Los Angeles Times, February 5, 1989: Difference between revisions
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{{:Los Angeles Times index}} | {{:Los Angeles Times index}} | ||
{{:California publications index}} | {{:California publications index}} | ||
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<center><h3> Costello opens floodgates in | <center><h3> Costello opens floodgates in 'Spike' </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Richard Cromelin </center> | <center> Richard Cromelin </center> | ||
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'''Elvis Costello ''' / Spike <br> | |||
{{3.5stars}} | |||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
Caustic sketches of schemers and losers. Portraits of dissolution and dissipation, treachery and isolation. An anti-Thatcher broadside and a scenario of video voyeurism. Murder ballads and protest songs. Jealous laments and a face-to-face with the Big Cheese Himself. | Caustic sketches of schemers and losers. Portraits of dissolution and dissipation, treachery and isolation. An anti-Thatcher broadside and a scenario of video voyeurism. Murder ballads and protest songs. Jealous laments and a face-to-face with the Big Cheese Himself. | ||
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It's all unmistakable, undiminished Elvis in its tunefulness, in its revelations of character and situation through metaphor, in its downbeat political observations and in its main musical precincts: British pop-rock, Celtic folk and cocktail/torch music. Familiar, true, but Costello restlessly advances it all into fresh territory. | It's all unmistakable, undiminished Elvis in its tunefulness, in its revelations of character and situation through metaphor, in its downbeat political observations and in its main musical precincts: British pop-rock, Celtic folk and cocktail/torch music. Familiar, true, but Costello restlessly advances it all into fresh territory. | ||
His major step was hiring on the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the tradition-bending New Orleans hornblowers whose sweetly sour voicings provide both avant-garde edge and evocations of a timeless rural South | His major step was hiring on the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the tradition-bending New Orleans hornblowers whose sweetly sour voicings provide both avant-garde edge and evocations of a timeless rural South — sort of Otis Redding meets George Gershwin. Whether oblique funk, Band-like soul or a wild '30s cartoon big-band spook-house workout with Costello's Irish lineup, the Dirty Dozen emerge by a nose as <i>Spike</i>'s predominant presence. | ||
Costello mixes and matches other players to keep things moving. On "...This Town...," Roger McGuinn and Paul McCartney contribute to a richly textured pop-rock tapestry, full of starburst chimes and unexpected melodic alleys. In "God's Comic," a crew that includes bassist Buell | Costello mixes and matches other players to keep things moving. On "...This Town...," Roger McGuinn and Paul McCartney contribute to a richly textured pop-rock tapestry, full of starburst chimes and unexpected melodic alleys. In "God's Comic," a crew that includes bassist Buell Neidlinger lays out a cocktail shuffle behind a sly, restrained vocal in this account of a decidedly strange visit with God. | ||
Off-center rockabilly clatter propels "Pads, Paws and Claws," a sketch of a real fun couple, while the stately Irish folk of "Tramp the Dirt Down" builds to scary intensity during a long litany of shame about Thatcher's Britain. In the courtroom narrative "Let Him Dangle," an anti-execution message is set against music that snaps and sways with vengeful glee, like a trap door springing and body swinging. | Off-center rockabilly clatter propels "Pads, Paws and Claws," a sketch of a real fun couple, while the stately Irish folk of "Tramp the Dirt Down" builds to scary intensity during a long litany of shame about Thatcher's Britain. In the courtroom narrative "Let Him Dangle," an anti-execution message is set against music that snaps and sways with vengeful glee, like a trap door springing and body swinging. | ||
The variety of the arrangements and themes encourages Costello's most versatile vocal performance yet. Whether tough, sure-footed, fast-paced deliveries or aching, underplayed confessionals, it's a commanding display. From a whisper to a scream, indeed. | The variety of the arrangements and themes encourages Costello's most versatile vocal performance yet. Whether tough, sure-footed, fast-paced deliveries or aching, underplayed confessionals, it's a commanding display. From a whisper to a scream, indeed. | ||
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{{Bibliography notes}} | {{Bibliography notes}} | ||
{{Bibliography next | |||
|prev = Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1988 | |||
|next = Los Angeles Times, March 12, 1989 | |||
}} | |||
'''Los Angeles Times, February 5, 1989 | '''Los Angeles Times, February 5, 1989 | ||
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[[Richard Cromelin]] reviews ''[[Spike]]''. | [[Richard Cromelin]] reviews ''[[Spike]]''. | ||
{{Bibliography | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:1989-02-05 Los Angeles Times, Calendar page 72 clipping 01.jpg|380px]] | |||
<br><small>Clipping.</small> | |||
<small>Page scan.</small><br> | |||
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{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} | ||
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times Wikipedia: Los Angeles Times] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times Wikipedia: Los Angeles Times] | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Los Angeles Times 1989-02-05}} | |||
[[Category:Bibliography 1989 | [[Category:Bibliography]] | ||
[[Category:Bibliography 1989]] | |||
[[Category:Los Angeles Times| Los Angeles Times 1989-02-05]] | [[Category:Los Angeles Times| Los Angeles Times 1989-02-05]] | ||
[[Category:Newspaper articles | [[Category:Newspaper articles]] | ||
[[Category:Album reviews | [[Category:Album reviews]] | ||
[[Category:Spike reviews | [[Category:Spike reviews]] |