Thursday, Feb. 3, 1983 / Kaleidoscope I 6
• t
entertainment ete
Record review
The New King: Elvis Costello
By Kari Howard
Rating ****
The man is a genius. How else can
it be expressed? To say merely that
he is a brilliant songwriter would be
to mimic others and thus belittle his
importance. Rather, he is a brilliant
poet who puts his creations to
music. Elvis does more than rattle
off ditties; his thought provoking
lyrics are remarkably intelligent
without being intellectual. Despite
his excellence, Costello does not con
descend to his audience from a
supercilious pedestal, extorting ad
miration on the strength of his
reputation. Instead he continually
grabs us by our throats with the
gentle ferocity of his genius, forcing
us to reaffirm our respect for his
abilities. In IMPERIAL BED
ROOM, Elvis Costello creates a
dewy world that quivers with the
arching pain of his disillusionment
with romance.
The recurring theme of - this
remarkable album is epitomized
most eloquently in Little Savage
when Costello despairs, “I would
have waited all my life/ Just to make
love out of something other than
spite/ But the beauty is the beast.”
The lines’ purple tinge of regret in
fuses their cynical greyness with col
or. And his deliberate twisting of
the beauty/beast motif by denying
the equality of beauty and good is
indicative of Costello’s ability to
constantly revive dying cliches and
.make them vibrant again.
When listening to this man, it is
easy to become so involved in his
poetry that the music is forgotten.
It is likewise difficult to categorize
his sound. His nasal vocals glide
over a quixotic combination of
blues, jazz, and rock and roll that is
hard to place. Not that Costello
wants to be placed anywhere; he
clings tenaciously to his individuali
ty. He cannot be labeled. The
nearest thing to such a label is the
ambience of a smoke-filled cocktail
bar that surrounds him. Picture, if
you will, the desperate lonely-hearts
sitting nervously atop bar stools.
The garish flashing neon lights
reveal a ghastly pallor. It’s almost
frightening, isn’t it? Their unwrit
ten songs are mortalized by Costello
in his moody compositions.
The lyrics of Almost Blue, an
almost blues lullaby, sound like they
were scribbled on a cocktail napkin
while Costello forlornly drank
another solitary Scotch. That is not
to say that the message is in
coherent; indeed, his torture is even
more wrenching when exposed in so
tawdry a form; “Almost blue/
Almost doing things we used to do/
There’s a girl here and she’s almost
you/ Almost.” That final “almost”
is agonizing in that it gives the im
pression that the man has given up
hope. And the marvelous monotone
of his delivery only reemphasizes
this feeling. *
The same desperation pervades
The Long Honeymoon. Here
Costello gives a three minute
biography of a lonely woman who is
pricked by insidious fears. “If he
isn’t in by ten/ She’ll call up her best
WORRIED ABOUT BEIMG
FREGriAnT?
The Western Carolina Medical Clinic is a facility for
performing therapeutic abortions in problem pregnancies.
yf.
friend/ Why doesn’t he come home,”
she worries. “Why does her friend’s
phone keep on ringing/ Maybe she
should just pretend.” /And that is
how the song ends. Will she pretend
that nothing is wrong, we are left
wondering. Th e hideous thing is, we
already know the answer to that
question. She will.
Costello, or “The Angry Young
Man,” as he has been dubbed, really
shows us what anger and disgust are
in Shabby Doll. In this powerful
song, he reinforces the vicious lyrics
with a brutal piano orchestration.
‘‘An Attraction” plunders the
, ivories as T.A.Y.M. (The Angry
Young Man) condemns romantic
fakes: “Untie the gag/ The cat’s out
pf the bag/ But won’t show his
claws/ He’s just a shabby doll.”
Elvis Costello puts anger, disgust,
cynicism, regret, and romance into
music better than anyone alive to
day. He delights in giving the unex
pected, be it in his words or in his
syncopation. Long live the King;
Elvis (Costello)! He really deserves
the title.
Tanglewood
Auditions
Theatre UNCA will hold auditions
for its Tanglewood young people’s
production of Pinocchio, Feb. 5 at
10:30 a.m. and Feb. 6 at 2:30 p.m. at
the Carol Belk Theatre. Pinocchio is
a new play for young people by
Arnold Wengrow, Chairman of the
UNCA Department of Drama. The
play will receive its premiere March
25-27. The production will be
directed by Elaine Hunter Meyers,
UNCA lecturer in drama. Young
people from the community from
third grade through high school are
eligible to.audition. No previous ex
perience required. Auditions are
also-open to UNCA students, facul
ty and staff.
How to prepare
tax returns
The Residence Life Staff of UNCA
is sponsoring a workshop on how to
prepare tax returns. The workshop
will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 16
at 3:30 p.m. in the Conference Room
of the new highrise residence hall.
Mrs. Martha Marshall, CPA and
Assistant Professor of Accouinting
will lead the workshop. Bring your
tax forms and your W-2 forms.
Coffeehouse
Entertainment
Folk musicians Anne Lalley and
Friends, and Hobey Ford and his
cast of Golden Rod Puppets will ap
pear Feb. 9 from 9 p.m. until mid
night in the Coffeehouse. The per
formance is sponsored by the
University Program Board and is
free to all UNCA students.
Buy any sandwich from our Snack Bar,
get the cecond one of equal value
FREE