New Musical Express, May 11, 1996: Difference between revisions
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{{Bibliography article header}} | {{Bibliography article header}} | ||
<center><h3> Veiled frets </h3></center> | <center><h3> Veiled frets </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Roger Morton </center> | <center> Roger Morton </center> | ||
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''' Elvis Costello <br> | |||
All This Useless Beauty <br> | |||
{{7of10stars}} | |||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
In the wide world of pop 1996, Elvis Costello has problems. Two spleen-spattered decades on from his ''My Aim Is True'' emergence he drags such a weight of ''oeuvre'' behind him that unless he grows a mohican and records with Steve Albini, he's only going to command the attention of those who already kneel at the | In the wide world of pop 1996, Elvis Costello has problems. Two spleen-spattered decades on from his ''My Aim Is True'' emergence he drags such a weight of ''oeuvre'' behind him that unless he grows a mohican and records with Steve Albini, he's only going to command the attention of those who already kneel at the MacManus altar. | ||
Costello is a logo. And unless you're already firmly tucked up in bed with your Buddy Hollys Superglued on, it's unlikely to signify much beyond that. Oh yes, another Elvis Costello album. That'll be linguistic chicanery, bitter-sweet sentiments, the neurotic piano flourish and the straining Jerry Lewis vocal snipe. | Costello is a logo. And unless you're already firmly tucked up in bed with your Buddy Hollys Superglued on, it's unlikely to signify much beyond that. Oh yes, another Elvis Costello album. That'll be linguistic chicanery, bitter-sweet sentiments, the neurotic piano flourish and the straining Jerry Lewis vocal snipe. | ||
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Great things are not thin on the ground, in fact — surgical syntax, ironic chording, mordant scenarios — but none of it is quite the sort of greatness that solves the 1996 Costello problem. As well as having the looming shadow of his past obscuring the contemporary flashes of brilliance, his allegiance to scholastic songwriting formalism dates him seriously compared to the mad ramblings of Ryder or the couldn't-give-a-shit sparkle of Gallagher. | Great things are not thin on the ground, in fact — surgical syntax, ironic chording, mordant scenarios — but none of it is quite the sort of greatness that solves the 1996 Costello problem. As well as having the looming shadow of his past obscuring the contemporary flashes of brilliance, his allegiance to scholastic songwriting formalism dates him seriously compared to the mad ramblings of Ryder or the couldn't-give-a-shit sparkle of Gallagher. | ||
Jarvis may have nicked his glasses and Blur covered one of his tunes, but that's not quite enough. Elvis is still caught between the Bacharachs and the Britpoppers, and the excusably, richly schizoid, multiple-identity beast ''...Useless Beauty'' is not about to provide him with a new resting place. That can only happen when he dumps the disguises and once again steps out from behind his techniques. | Jarvis may have nicked his glasses and Blur covered one of his tunes, but that's not quite enough. Elvis is still caught between the Bacharachs and the Britpoppers, and the excusably, richly schizoid, multiple-identity beast ''...Useless Beauty'' is not about to provide him with a new resting place. That can only happen when he dumps the disguises and once again steps out from behind his techniques. | ||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
{{tags}}[[All This Useless Beauty]] {{-}} [[My Aim Is True]] {{-}} [[Declan MacManus]] {{-}} [[Buddy Holly]] {{-}} [[Brutal Youth]] {{-}} [[The Attractions]] {{-}} [[The Juliet Letters]] {{-}} [[Paul McCartney]] {{-}} [[Tom Waits]] {{-}} [[Shallow Grave]] {{-}} [[Complicated Shadows]] {{-}} [[Johnny Cash]] {{-}} [[Bob Dylan]] {{-}} [[Dave Stewart]] {{-}} [[Shipbuilding]] {{-}} [[June Tabor]] {{-}} [[Sam Moore]] {{-}} [[Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?]] {{-}} [[Bonnie Raitt]] {{-}} [[It's Time]] {{-}} [[Starting To Come To Me]] {{-}} [[The Byrds]] {{-}} [[You Bowed Down]] {{-}} [[Roger McGuinn]] {{-}} [[Poor Fractured Atlas]] {{-}} [[Blur]] {{-}} [[Burt Bacharach]] | |||
{{cx}} | |||
{{Bibliography notes header}} | {{Bibliography notes header}} | ||
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{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:1996-05-11 New Musical Express clipping 01.jpg| | [[image:1996-05-11 New Musical Express clipping 01.jpg|380px]] | ||
<br><small>Clipping.</small> | <br><small>Clipping.</small> | ||
<small>Illustration by [[Carl Flint]].</small><br> | |||
[[image:1996-05-11 New Musical Express illustration.jpg|380px]] | |||
<small>Cover.</small><br> | |||
[[image:1996-05-11 New Musical Express cover.jpg|x120px|border]] | [[image:1996-05-11 New Musical Express cover.jpg|x120px|border]] | ||
{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} | ||
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME Wikipedia: NME] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME Wikipedia: NME] | ||
*[http://carlflint.com/post.php?s=2012-07-31-nme CarlFlint.com] | *[http://carlflint.com/post.php?s=2012-07-31-nme CarlFlint.com] | ||
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/littletriggers/14523522211/in/photostream/ Flickr: | *[http://www.flickr.com/photos/littletriggers/14523522211/in/photostream/ Flickr:] [[Stephen McCathie]] | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Musical Express 1996-05-11}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:New Musical Express 1996-05-11}} |
Revision as of 18:37, 24 November 2022
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