Orange County Register, March 4, 1994: Difference between revisions
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Like fans of Neil Young, Costello devotees are frustrated with his career at times. He can effortlessly toss off pop/rock classics such as "Alison," "Beyond Belief" or the new songs "This Is Hell" and "London's Brilliant Parade." | Like fans of Neil Young, Costello devotees are frustrated with his career at times. He can effortlessly toss off pop/rock classics such as "Alison," "Beyond Belief" or the new songs "This Is Hell" and "London's Brilliant Parade." | ||
But he chooses to spend years exploring other less-familiar terrain. | |||
"I've heard a bit of this kind of talk before," he said. "Those people either have a more traditional or conservative view of what I do. They don't like me to deviate too much from that image. | |||
"In some cases it's people who maybe listened to me when I started and that's their idea of what I do — maybe the first five albums. After that, they start to get a bit perplexed because of the detours. Without doing those things, I think they'd be equally tired of you. They'd say, 'He's just trotting out the same pld formula.' So you can't really have it both ways." | |||
He laughed. | |||
"On the other hand ... I understand that attitude. I've had that same attitude about people. I mean, I don't like every Neil Young record, though I'm a big Neil Young fan. My favorite stuff is ''Ragged Glory'', and when he's doing that, I love it." | |||
Other Young diversions, even including ''Harvest Moon'', don't strike Costello as much. | |||
"I'm aware of those people, and I know maybe they get exasperated sometimes by me following my instincts about music and trying to do things that I think are interesting and worthwhile," he said. "I believe in the long run it's richer for the next musical thing you do." | |||
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{{Mark Brown 1994-03-04 Orange County Register}} | {{Mark Brown 1994-03-04 Orange County Register}} | ||
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[[Stephen Lynch]] reviews [[Tasmin Archer]]'s ''[[Tasmin Archer: Shipbuilding|Shipbuilding]]'' EP. | |||
{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
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[[image:1994-03-04 Orange County Register, Show page 38.jpg|380px]] | [[image:1994-03-04 Orange County Register, Show page 38.jpg|380px]] | ||
{{Bibliography box}} | |||
<center><h3> Archer's love for Costello not enough </h3></center> | |||
<center>''' Tasmin Archer ''' / Shipbuilding </center> | |||
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<center> Stephen Lynch </center> | |||
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{{Bibliography text}} | |||
[[image:1994-03-04 Orange County Register, Show page 39 clipping 01.jpg|140px|right]] | |||
Tasmin Archer sums up in her liner notes the exact problem with her new EP, ''Shipbuilding''. | |||
"At first I was not sure that we could add to these songs, but our love for his work was enough to justify the attempt," she writes. | |||
But Archer's attempt to cover four Elvis Costello compositions, from various stages of his career, falls flat. Archer finds little to add to any of his material, and sometimes love just ain't enough. | |||
At first Archer's soulful voice, which garnered a best new artist nomination from MTV last year, seems perfectly suited to the title track. Her smooth singing style would have complemented Costello's original 1983 composition, with its orchestration and a subtle piano. | |||
But Archer throws out the violins for synthesizers and inadvertently reverses the original. For Costello, the voice was harsh and the music sweet; for Archer, the voice soars and the music grates. | |||
"Deep Dark Truthful Mirror," "All Grown Up" and "New Amsterdam" suffer from the same quality that added to "Shipbuilding." Archer's lovely lilt carries neither the sardonic wit nor angry sarcasm of Costello. | |||
"Deep Dark Truthful Mirror," as sung by Costello on his album ''Spike'', is a bitter tune about a jilted lover. Archer sustains the chorus as if the song were a compliment. | |||
The second half consists of live versions of songs from Archer's album ''Great Expectations''. It also contains an acoustic version of her hit "Sleeping Satellite," which sounds identical to the radio version. | |||
Archer is much more successful on interpreting her own work in concert, but her changes are limited to a few sustained notes or vocal inflections, not rearranging any melody. | |||
The best thing fans can do is wait for Archer's next album and chalk up the EP to a labor of love, realizing that love cannot conquer all. | |||
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'''You might try if you like: Archer's ''Great Expectations'', but don't expect much. | |||
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Revision as of 23:02, 14 January 2021
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