Recently Townsman E. Pluribus Gergely has begun his summertime Rock Town Hall duties, which include monitoring the films of Al Pacino; giving grief to the likes of Hrrundivbakshi, BigSteve, and yours truly; and pooh-poohing the collected works of Elvis Costello, Lou Reed (Mistrial excepted), and other high school favorites post-1983. Some of what my man Gergs will say in the coming weeks will hurt. In some cases it will be the pain of a cowardly stab in the back; in other cases, the pain you feel will be the result of his occasionally piercing insight. Wherever the pain registers for you, I encourage you to take it like a Townsperson and give it back to the man as you see fit.
To help EPG re-establish his footing in the Halls of Rock, I feel compelled to SUMMON him to comment on the following tracks from Elvis Costello’s new album, the one with some overblown title and produced by T-Bone Burnett. I have not yet heard these songs myself. Maybe these will be initial spins for you as well. Don’t put all the burden on E. Pluribus to comment, and please be candid when you share.
Elvis Costello, “Down Among the Wine and Spirits”
Elvis Costello, “Complicated Shadows”
Elvis Costello, “I Dreamed of My Old Lover”
I look forward to your comments!
I’m not going to listen to the Costello tracks. I’ve been burnt too many times post “Imperial Bedroom” to give the man a chance again. Throughout the sloth of post “Imperial bedroom”, one track alone succeeds, and that is “I Hope You’re Happy Now”. That winner ccontinues to put a smile on my face when I choose to flop it on the turntable. Tellingly, it’s a track not written by him.
Truth be told, I can’t relate to a lot of the stuff that happens around here these days: the universal truth that music went down the toilet after 1981 is not accepted by the current RTH gang; new efforts by old farts are to be considered; and Snyder is still nowhere to be found. Generally, I don’t agree with any of Snydes’ imput, but he’s an entertaining fellow. And for that matter, where’s Kev?
Huh?
E. Pluribus
Just on a side note, but looking at this clip, along with the interview, does E.C. look like he’s lost some weight?
TB
Gergs, a COP OUT is not a good start to your summertime visit to RTH. I know you won’t let me down when we get together next week.
Is it really necessary to go through the usual Costello RTH rigmarole? We all know how it will end: with several Townsmen comparing their Bruce Thomas boners. I see E. Pluribus is already reheating his tired, pissy, factually suspect, old-man-1981 schtick. Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean we have to go straight to reruns.
Come on Gergley!
People are still by Elvis Costello albums for chrissake! Someone needs to set these people straight. It’s not enough that they be told that they are wrong, this site needs someone to explain in no uncertain terms WHY they are wrong.
Snyder would have been an excellent person for the job but he’s still in self imposed exile, keeping himself busy by posting links to Billboard magazine.
Yours truly,
Jody Stephens
I buy Elvis Costello Cds for the same reason I TIVO Saturday Night Live every week (but rarely watch an entire show without fast forwarding). I like the premise, know the pay off will be below my expectations -but just can’t help myself. So then I go back to the original stuff to remind me why I cared in the first place.
epg sez:
Every source I have access to lists the composer of I Hope You’re Happy Now as E. Costello. My apologies in advance for introducing a fact into this discussion.
Jungleland, I like your analogy. The same could be said of anything with any degree of longevity. The olnger you hang around, the more hit or miss your products will be.
SNL, for me went through 3-4 stages: The first was the “golden era” of those first 4 or 5 seasons. Then Lorne Michaels left and we got Piscopo. Michaels came back and we got Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, and whoever. It was good again. That gave way to the mid-90s (Chris Elliott and Michael McKean) waning years. My point is this: The show cycles. I don’t even watch it anymore, but for no other reason than I don’t have the time.
I just think that history will judge the best art. I don’t think E.C. stopped being great by 1983. He may have stopped being relevent. Maybe he wasn’t as important to the direction of music. However, I will say that retained the ability to craft freat songs. Does his recent material compare to his earlier stuff? I don’t know. Is his new record going to hold a similar place in my heart as Get Happy? Maybe not. But, as I said, I like the new album. It has warranted some repeated enjoyable listens, which is not something I can say for alot of new music I’ve purchased (Tinted Windows). I’ll get back to you guys in a year or two and we’ll see if I’m still spinning it on a semi-regular basis (My guess is that I will be.). Only time can tell.
Like Jungleland, perhaps I’ve lowered my expectations, but I guess it makes it all worthwhile when it’s good.
TB
TB
Oates,
Know that I’m very disappointed at the changes I’ve been watching you go through. Where has my precious little lamb gone? This new “rougher than rough, tougher than tough, strong like lion, will of iron” thing has got to go. It just doesn’t suit you, Gentle Ben!
I had no intention of raking Costello over the coals again for the umpteenth time. I was just a little surprised that RTHers were still giving him the time of day. Jungleland2, by the way, should be applauded for the honesty of his post. I too have hung in there. I did it with Harrison’s solo LPs all the way up to “33 and 1/3”, despite the fact that everyone of them was a yawner.
Probably because of the AWOLing of Matthew Berlyant, I truly assumed that everyone’s stance on Costello was the same as Jimbo’s: “Enough already of looking for undigested kernels in Costello’s post Bedroom turds!” What looks and smells like shit at first glance doesn’t require a whole lot of intense investigative labor to figure out that the object in hand is indeed pure 100 percent unadulterated shit.
