Uncut review of North

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 6:39 am

Uncut , Nov.`03 , P.112

Elvis Costello
North Deutsche Gramaphon
One Star

Tin Pan Alley revisited by Mr Diana Krall

Only Elvis Costello could release a jazz album on
the august Deutsche Gramaphon label. Not exactly "(I
Don`t Want To Go To)Chelsea" , is it? Why does he
bother? This drab sequence of Rodgers&Hart-style
ballads is so arid and mannered you just wanna yell ,
"Stop farting about with old dead forms and write
something NEW!" Or at least something from the heart
rather than the ageing fanboy head.
Collaborating with Bacharach , a real genius , was
one thing. Offering up what is essentially the same
mopey , major-to-minor song 11 times - complete with
very samey vocal lines and that gratingly strained
vibrato - is another entirely.

Barney Hoskyns
-------------------------------------------------------

Wow - this is a staggering one. How can
someone of the pedigree of Hoskyns get it so wrong? In
case you`re wondering about him , here are some links
to previous pieces he`s done on Elvis -

http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/m/mo9712r.html

http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/r/ra8311a.html

and an interview with him -
http://www.rockcritics.com/Barney_Hoskyns.html.

I really and truely am baffled by this.

- John `don`t shoot the messenger!` Foyle

DrJ · Post by **DrJ** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 3:55 pm

You didn't mention the small EC pic beside the review labelled "Elvis Costello: All This Useless Music", well I laughed...

The new Uncut just has one obit after another in it. What I've listened to of the CD is mighty fine tho.

DrJ

Post by **BlueChair** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 4:28 pm

Picked up the new Uncut today. Aside from the very poor Elvis review, it's got some good stuff... a great peice on Randy Newman, and a feature containing R.E.M.'s thoughts on some of their biggest singles. The CD is compiled by R.E.M. and includes lots of good stuff.. The Band, Laura Nyro, Townes Van Zandt, Tim Buckley, Iggy Pop, Merle Haggard, etc.

Apparently next month's issue is going to follow up with what they did with the Beatles, Dylan, Stones, and Springsteen, with a Clash covers disc and a bunch of people voting on the best Clash songs ever.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 7:44 pm

Crap review indeed. Fun reading that PTC interview, though.

Agree the REM disc is a corker. Uncut is just too retro for me.

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 4:36 am

Uncut is just too retro for me.

Says he with a Denace The Menace avatar!!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 6:36 pm

There's a difference between retro and timeless, and a difference between a music mag that mixes the old and the new and one that only seems to feature bands from yesteryear. Surely this is a serious problem with the oh-so-worthy and rather dull with it Uncut and Mojo, whereas at least the much-reviled Q (which seems to have improved a little under the latest editor after the sheer awfulness of the previous one with a big hooter) gets a much better balance, even if most of its content is crap.

I don't suppose you know a Nick Aylward of Hatch Warren, Basingstoke, do you? Diamond Geezer, responsible for me getting £54 worth of Birmingham tickets for £30. Roll on Friday...

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 4:35 am

Never heard of him, but Hatch Warren is less than a mile from where I live.

Have a good time tonight, it looks as though the setlist may be slightly different from RFH going by the latest show in Sweden.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sat Nov 08, 2003 10:38 am

Wonder if he's a huge EC fan who couldn't make it, or just some tosser making a loss on eBay!

'Slightly' is an understatement! Of course the Brodskies made a difference to things, but it's amazing how many different songs there were, totally justifying going twice to this tour. I'll have to work out how many songs he's played on this tour. No doubt stunningly impressive for not so many dates, and considering most of North has been played each night.