New York Times, September 24, 2003: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> Elvis Costello | <center><h3> Elvis Costello returns, brooding and restless </h3></center> | ||
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<center> | <center> Jon Pareles </center> | ||
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{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
Style, it might be argued, is the sum of a musician's reflexes: the melodic contours, harmonic turns, rhythms and verbal patterns that come most naturally. Elvis Costello is determined to refute that argument. Whenever he grows secure in a style, he sets it aside and seeks out another one, fighting his own reflexes to a draw. | Style, it might be argued, is the sum of a musician's reflexes: the melodic contours, harmonic turns, rhythms and verbal patterns that come most naturally. Elvis Costello is determined to refute that argument. Whenever he grows secure in a style, he sets it aside and seeks out another one, fighting his own reflexes to a draw. | ||
His new album, ''[[North]]'' (Deutsche Grammophon), is his latest battle with himself. Last year he reunited with most of his crafty late-1970's band to speed up and rock out on ''[[When I Was Cruel]]'' (Island); now he has veered to the opposite extreme, singing slow, sustained ballads. At Town Hall on [[Concert 2003-09-22 New York|Monday]] night (he has a second concert there [[Concert 2003-09-24 New York|tonight]]), accompanied only by [[Steve Nieve]] on piano, Mr. Costello retrofitted his old songs with his latest approach while he unveiled new ones. He made up in drama what he had sacrificed in decibels. | His new album, ''[[North]]'' (Deutsche Grammophon), is his latest battle with himself. Last year he reunited with most of his crafty late-1970's band to speed up and rock out on ''[[When I Was Cruel]]'' (Island); now he has veered to the opposite extreme, singing slow, sustained ballads. At Town Hall on [[Concert 2003-09-22 New York|Monday]] night (he has a second concert there [[Concert 2003-09-24 New York|tonight]]), accompanied only by [[Steve Nieve]] on piano, Mr. Costello retrofitted his old songs with his latest approach while he unveiled new ones. He made up in drama what he had sacrificed in decibels. | ||
The songs from ''North'' turn Mr. Costello's usual gambits inside out. The album has a story line about an old romance collapsing and a new one beginning (although the [[North (song)|title song]], which is available only on the Internet, is more playful, a tribute to Canada). On the album the lyrics replace Mr. Costello's usual rush of images and wordplay with brief, emotionally direct verses: ''Maybe this is the love song that I refused to / Write her when I loved her like I used to.'' | The songs from ''North'' turn Mr. Costello's usual gambits inside out. The album has a story line about an old romance collapsing and a new one beginning (although the [[North (song)|title song]], which is available only on the Internet, is more playful, a tribute to Canada). On the album the lyrics replace Mr. Costello's usual rush of images and wordplay with brief, emotionally direct verses: ''"Maybe this is the love song that I refused to / Write her when I loved her like I used to."'' | ||
While the words aspire to transparency, the music grows complex, as if Mr. Costello soaked up as many convolutions as he could from his 1998 collaboration with [[Burt Bacharach]], ''[[Painted From Memory]]'' (Mercury), then set out to bend and fold them further. He sounds as if he has been studying [[Cole Porter]], [[Randy Newman]], [[Paul Simon]], [[Stephen Sondheim]], Chopin and Schubert, too. The ''North'' album features Mr. Costello's own arrangements for strings and horns, but onstage he put down his guitar for the new songs, letting Mr. Nieve provide pastel jazz harmonies and pristine quasi-classical embellishment. | While the words aspire to transparency, the music grows complex, as if Mr. Costello soaked up as many convolutions as he could from his 1998 collaboration with [[Burt Bacharach]], ''[[Painted From Memory]]'' (Mercury), then set out to bend and fold them further. He sounds as if he has been studying [[Cole Porter]], [[Randy Newman]], [[Paul Simon]], [[Stephen Sondheim]], Chopin and Schubert, too. The ''North'' album features Mr. Costello's own arrangements for strings and horns, but onstage he put down his guitar for the new songs, letting Mr. Nieve provide pastel jazz harmonies and pristine quasi-classical embellishment. | ||
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Pareles Wikipedia: Jon Pareles] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Pareles Wikipedia: Jon Pareles] | ||
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[[Category: | [[Category:2003 concert reviews]] |
Revision as of 17:34, 18 January 2015
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