Mojo, November 2018: Difference between revisions
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Pete Thomas, Attractions and Imposters drummer of 40 years standing, says he was impressed with how coolly Costello dealt with the diagnosis and treatment. "Cos that stuff can freak you out," he stresses. "In retrospect, he probably should've taken a bit more time before we went on the road. I think he was a bit too gung{{nb}}ho. Because his whole thing has always been, y'know, he is designed to win. He does not lose." | Pete Thomas, Attractions and Imposters drummer of 40 years standing, says he was impressed with how coolly Costello dealt with the diagnosis and treatment. "Cos that stuff can freak you out," he stresses. "In retrospect, he probably should've taken a bit more time before we went on the road. I think he was a bit too gung{{nb}}ho. Because his whole thing has always been, y'know, he is designed to win. He does not lose." | ||
Yet Costello admits that, pre-surgery, singing the songs for ''Look Now'' at the microphone in a Vancouver studio, mortality was on his mind. Particularly when he had to deliver the words ''"allow me to just dictate my dying will"'' in strummy, upbeat opener "Under Lime": "Oh yeah, it was a bit weird when I got to that line '' | Yet Costello admits that, pre-surgery, singing the songs for ''Look Now'' at the microphone in a Vancouver studio, mortality was on his mind. Particularly when he had to deliver the words ''"allow me to just dictate my dying will"'' in strummy, upbeat opener "Under Lime": "Oh yeah, it was a bit weird when I got to that line (''laughs''). Knowing that the procedure was up ahead... it's gotta sharpen you up. I mean, there's no better reason to be alert to the moment." | ||
For this reason, and many others besides, ''Look Now'' is a particularly vital-sounding collection of songs and performances that ranks up there with Costello's very best records. It's especially welcome since, after the commercial under-performance of 2010's 16-track-long, wide-ranging and unfairly-overlooked ''National Ransom'', he announced that he was done with making albums altogether. | For this reason, and many others besides, ''Look Now'' is a particularly vital-sounding collection of songs and performances that ranks up there with Costello's very best records. It's especially welcome since, after the commercial under-performance of 2010's 16-track-long, wide-ranging and unfairly-overlooked ''National Ransom'', he announced that he was done with making albums altogether. | ||
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"It was all over the place," says Thomas. "I mean, it never sounded like the record. It was always about three times faster." | "It was all over the place," says Thomas. "I mean, it never sounded like the record. It was always about three times faster." | ||
By the 2017 tour, the tech was now in place to replicate those sounds. And the band's handling of the ''Imperial Bedroom'' structures fed directly into ''Look Now''. "It definitely showed us that we could do something more ornate," Thomas adds. "That we could be more organised, really. As opposed to our normal sort of crash-bang-wallop approach to things. I think Elvis saw that we could approach trickier material and orchestrations in a grown-up way. That we were probably old enough now to do it '' | By the 2017 tour, the tech was now in place to replicate those sounds. And the band's handling of the ''Imperial Bedroom'' structures fed directly into ''Look Now''. "It definitely showed us that we could do something more ornate," Thomas adds. "That we could be more organised, really. As opposed to our normal sort of crash-bang-wallop approach to things. I think Elvis saw that we could approach trickier material and orchestrations in a grown-up way. That we were probably old enough now to do it (''laughs'')." | ||
