New London Day, April 29, 2002: Difference between revisions
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“I assembled this team of engineers and producers in Dublin who could work at the speed I like to work at in the studio, but with command of some of the possibilities that the studio has now to bend things and shape the sound more,” he says. “There’s some great live playing from the band, but it’s informed by the fact that I set out with a definite idea for the rhythm in most cases, and much of the rhythm was something I had predetermined with some of my little beat boxes at home.” | “I assembled this team of engineers and producers in Dublin who could work at the speed I like to work at in the studio, but with command of some of the possibilities that the studio has now to bend things and shape the sound more,” he says. “There’s some great live playing from the band, but it’s informed by the fact that I set out with a definite idea for the rhythm in most cases, and much of the rhythm was something I had predetermined with some of my little beat boxes at home.” | ||
As for the use of sampling, he says, “I never said I was opposed to it, but I just thought it had never been taken far enough. A lot of sampling was just to get the good groove off of an old record and just to steal it and put some boneheaded idea that maybe didn’t even fit harmonically. That’s what I would hear sometimes. I just didn’t think it was pushed far enough. And I’m not saying that now I have realized it the way it should be done, but for me, it’s much more satisfying to get the effect of something hypnotic like the sample on ‘When I Was Cruel’ and lay over it my own chord progression. It creates some unusual tension.” | |||
Costello also achieves some unusual percussion sounds on “[[Spooky Girlfriend]]” and even raps at times on the vivid “[[Episode Of Blonde|Episode of Blonde]],” which includes the self-referential line, “Every Elvis has an army, every rattlesnake has its charm.” Elsewhere, there’s some solid rock in tracks like “[[My Little Blue Window]]” (“come by and smash my pane,” he sings), the energized “[[Dissolve]],” and the riff-rocking power pop of “[[Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution)|Tear Off Your Head (It’s a Doll Revolution)]],” with a title that is quintessential Costello. | |||
Asked what the title means, Costello, now 46, says it was inspired by walking into a bookstore one day and seeing a bunch of self-help books. | |||
“You know what you should do with all those self-help books?” he says. “Just chuck them out the window, and put this record on instead. That’s the only advice you really need in this world today. Chuck all those ‘Men are from Mars, and Women are from Jupiter or Wherever’ books. And just listen to this song, and you’ll be fine. You just need to tear off your own head, and then you’ll be fine. | |||
Ah, yes, the Elvis that punks know and love is back. And fans will get more when he goes on tour with a quartet anchored by his veteran backing musicians, [[Steve Nieve]] on keyboards and [[Pete Thomas]] on drums. | |||
“The main thing is just to play a group of songs that you feel something for,” he says. “Obviously, I feel strongly about the new record. And I think these songs are quite compatible with some of the strongest rock ‘n’ roll records that I’ve made, like ‘''Blood and Chocolate''’ and ‘''This Year’s Model''’ so I imagine the songs from those albums will also be featured. “ | |||
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[[Category:Interviews]] | [[Category:Interviews]] | ||
[[Category:2002 interviews]] | [[Category:2002 interviews]] | ||
Revision as of 23:20, 10 September 2015
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