Search found 671 matches

by Poor Deportee
Sat Oct 27, 2018 11:55 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Dishonor the Stars?
Replies: 7
Views: 14153

Dishonor the Stars?

I quite like this song except for the refrain, which strikes me as melodically clunky and lyrically precious. How can the sky dishonour or disown the stars? What does that even mean? Help me out. As it stands, the song lands with a thud precisely because the refrain kills it. But I'd welcome the ins...
by Poor Deportee
Sat Oct 27, 2018 11:51 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: 'Under Lime'
Replies: 40
Views: 52204

Re: 'Under Lime'

Did you notice the drawing in the liner notes of 'Jimmie transfigured' - into EC? :lol: This seems to a sardonic reference to Bob Dylan's preposterous claim to Rolling Stone that he was the 'transfiguration' of an old Hell's Angel called Bobby Zimmerman. It may also be a tacit admission that EC has...
by Poor Deportee
Sat Oct 27, 2018 11:37 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: 'He's Given Me Things'
Replies: 24
Views: 38218

Re: 'He's Given Me Things'

Insightful in an engaged manner equal to the lyric and melody you nimbly pin to the page. I expected no less. EC should have legions of such listeners. Ha! Why, thank you, Jack. High praise indeed from one of the most insightful and engaged EC listeners around! :wink: FAVEHOUR, you may well be righ...
by Poor Deportee
Thu Oct 25, 2018 12:21 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: 'Under Lime'
Replies: 40
Views: 52204

Re: 'Under Lime'

Did you notice the drawing in the liner notes of 'Jimmie transfigured' - into EC? :lol: This seems to a sardonic reference to Bob Dylan's preposterous claim to Rolling Stone that he was the 'transfiguration' of an old Hell's Angel called Bobby Zimmerman. It may also be a tacit admission that EC has ...
by Poor Deportee
Thu Oct 25, 2018 10:53 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: 'He's Given Me Things'
Replies: 24
Views: 38218

'He's Given Me Things'

This song seems to be generating resistance, and I understand that - I felt it myself. Its problems are twofold, to my ear. One is the middle-eight, the 'customer's wives' part that follows 'what I give to him.' Like too many of EC's middle-eights (Burnt Sugar has the same problem) it sounds melodic...
by Poor Deportee
Wed Oct 24, 2018 9:32 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Look Now , October 2018
Replies: 482
Views: 5006963

Re: Look Now: new album announced!

This has surely been noted before - and if so, I apologize - but 'Burnt Sugar' feels like a lyrical sequel to 'Long Honeymoon.' Could be the same character cast. The songs in this collection I'm not hearing are Dishonour the Stars, He's Given me Things, and Hush. I really believe the former is just ...
by Poor Deportee
Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:17 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Look Now , October 2018
Replies: 482
Views: 5006963

Re: Look Now: new album announced!

If you ask me (and no one did) EC has quietly assembled a formidable body of late-career work. NR, WUG, and this record all rank with the best stuff he's ever done, and can stand with any trio of records from any phase of his career. These, as I see it, are the real fruits of his meandering late '90...
by Poor Deportee
Wed Oct 17, 2018 6:01 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Look Now , October 2018
Replies: 482
Views: 5006963

Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Oh my God, once you twig to the Cameron reference, it is impossible to go back. Just the perfect final touch to a career-highlight song. Neil, I'm tolerably bilingual - another Canadian - and don't like the rolled Rs either; but then again I don't think he is really pretending to be anything other t...
by Poor Deportee
Wed Oct 17, 2018 3:56 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Look Now , October 2018
Replies: 482
Views: 5006963

Re: Look Now: new album announced!

This is indeed a mature, sophisticated, gorgeous pop album. And that suits me just fine. I've always seen Elvis as a pop artist more than a visceral rock and roller, which he really only was on TYM. It's a gorgeous album sonically. The production, the musicianship, the lush backing vocals - it's all...
by Poor Deportee
Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:58 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: New Elvis Costello interview re: McCartney collaboration
Replies: 12
Views: 18969

Re: New Elvis Costello interview re: McCartney collaboration

Oh, Elvis is certainly adventurous - only a loon would deny that. What I'm saying is that he mostly ignores contemporary sonic pallettes and options, in stark contrast to the EC who materialized with the Attractions and had a cutting-edge sound for a while. At some point in the early '90s he seems t...
by Poor Deportee
Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:35 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: New Elvis Costello interview re: McCartney collaboration
Replies: 12
Views: 18969

Re: New Elvis Costello interview re: McCartney collaboration

He is surely right about Lennon using auto-tune - apparently Lennon was always demanding that George Martin 'smother his voice with ketchup.' I revile the abuse of auto-tune. But there's no reason it can't be used to achieve a specific effect (as Macca seems to have done), or tastefully - as Bob Roc...
by Poor Deportee
Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:06 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Elvis Costello cancels tour after surgery to remove 'aggressive' tumour
Replies: 39
Views: 53101

Re: Elvis Costello cancels tour after surgery to remove 'aggressive' tumour

The tone of EC's release is that the surgery is done and he just needs more recovery time. I'm not a medical doctor, nor do I play one on TV. But my wife has a very non-aggressive breast tumour. It has been removed by surgery. Still she requires months of chemo treatment, and this will be followed b...
by Poor Deportee
Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:56 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: New Elvis song in "Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool", on Oscar longlist
Replies: 131
Views: 160073

Re: New Elvis song in "Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool"

I think EC's "third act" as a recording artist was the Universal Years plus his 2 LPs for Hear Music, ending with NR. I think we are in the Epilogue now. Unless something changes, we are in the part where he only makes records when someone else makes it happen, but never because he himsel...
by Poor Deportee
Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:51 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Reissue catalogue in a mess?
Replies: 31
Views: 36115

Re: Reissue catalogue in a mess?

