rock star have rock critic fantasies? Marilyn Manson, Prince and Michael Jackson combined aren't THAT crazy!

[miss buenos aires]

Costello's "piano songs" like the pensively yearning "Almost Blue" (from 1982's abstract pop masterpiece Imperial Bedroom) and the gently heroic "Shipbuilding" (off 1983's Punch the Clock) have undoubtedly accounted for some of the most moving and inspired moments of his later career.

Now, maybe I'm misreading this, but is the reviewer implying that 1982 and 1983 count as "later career"? No wonder he doesn't like North.