I’m not up here to cause trouble. I’m up here once again to get reacquainted with everyone. Everyone missed me, and I, in turn, missed them. It’s that simple.
If you want to think differently, go right ahead. That said, don’t count on any communication from me until my Gentle Ben returns.
Hurting,
E. Pluribus
e. plurbs,
summer’s here. let’s drink soon.
That’s a good idea. As a matter of fact that’s a really, really good idea. You name the time and place, and I’ll be there. We need time to slap each other on the back, to congratulate ourselves for our incredibly great taste in music and women (I’d put movies in there as well, but I can’t remember where you stand on a couple of key pictures).
And how about you, my man? Can you name a single slice of artistically successful cinema that features a majority of characters with southern accents? Again, a FREE VG- HOT TUNA LP is yours should you be able to name the one movie which makes me look like an ass.
Hoping to hear from you soon,
E. Pluribus
P.S. Moderator, at this time, it’s essential that you post the clip of Balin and Kanter doing their thing on that godawful subpar west coast public access channel show. Granted, it has very little to do with issues at hand, but like Snyder, it is indeed very entertaining.
E. Plurg,
Firstly, please remember: it’s Oats, not “Oates.” Hrrundi know why.
Anyway, I’m sorry if my tone offends you, but I really cannot abide another 1981/Bruce Thomas stroke-fest, and sometimes, as Michael O’Donoghue would say, “You’ve got to be cruel… in order to be even crueler.”
At this point, I’d rather have fresh opinions — even if they are analyzing new Costello albums I will never, ever listen to — rather than rehash old threads. Let’s get some new jokes in here!
Hey E. Pluribus! It was wonderful to see you the other weekend at Little Saigon. Our dinner was great but the show later was fairly awful sorry to say. Hope to see you again soon…
Oh, oKay…
Here goes: of the three posted trax, the third one is probably the only one I will keep on my iTunes. It jus’ all sounds so “Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?” to me. Like Elvis sat down & said, “Well, what style haven’t I attempted yet? Oh yah, I haven’t done a bluegrass album yet. Le’s do that!” Ugh. Sorry dude, but if’n I want to listen to Bluegrass, I’d much rather listen to the real thing, not Elvis’ approximation of it. And I’m also not sure if I need to hear a mandolin ever again. Seriously.
My personal demarcation line with Elvis is the Bacharach album. That was the last one I purchased. After being on the fence for most of his 90’s material, that one pushed me right over the edge.
I see a direct correlation between his learning music theory in the early 90’s, and a drop off in his music’s quality. I gave him the benefit of the doubt up until the Bacharach debacle.
As for those of you maligning “Imperial Bedroom,” WTF???? Talk about cotton in your ears. I gots to agree with Oats about 1981. Nothing sadder than a music-geek stuck in the past.
Sincerely,
–jeangray
Hello to you Mr. Clean,
Good seeing you as well! That restaurant, by the way, is a winner. Me and the ball and chain get take out there every two weeks or so. Cheap and delicious.
Refresh my memory about the Tower. Who was it that you saw that night?
Hope to hear from you soon,
e. Pluribus
Excuse us while we carry on a private conversation…
We’ve been going to Little Saigon in Upper Darby for about 17 years. The owner Edward caught us up on his daughter who we used to see doing her homework at the table by the cash register. She is now a doctor. And we are old.
The Tower that night featured the Decemberists – a band that I think is not particularly liked here in the halls? The wife and I are fans of the older earlier material and to be honest we don’t care for their new prog efforts. The latest release is a CD long story/opera told in 15 or 16 songs. The band is touring a show in 2 sets. The come out and play the whole new release for the first set – about 55 minutes of music. While an impressive technical feat, the material leaves me cold. The second set is older material but after their first set they seemed understandably tired…
Opening the show was another of our favorite artists who wasn’t even on the bill when we bought tickets – Robyn Hitchcock. He played a 45 minute set that was pretty good but I am now forever spoiled when seeing him in that we saw him and the Venus 3 at Johnny Brenda’s about 2 months ago in a very exciting and electric set in a very small venue…
C’est la vie
Thanks for the info, Mr. Clean.
The girl that you refer to who once completed her homework by the register has passed on her legacy to another girl who also completes her homework by the register. Is she a granddaughter of the owner?
I know nothing about the Decembrists. And as far as Robyn Hitchcock is concerned, all I know of his work are two songs that Jimbo put on a comp tape for me many moons ago: “Ted, Woody, and June” and something that began with the words “One by One”. I recall liking the songs a lot, but never bothered to do any further investigation. The ball and chain also turned me on to a song called “Trams of London”, which was much to my liking as well, sounding a lot like a Syd Barret sort of thing. Hitchcock recently had a cameo performance in “Rachel at the Wedding”, which I thought was great. I think I’m in the minority with that opinion.
Sorry that the evening at the Tower sucked. The last time I was at the Tower was for a Devo show, when the group was promoting the album which featured the “Whip It” single. Easily one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.
Hope all is well,
E. Pluribus
P.S. The legend of the Milkmen lives on. Old Milkmen LPs move faster than the speed of sound, especially the one with the big green alligator on the cover.