Costello admits that shining a light on the darker corners of his catalogue during last year's jaunt proved instructive in moving forward. | Costello admits that shining a light on the darker corners of his catalogue during last year's jaunt proved instructive in moving forward. | ||
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"The three of them already had a chemistry," says Davey Faragher, who first met Pete Thomas on the Los Angeles session scene. "Y'know, at first I was trying to honour the original bass parts, which I still do on The Attractions' stuff. But I have a different feel from Bruce really. I probably gave it just a slightly different slant." | "The three of them already had a chemistry," says Davey Faragher, who first met Pete Thomas on the Los Angeles session scene. "Y'know, at first I was trying to honour the original bass parts, which I still do on The Attractions' stuff. But I have a different feel from Bruce really. I probably gave it just a slightly different slant." | ||
That much was evident with the first appearance of The Imposters on record, 2002's ''When I Was Cruel''. The high emotional intensity of The Attractions was still there, but along with it came a new soulful slinkiness in songs such as "Spooky Girlfriend" and with the retro-future lounge groove of partial title track "When I Was Cruel No. 2." | |||
[[image:2018-11-00 Mojo page 59.jpg|120px|right|border|Page 59.]] | [[image:2018-11-00 Mojo page 59.jpg|120px|right|border|Page 59.]] | ||
"''When I Was Cruel'' was gonna be a beatbox record," says Costello, "and then I sort of ran out of the angles that that really could sustain. Some of the songs just needed a rock 'n' roll band playing them. I mean, The Imposters, they play as a team. (''Laughs'') Which wasn't always the case with The Attractions." | |||
Through 2004's Mississippi-recorded ''The Delivery Man'', elegant 2006 collaboration with Allen Toussaint, ''The River In Reverse'', 2008's raw-edged ''Momofuku'' and parts of ''National Ransom'', The Imposters proved their twin capabilities for drive and soul. | |||
"He's taken us on many great adventures," Nieve says of Costello. "We had an amazing adventure with Allen Toussaint and investigated all that kind of stuff. Some of the things that we learned from that are apparent on this album." | |||
'The Singer' holds, however, that not until ''Look Now'' has the power and musicality of The Imposters been fully captured in the studio. The others say there might be a good reason for that. In much the same urgent, production-be-damned manner shared by Bob Dylan and Neil Young, Costello often switches the red "recording" light on as quickly as possible, trying to capture lightning in a bottle. Even if that bottle ends up getting cracked in the process. | |||
"Elvis is not the world's most patient person," says Thomas. "If we're in the studio and we're all set up, like we were for ''Momo- | |||
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{{rttc}} | {{rttc}} | ||
