Tag Archives: Elvis Costello

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Song of the Day #825: ‘Welcome to the Working Week’ – Elvis Costello

So how does one follow 10 months worth of Bob Dylan Weekends? In my case, I go to another one of my absolute favorite artists, and perhaps the only songwriter in my collection who rivals Dylan in terms of output and lyrical dexterity.

Welcome to Elvis Costello Weekends!

Born in London in 1954 as Declan Patrick MacManus (talk about a name begging to be changed), Costello released his first album at 23 and went on to have one of the most diverse and fascinating careers in popular music. He has tried his hand at every conceivable genre, from punk to country, chamber music to opera. I await his rap album any time now.

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Elvis Costello – Secret, Profane and Sugarcane

sugarcaneElvis Costello has been releasing albums both major and minor about once a year for three decades now, which is an achievement in itself. That only one or two of them can be considered mediocre, and not one truly bad, is an astonishing accomplishment. And his latest album, Secret, Profane and Sugarcane, puts him in no danger of breaking that streak.

It is, though, one of his “minor” albums, a genre exercise that recycles a few older tunes and doesn’t aim too high. It’s a low-key collection of old-timey bluegrass numbers about carnival men and slave traders, loose women and broken-hearted men. The songs are not as innovative or strong on melody as Costello’s best output, but they work well as a group.

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Song of the Day #274: ‘No Hiding Place’ – Elvis Costello

momofukuIt was four years before Costello released another solo album — 2008’s Momofuku. He did put out an album with Allen Toussaint in the middle there, but I haven’t heard it enough to feature it here. I’ve been meaning to give it a listen but haven’t gotten around to it.

Momofuku was as spontaneous a recording as Costello has yet put out. Far from the high concepts and meticulous production of previous albums, this one happened almost by accident. Costello was recording some songs with Jenny Lewis for her album Acid Tongue when he got the bug to lay down some tracks of his own. So he quickly wrote a new batch of songs and recorded them with Lewis on backing vocals and her session players, which included members of his band The Imposters.

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Song of the Day #273: ‘The Delivery Man’ – Elvis Costello

deliveryA year after When I Was Cruel, Costello released the only original album of his that I’ve chosen not to own — a collection of MOR ballads called North. I think I listened to the album twice before coming to terms with the fact that I’d never listen to it again. Even worse than the uninspired Goodbye Cruel World, it’s the only time in Costello’s career that he didn’t even make it out of the gate.

But a year after that debacle came another excellent album, The Delivery Man. Costello has always been a fan of concept albums and this one was conceived as a passion play starring three characters — Abel, Vivian and Geraldine. I think the story got lost somewhere along the line, or maybe these are just the songs that fill in the spaces between the dialogue we don’t get to hear… at any rate, the album doesn’t work as a play, but it definitely works as an album.

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Song of the Day #272: ‘When I Was Cruel No. 2’ – Elvis Costello

cruelFour years after Painted From Memory, six years after All This Useless Beauty and eight years after Brutal Youth, Costello finally released another rock-n-roll album.

I probably rate When I Was Cruel even higher than it deserves because it was so welcome after such a long dry spell. When you’ve been in the desert, even dirty water tastes like Evian. Not that When I Was Cruel is tainted it any way — it’s a masterful piece of work. But it was also exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.

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