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artifact Elvis Costello, "King of America" (Rhino, 1986/2005) and "Club Date: Live in Memphis" (Eagle Vision, 2005)
04/28/05
As a Liverpudlian, Elvis Costello grew up on the banks of the Mersey, not the Mississippi. But his ear has long been attuned to the river-deep strains of the American South. Costello and his Attractions sought to inject the sound of Southern soul into such albums as Get Happy, and they collided with country on Almost Blue. Costello crowned his early Americana fixation with 1986's King of America, produced by T-Bone Burnett and featuring such players as ex-Elvis Presley guitarist James Burton. The album now comes remastered and refurbished with a 21-track bonus disc as the latest in Rhino's Costello reissue series. As usual, the deluxe package includes a revealing booklet essay by the artist himself.
Posted by bradley bambarger
at 04:12:09 am
artifact The Balanescu Quartet, "Maria T" (Mute, 2005) and The Brodsky Quartet, "Moodswings" (Brodsky Records, 2005)
04/28/05
From Beethoven to Shostakovich, the string quartet has often been the medium for composers to channel their most personal and forward-looking creations. Such groups as the Kronos Quartet reinvented the string quartet's status as an ultra-contemporary, multicultural vehicle. Based in the U.K., the Balanescu Quartet and Brodsky Quartet have expanded notions of the string quartet in their own, often pop-accented directions.
Posted by bradley bambarger
at 04:03:56 am
artifact Marianne Faithfull, "Before the Poison" (Naïve/Anti, 2004)
04/28/05
Since her days as the fallen angel of swinging '60s London, Marianne Faithfull's iconic status has been that of survivor. The lyricist of the Rolling Stones' "Sister Morphine" is more than a survivor, though. She has endured as a searching, evolving recording artist in a way that her former paramour Mick Jagger has not. Faithfull's knowing ways and vocal rasp have given rise to such fondly expressed descriptions as, "She's the aunt offering you a cigarette when you're 11" from Tom Waits (in whose devilish operetta The Black Rider Faithfull has starred). Moreover, her worldliness and deep, haunted voice have made her the ideal vessel of a fatalistic, cabaret romanticism. Although exceptional, the new album Before the Poison -- featuring Faithfull in league with kindred souls P.J. Harvey and Nick Cave, among others -- is the latest in a series of projects revealing the singer's inspired taste and work ethic. And Faithfull's singing, for all the stains from nicotine and worse, has never sounded more beautifully expressive than here.
Posted by bradley bambarger
at 03:42:21 am
artifact the Twilight Singers, "She Loves You" (One Little Indian, 2004)
04/28/05
Unlike jazz or classical, pop music lacks a broadly inspired art of interpretation. When a rock singer sings another artist's song, it usually seems like rote karaoke or a cynical play to audience nostalgia, or both. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. David Bowie and Elvis Costello have always covered classics and contemporaries, paying homage by investing the songs with their own imagination. Country-rocker Dwight Yoakam not only tips his hat to other artists as a matter of course but inhabits their music to an almost defiantly definitive degree. Another in the exclusive set of rock artists with exceptional taste and interpretive vision is Greg Dulli, former leader of the sadly defunct Afghan Whigs. Live, that Ohio band would veer from its own dramatically literate, slide-guitar-stoked hard rock to string together counterintuitive complements from the Stones to Isaac Hayes to TLC's "Creep." Although covers spiced the Whigs' b-side and soundtrack efforts, the band's 1992 Sub Pop EP Uptown Avondale provided an extended showcase for Dulli's retooling of soul classics. Motown habitually set downbeat lyrics to upbeat grooves; indicative of his art, Dulli recast "Come See About Me" into a dark minor key to match the desperately plaintive lyrics. Now working with a rotating crew as the Twilight Singers, Dulli has revisited reinterpretations for She Loves You, his third post-Whigs album. Casting a wide net, he re-envisions music by or associated with George Gershwin, Skip James, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, Nina Simone, the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Fleetwood Mac, Hope Sandoval, Mary J. Blige, Bjork and U.K. trip-hop chanteuse Martina Topley-Bird.
Posted by bradley bambarger
at 03:29:39 am
artifact Mogwai, "Government Commissions, BBC Sessions: 1996-2003" (BBC/PIAS/Matador, 2005) and Doves, "Some Cities" (Heavenly/Capitol, 2005)
04/28/05
Although Mogwai has a reputation for uncompromising attitude and scalding volume, the Scottish guitar band trades far more often on ambient lyricism. For every metallic edifice Mogwai builds and then tears down, it crafts three or four white-picket tone poems. That said, even when shimmering, the band's songs have an undercurrent of tension, often backed up with such titles as "Stop Coming to My House." The voice of widely mourned BBC taste-maker John Peel introduces Government Commissions, with his sonorous "Ladies and gentlemen, Mogwai. . ." hinting at his long-standing support of the band. Fittingly, the album -- its title a nod to the British public-broadcasting network's patronage -- serves as the Glaswegians' best testament. As with BBC session releases from Jimi Hendrix to the Smiths, the live-in-the-studio settings suit Mogwai's truest instincts. The group trades its erratic efforts at extended gesture (i.e., noodling) for direct impact, with highlights drawn from such discs as 2003's Happy Songs for Happy People and 1997's Young Team.
Posted by bradley bambarger
at 03:27:35 am
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