If Elvis Costello didn’t have such a wide-ranging, eclectic career, his teaming up with The Roots might come as a left-field surprise.
While I can’t say that I would have predicted this match-up, it certainly doesn’t fall outside the range of things Costello might do. If his next release includes a duet with Alison Gold of ‘Chinese Food’ fame, I’ll nod and think “yeah, that makes some sense.”
Last week I featured Elvis Costello’s ‘20% Amnesia‘ during a theme on bad songs by great songwriters.
Frequent commenter Dana correctly pointed out that it was a weak song on an otherwise excellent album. So I figured I’d give that album, Brutal Youth, a shout-out today.
Brutal Youth is one of the highlights of the back half of Costello’s career. He released it in 1994, 17 years after his debut, and it’s insane to think that it’s been almost 20 years since it came out.
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.
Elvis Costello has written so many hundreds of songs that it was inevitable he’d write a bad one.
In truth, he’s written several not-good songs, but those are generally long-winded and lacking in melody, not abrasive. ‘20% Amnesia,’ on the other hand, is just plain assaulting to the senses.
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.
Meet Me In Montauk 