I’m trying a different sort of theme this week: music I don’t like.
OK, that’s not entirely accurate. Some of the songs I feature this week I’ll like quite a bit. But the trait all of the featured artists share is the disconnect between their critical reception and my (lack of) appreciation of them.
These, in other words, are artists I’m supposed to like but don’t.
Musically, Armed Forces is Elvis Costello’s first truly “modern” record, packed with synths and oddball sound loops. It’s the New Wave-iest of Costello’s New Wave period. And if the record is a bit dated, it’s wonderfully so.
Production aside, Armed Forces boasts a fine collection of tunes. One of my favorite Costello tracks, ‘Two Little Hitlers,’ already found a home on the blog in early 2009. I rank that little-known song (to casual fans, anyway) right up there with Costello’s best.
I’m not a critic. I’m a fan.
I can be critical of things, even things I expect to love. But I can’t imagine listening to a new album by a favorite artist without a rooting interest in it being great. And I don’t think critics do that.
On the contrary, I believe a good critic has a “show me” attitude and expects the work he’s reviewing to fall just about halfway between good and bad until he’s convinced to tip that scale one way or the other.
I’m bringing this up because my first listen to Belle and Sebastian’s new album, Write About Love, left me mostly indifferent. And were I a critic, that probably would have been that. Six paragraphs, two and a half stars… next!
In 1979, Elvis Costello released his third album in as many years. Armed Forces was his second album recorded with The Attractions (who were credited on the sleeve for the first time) and a step up from My Aim is True and This Year’s Model in terms of production values.
I’ve underrated Armed Forces over the years because it pales in comparison to its surrounding albums — not just the two it followed, but the two that followed it. I’m quick to dismiss this album as a qualified success.
Top Ten Female Vocalists – #1 – Fiona Apple
Not too much suspense about this pick. Those who know me or follow this blog regularly probably guessed Fiona Apple would occupy the top spot the minute I announced the countdown.
Indeed, if I were to combine the male and female lists, Ms. Apple would hold on to the crown.
I don’t know whether Apple is a brilliant performer or somebody who simply lives through her music, and I don’t expect the distinction matters much in the end. Whether or not the passion and pain she exudes in her singing is being lived in the moment, it certainly feels like it is.
