For some artists, I own everything they’ve ever released. If a new album comes out, I’m going to buy it, no matter what. With others, it’s more sporadic — I’ll own the “important” ones, the most beloved or critically acclaimed.
Then there are the one- or two-album wonders, performers who have extensive, well-respected catalogs but who for some reason never captured my attention enough to take hold. Jackson Browne and Tracy Chapman are great examples who leap to mind.
For the second weekend in a row, the Random iTunes Fairy has selected an Elvis Costello tune. This one is a bonus disc cut from the 2001 reissue of Spike.
Written by Nick Lowe, ‘The Ugly Things’ was originally recorded by Lowe and his band Brinsley Schwarz (named after the group’s guitarist, one Brinsley Schwarz). Why anybody would name a band, or a child, that escapes me.
How funny to see this video a couple of days after that clip of Elvis Costello in full elder statesman mode playing folk ballads alongside Mumford & Sons.
The pigeon-toed dancing and fuck-the-world sneer seem to belong to another artist than the man we’ve come to know in the 35 years since. Forget Springsteen and Dylan, perhaps Elvis Costello has had the most extraordinary career.
Here’s one of those cases — so often unearthed on Random Weekends — of an artist who wound up in my music collection under circumstances I have long since forgotten.
I don’t know who Mindy Smith is or why I own her debut album, One Moment More. I don’t know if I’ve heard any or all of it. I vaguely remember liking her cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene,’ the final track on this record, but I can’t imagine I bought the record as a result.
‘Hello City’ is the first song on Gordon, the first Barenaked Ladies album, and it kicks off their professional career in what would become their trademark smart, funny fashion.
A dig at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the Canadian band played an early unsuccessful gig, this song is one of the most enjoyable on that excellent album.
Meet Me In Montauk 