Los Angeles Times, February 5, 1989: Difference between revisions
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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 ''Spike'''s predominant presence. | 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 ''Spike'''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. |