{{tags}}[[Look Now]] {{-}} [[The Imposters]] {{-}} [[The Attractions]] {{-}} [[This Year's Model]] {{-}} [[Carole King]] {{-}} [[Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter]] {{-}} [[Burt Bacharach]] {{-}} [[Painted From Memory]] {{-}} [[Hal David]] {{-}} [[Don't Look Now]] {{-}} [[Photographs Can Lie]] {{-}} [[Brill Building]] {{-}} [[Ross MacManus]] {{-}} [[Tin Pan Alley]] {{-}} [[Declan MacManus]] {{-}} [[Jimmy Durante]] {{-}} [[:Category:1st US Tour|1st US Tour]] {{-}} [[Linda Ronstadt]] {{-}} [[Linda Ronstadt: Living In The USA|Living In The USA]] {{-}} [[Alison]] {{-}} [[Talking Heads]] {{-}} [[Concert 1978-02-10 Seattle|Seattle]] {{-}} [[Jimi Hendrix]] {{-}} [[The Beach Boys]] {{-}} [[Vanity Fair, November 2000#The Beach Boys|Pet Sounds]] {{-}} [[Stevie Wonder]] {{-}} [[David Bowie]] {{-}} [[John Lennon]] {{-}} [[Pete Thomas]] {{-}} [[Under Lime]] {{-}} [[National Ransom]] {{-}} [[Steve Nieve]] {{-}} [[Dusty In Memphis]] {{-}} [[Imperial Bedroom]] {{-}} [[:Category:Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers Tour|Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers Tour]] {{-}} [[Armed Forces]] {{-}} [[Get Happy!!]] {{-}} [[Almost Blue]] {{-}} [[AIR Studios]] {{-}} [[Geoff Emerick]] {{-}} [[The Beatles]] {{-}} [[Vanity Fair, November 2000#The Beatles|Revolver]] {{-}} [[Beyond Belief]] {{-}} [[Paul McCartney]] {{-}} [[Ringo Starr]] {{-}} [[...And In Every Home|And In Every Home]] {{-}} [[Concert 1982-08-21 Philadelphia|JFK Stadium]] {{-}} [[Vanity Fair, November 2000#The Beatles|Sgt. Pepper]] {{-}} [[Almost Blue (song)|Almost Blue]] {{-}} [[Man Out Of Time]] {{-}} [[Joni Mitchell]] {{-}} [[The Long Honeymoon]] {{-}} [[Painted From Memory]] {{-}} [[Concert 1987-06-20 Pilton|Glastonbury 1987]] {{-}} [[Bruce Thomas]] {{-}} [[The Big Wheel]] {{-}} [[Brutal Youth]] {{-}} [[All This Useless Beauty]] {{-}} [[Davey Faragher]] {{-}} [[The Rolling Stones]] {{-}} [[When I Was Cruel]] | {{tags}}[[Look Now]] {{-}} [[The Imposters]] {{-}} [[The Attractions]] {{-}} [[This Year's Model]] {{-}} [[Carole King]] {{-}} [[Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter]] {{-}} [[Burt Bacharach]] {{-}} [[Painted From Memory]] {{-}} [[Hal David]] {{-}} [[Don't Look Now]] {{-}} [[Photographs Can Lie]] {{-}} [[Brill Building]] {{-}} [[Ross MacManus]] {{-}} [[Tin Pan Alley]] {{-}} [[Declan MacManus]] {{-}} [[Jimmy Durante]] {{-}} [[:Category:1st US Tour|1st US Tour]] {{-}} [[Linda Ronstadt]] {{-}} [[Linda Ronstadt: Living In The USA|Living In The USA]] {{-}} [[Alison]] {{-}} [[Talking Heads]] {{-}} [[Concert 1978-02-10 Seattle|Seattle]] {{-}} [[Jimi Hendrix]] {{-}} [[The Beach Boys]] {{-}} [[Vanity Fair, November 2000#The Beach Boys|Pet Sounds]] {{-}} [[Stevie Wonder]] {{-}} [[David Bowie]] {{-}} [[John Lennon]] {{-}} [[Pete Thomas]] {{-}} [[Under Lime]] {{-}} [[National Ransom]] {{-}} [[Steve Nieve]] {{-}} [[Dusty In Memphis]] {{-}} [[Imperial Bedroom]] {{-}} [[:Category:Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers Tour|Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers Tour]] {{-}} [[Armed Forces]] {{-}} [[Get Happy!!]] {{-}} [[Almost Blue]] {{-}} [[AIR Studios]] {{-}} [[Geoff Emerick]] {{-}} [[The Beatles]] {{-}} [[Vanity Fair, November 2000#The Beatles|Revolver]] {{-}} [[Beyond Belief]] {{-}} [[Paul McCartney]] {{-}} [[Ringo Starr]] {{-}} [[...And In Every Home|And In Every Home]] {{-}} [[Concert 1982-08-21 Philadelphia|JFK Stadium]] {{-}} [[Vanity Fair, November 2000#The Beatles|Sgt. Pepper]] {{-}} [[Almost Blue (song)|Almost Blue]] {{-}} [[Man Out Of Time]] {{-}} [[Joni Mitchell]] {{-}} [[The Long Honeymoon]] {{-}} [[Painted From Memory]] {{-}} [[Concert 1987-06-20 Pilton|Glastonbury 1987]] {{-}} [[Bruce Thomas]] {{-}} [[The Big Wheel]] {{-}} [[Brutal Youth]] {{-}} [[All This Useless Beauty]] {{-}} [[Davey Faragher]] {{-}} [[The Rolling Stones]] {{-}} [[When I Was Cruel]] {{-}} [[Spooky Girlfriend]] {{-}} [[When I Was Cruel No. 2]] {{-}} [[The Delivery Man]] {{-}} [[Allen Toussaint]] {{-}} [[The River In Reverse]] {{-}} [[Momofuku]] {{-}} [[National Ransom]] {{-}} [[Bob Dylan]] {{-}} [[Neil Young]] | ||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
Revision as of 19:53, 5 April 2024
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