Elvis Costello Fan Forum

Picked up tix for the Durham show. DPAC is a great venue for sound and sight lines. I've seen Wilco, Ben Folds, and a number of Broadway shows there.

I don't have much of an opinion on the lyric to Tart, but I love the sound of this song. What some find jarring, I find exciting. I like that this sounds pretty damn raw.

Episode of Blonde is one of EC's best songs and was a concert highlight. I think 15 Petals is his most autobiographical song regarding the dissolution of his relationship to Cait. Tart is just lovely. I also like Spooky Girlfriend, the title song, My Little Blue Window and I get the Dust songs stuck...

Definitely a top shelf EC album for me, and, as I've noted here before, 'You Tripped at Every Step' is my all-time favorite EC song. I like everything on this album. 'Rocking Horse Road' is probably my least favorite song, but not a bad song. I understand Christopher's criticisms of 'Still Too Soon ...

I'm almost halfway through right now and couldn't agree more. Never been the biggest Stones fan in the world, but boy do I love some KR.

And speaking of ghost towns...

[tumbleweeds.....]

Many thanks for the thoughtful feedback Chris!

Hey folks, if you're interested, here's a link to my ReverbNation music page:

http://www.reverbnation.com/davebecker

Some Costellian power pop for you to enjoy. I realize this should be on the Tin Pan Alley page, but it seems a bit like a ghost town over there...

Christopher Sjoholm wrote:Have to love the irony that EC still chooses to maintain a home in NYC if we are so bad.

I'm pretty sure AGT and other songs refer more to American government and its policies than America itself. I don't see any irony in Elvis' choice to live in NYC.

Just a note on EC's singing style. I agree that he is far more likely to strain than in his younger days, but I think that is a function of the actual music, not his abilities. Elvis' melodies cover a lot more ground than they did on most of the early songs (not that those melodies aren't fantastic,...

Tough one for me because this was the first album I 'waited' for (I got into EC with Spike and went backwards- making MLAR the first 'new' one for me). Because of that its got a sentimental pull that might outweigh its artistic merits. I drove from Spokane, WA to Berkeley, CA to see my first EC show...

I'll attempt to screw Verbal out of his non-existent prize by predicting 84.

Thank you Chris. I had made a personal contact with Wes in a roundabout way after Hurricane Katrina when he offered to replace a couple of signed CDs for me that had been 'drowned'. I suggested we meet in person as I had temporarily relocated to New York after the hurricane. In the meantime, Blue Ch...

An interview I did with Wes a few years ago for Being There:
http://beingtheremag.com/archives/feature.php?id=329

While I have no problem with the production on 'Punch the Clock', I DO feel that this album was made less than perfect by the glossy sheen and, more problematically, by the 'upbeat' arrangements. The solo tour surrounding this album show EC to be in a very melancholy (and very Richard Thompson inspi...

So all this talk has got me re-listening to this album on a pretty constant basis for the past couple of days. (May I say, this is the forum at its best: inspiring a reappraisal of all the reasons we loved EC in the first place). I must say that I have realized that many of the songs, when listened ...

Upon reexamination, I find this to be a very satisfying album as well. I think the reason it didn't do much for me initially is because none of the individual songs is a top ten favorite for me, but as an album they all work so well together. I could live without TKO, but the rest is top notch. Agre...

And I've never fully warmed to the more cryptic ATUB lyrics of Telescope. It sorta feels like he took a simpler, more beautiful song and muddied it up, almost like someone would do if they were doing a parody of Costello's style. I miss the simplicity of "though your wristwatch always works, y...

In a pinch, I'd have to take Trust as my favorite. I like that EC seemed to have found a more mature way of singing on this album. I don't think he would have had the discipline to pull of the vocal on New Lace Sleeves before this. Just fantastic from start to finish.

Blue Chair + Red Shoes = Violet baby! Love it!

Colin Meloy is very talented and I've enjoyed some of the Decemberists stuff. They are also a very, very good live band. Still, there is something about them on record that is too studied, too precious for me. I'm hoping this album changes my perspective and will give it a try.

The Social Network was very good.

As someone who is only too familiar with the horrible consequences of flooding, I'm sad to note the relative lack of U.S. coverage of the devastating flooding taking place in Australia. Australian board members- what can we do to help?

PD, that’s a great point about Lowe and EC. I think you hit the nail on the head with your comment about EC’s originality as an artist, which is both his strength and weakness. As between the two, I’ve always loved EC’s work way more than Nick’s. It’s tough to explain sometimes what makes a fan, or...