Elvis's apparently petulant refusal to release new music in the wake of 'National Ransom' has, in my opinion, contributed to his failure to ascend to the status that Bob Dylan managed to secure - that of being cool and interesting to new audiences late in his career. Elvis is an elder statesman of s...
by Poor Deportee
Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:48 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Elvis song taught at 'O'-level?
Replies: 19
Views: 24645

Re: Elvis song taught at 'O'-level?

Elvis preceded this song in his solo shows in 1984 by saying this song was nonsense. I think by hearing him play it slowly I actually realised what the words were although I had no idea what the song meant. Turned out Elvis didn't either :lol: Just goes to show - coherence is one thing, sheer enter...
by Poor Deportee
Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:45 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: New Elvis song in "Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool", on Oscar longlist
Replies: 131
Views: 160073

Re: New Elvis song in "Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool"

Elvis has many options. He could just record some demos and release them to the internet, or sell them as singles on iTunes. This would mitigate any concerns over losing money on cutting records. He could, as you suggest, record some new stuff in a live setting and release it to the world. He could ...
by Poor Deportee
Mon Nov 13, 2017 2:06 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Elvis song taught at 'O'-level?
Replies: 19
Views: 24645

Re: Elvis song taught at 'O'-level?

Blimey, really? Such an obscure track - but I don't dislike it. It's like 'Dissolve', 'Daddy Can I Turn This', 'Beaten to the Punch', 'Button my Lip' - a really noisy rocker that he likes to slip in now and again. (And when I think of it, I always want to start singing "At the Arrivaderci Roma...
by Poor Deportee
Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:08 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Reissue catalogue in a mess?
Replies: 31
Views: 36115

Re: Reissue catalogue in a mess?

erey wrote:
Poor Deportee wrote:
There is no "case to be made" for it, apart from whatever interest we find in the question.

Well, then find some interest. Say something interesting.
An oddly hostile response. But I regret that my submissions fall short of erey's inestimable bar of wit and insight.
by Poor Deportee
Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:42 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Reissue catalogue in a mess?
Replies: 31
Views: 36115

Re: Reissue catalogue in a mess?

He may not care much - that seems true enough - but that doesn't make the question of what his "legacy" is irrelevant. You raised the question, so I'd say it's encumbant on you to make a case for its revelance. There is no "case to be made" for it, apart from whatever interest w...
by Poor Deportee
Sun Nov 12, 2017 1:56 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Reissue catalogue in a mess?
Replies: 31
Views: 36115

Re: Reissue catalogue in a mess?

A wider question concerns EC's general legacy. 30 years from now, when a good chunk of his long-term fan base is either in the earth or in dotage, how much of his work will remain widely circulated and of ongoing interest? Don't ask me. I don't think he cares much about his posthumous legacy. He's ...
by Poor Deportee
Sun Nov 12, 2017 1:11 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: EC plays Leonard Cohen tribute in Montreal, November 6, 2017
Replies: 27
Views: 35883

Re: EC plays Leonard Cohen tribute in Montreal, November 6, 2017

I'll admit to being mildly annoyed at EC's refusal to make new records. I'm sure he would tell me to go f**k myself, and yes, how he lives his life is wholly his prerogative. Nonetheless, it's been four years since the Roots record - an album in which others were the driving force - and seven years ...
by Poor Deportee
Sun Nov 12, 2017 1:06 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Reissue catalogue in a mess?
Replies: 31
Views: 36115

Re: Reissue catalogue in a mess?

That's a great note from EC! The remark about WB cracks me up :lol: I also enjoy the cynicism in the line about "having Universal's money" and hey, they can self-immolate if they like. As a fan, I'd appreciate his remark about "not living in the past" a lot more if he were still ...
by Poor Deportee
Sun Nov 12, 2017 12:58 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: New Elvis song in "Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool", on Oscar longlist
Replies: 131
Views: 160073

Re: New Elvis song in "Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool"

Good song. It's an effortlessly accomplished proposition, with some real feeling in some of those lines about time being an enemy, being unable to face your own reflection, etc.. EC knows enough about self-loathing for this stuff to ring true. I'd prefer a less elaborate production, without the stri...
by Poor Deportee
Mon Aug 01, 2016 4:48 pm
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Amy Winehouse
Replies: 3
Views: 8226

Re: Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse was a gigantic talent - a generational one, really - and her demise was a loss to all of music. 'Back to Black' is one of the top albums of its decade for me. Her death wasn't just caused by drug abuse, but also by bulimia, which rendered her system incapable of enduring what she put i...
by Poor Deportee
Sun Jul 17, 2016 10:24 am
Forum: Elvis Costello General Discussion
Topic: Least favourite lyric
Replies: 15
Views: 17904

Re: Least favourite lyric

I have a lot of trouble with these 'least favourite' threads...there's such a body of work to sift through, and (shamefully) I'm not familiar with all its nooks and crannies. One lyric that has always bothered me is 'All This Useless Beauty.' The first verse is great, the refrain is a great line. Bu...