Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Feb. 23, 1989, edition 1 / Page 13
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DTH OmnibusThursday, February 23, 19895 Costello's By DOUG EDMUNDS Staff writer, Elvis Costello Spike How does one begin to discuss the latest album by one of pop musics most prolific, consistent and hugely talented artists, Elvis Costello? There's so much one could say about this man, his music and his incredible songwriting ability, that trying to review Spike, his new 14-song LP, is an intimi dating, challenging task. But as Elvis himself once said. "Spare us the theatrics and the verbal gym nastics." Let's get on with it Its been more than two years since Costello has released an album of all new material, an unusually long gap for the musi cian who put out one and some times two LP's per year between 1977 and 1986. Following the one two punch of the masterful King of America and rip-roaring Blood and Chocolate, both released in "86, it seems that Costello wanted to take some time to reassess his music and his approach to making records. If Spike is any indication of the kind of things we can look forward to hearing from him in the coming decade, then we're all in for a richly rewarding, unpre dictably good time. Listening to Spike is like reading Milan Kundera see "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting" or "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." As much as both men might cringe at this overblown sounding com parison of their respective crafts, the comparison is valid in at least one respect. Both artists create -work that is extremely dense, full of imaginative imagery and thought-provoking passages, which demand repeated listenings or readings, as the case may be. Tar Heel artists' works x , ft " ,u.'" -"Pan Spike is truly sharp The sheer length of Costello's record, while common for him and a welcome change from most meager releases these days, is enough to make even the most attentive listener feel like he has missed something the first time through. Costello's lyrics have always been good reason for multiple plays - their richness and depth are best appreciated after two or three close listenings. But never before has the music too been so widely varied and mulit layered within the space of one LP. Much of this isattributed to the numerous supporting players used throughout the disc Cone Is Cos tello's outstanding backup group, the Attractions, and in its place we find an eclectic mix of New Orleans jazz musicians, Irish folk instru mentalists, top-notch session cats and a few famous friends, includ ing Roger McGuinn and Paul McCartney. Together they all provide everything from avant garde funk ("Chewing Gum") and gonzo rockabilly C'Pads, Paws and Claws") to bluesy soul ("Deep Dark Truthful Mirror") and more tradi tional sounding folk ballads TAny King's Shilling"). Despite the wide variety of sounds and styles, the record doesnt sound disjointed, nor does it suffer by exploring too many directions at once. Partial credit for this should be given to costello, Kevin Killen and T Bone Burnett for their excellent pro duction work. They manage to balance and blend a seemingly endless array of instruments, sound effects and vocal parts into a pleasing whole, in addition, Costello's unmistakable voice is the thread that sews all of this together. Without his consistently 'S F - 4 ' " appropriate and effective vocal treatments, the songs might not have held together as well as they do. Having said that, I must admit that not all these songs work as well as others. The opening cut, "This Town," sounds like a leftover from the tepid Goodbye Cruel World LP, which Costello himself calls the song just doesnt stand up to most of the other material here. "Satellite" suffers for similar reasons, with intriguing lyrics and a nice Chrissie Hynde guest vocal failing to save the tune from a rather schmaltzy arrangement. Other, than these comparatively weak moments, Spike contains some typically high quality Cos tello songwriting and a few out standing cuts. First among these is "Let Him. Dangle," a chilling song about a real life murderer that sounds like a cross between "Watching the Detectives" and "Pills and Soap." The next is "Veronica," co-written with Paul McCartney and contain ing more hooks than I can count on one hand. This is about as close to a hit single as Elvis gets on this record, though I doubt many major FM stations will be kind enough to give the song a chance. "God's Comic" would have fit well on King of America but here it's a definite standout. The unusual call and response chorus and the way that Costello manipulates the dual meaning of the title make this one a real treat. "Tramp the Dirt Down," on the other hand, is anything but a treat. The best track on the album, this moving folk-style ballad deals with the depressing economic and political atmosphere in England. If displayed Photo courtesy of Lee Hansley With a little help from his friends, had to quote just one line from this powerful song it would have to be: "When England was the whore of the world Margaret was her madam And the future looked as bright and as clear as the black tar macadam." The title here refers to the speaker's desire to be present when Mrs. Thatcher is buried so that he can help tramp the dirt down. Rarely has Costello made such a convincing case for for Fine Arts Festival By LESLEY BARTLETT Staff water As part of the UNC arts festival, the theme of which is "Flashback: The '60s," the union Gallery will house a new exhibition starting February 24. The gallery will fea ture works created during the 1960s by 22 artists who lived in North Carolina in the same era. The paintings to be exhibited at the Union Gallery are only half of a larger show organized by Lee Hansley, an independent curator. He says the only qualification, other than great artistic ability, is that the artist "lived and worked in North Carolina both during the '60s and the "805." The remaining half of the show, paintings by the same artists but executed during the 1980s, will be set up at the 'Horace Williams House on East Rosemary Street The public open ing reception for the artists will Elvis Costello shines on Spike. his obvious bitterness and disgust Spike is an exciting start to what appears to be a promising new stage in Mr. Costello's develop ment. It mixes some of the best elements from his past recordings and incorporates some new ones as well. There are touches here of Tom Waits, Randy Newman and van Morrison among others, but in the end, it is undeniably good old glorious Elvis Costello. be held at the Horace Williams House on February 24 from 5 to 7 P.M. Hansley calls the exhibition a "reunion show," since several of the artists have shown together previously. He says,"All of these artists have extensive exhibition records and many are known nationally." UNC faculty members Robert Barnard, Richard Kinnaird, Marvin Saltzman and Dennis Zabo rowski are among the artists who will submit works to the exhibi tion. The remaining artists range from S. Tucker Cooke of Asheville to Claude Howell of Wilmington. Hansley states that, since the artists come from such varied bacKgrounds, the exhibition has only one theme. "There will be but one common thread running through this exhibition and that is quality, it should prove to be a very interesting show for the University and for the Triangle."
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Feb. 23, 1989, edition 1
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