My Amazon Reviews: Elvis Costello and The Roots "Wise Up Ghost

DNA Splicing
4 Out Of 5 Stars

"Wise Up Ghost." In which two of the music world's encyclopedic nerds play with Costello's past and Questlove's concepts of pop and funk. Musically it is a fascinating record, with the two of them combining bits of Elvis' older tunes with deeply funked out basslines, boiling things to a rare essence; the songs that equal or surpass the originals.

For example, just as deep as the second song, sample lyrics from "Sweet Underground" and "Hurry Down Doomsday" are tangled together to create "Sugar Won't Work." Or how "Stick Out Your Tongue" rewrites "Pills and Soap," one of Costello's angriest protest songs. Which is something else to note about "Wise Up Ghost." The Roots place a lot of dark menace into songs that weren't as sinister as they were when they started out life.

Even the samples spin things around. The tinkling piano of "Satellite" tease "Tripwire" into a more spooky area, along with the subject matter. Questlove and Elvis don't just stick with the lyrical cut and pasting, songs are pulled into the sampler like "Satellite," as well as "Radio Silence" on the (bonus track version) "Can You Hear Me."

It's not like Elvis hasn't explored collaborations and re-visiting before. This comes closer to "The River In Reverse," with Allen Toussaint and the roaring Stax romp of "Get Happy" than other Costello works, while The Roots bring out the moments when Costello becomes more a sublime singer, even though there's more than a little menace to the demanding title track or "Stick Out Your Tongue." "Wise Up Ghost" may sound like a mismatch of talents, but The Roots make this album into one of Costello's most interesting in a long time.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Elvis Costello "The Spectacular Spinning Songbook - Live!"

One raucous and noisy show from Napoleon Dynamite
3 Out Of 5 Stars 

On his latest live excessive exercise, Elvis Costello and his Imposters (Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher) haul out The Spectacular Spinning Songbook. Costello has done variations of this format before, where an audience member spins the wheel and a random song will come up (or when I saw it, the pulled and 'arrow' from a broken heart that had a song attached), and the band tears into the random selections. It makes for a fun show, with oddities appearing, some of Costello's favorite oldies (in this show, Nick Lowe's "Heart of The City" and The Rolling Stones' "Out of Time") making appearances. Even better, for me, anyhow, is Costello going all torch singer on "God Give Me Strength."

Problem is, it makes for performances of varying quality. In this case, the sound was the victim. The concert is a noisy, raucous affair with the distorted sound of a decent bootleg. While this may annoy many audiophiles, it just makes the show more fun to me. In my opinion, the quality of "Songbook" betters that of the classic "El Macambo" set from the late 70's that many hold to be classic. Just a mater of tastes, and in my taste, hearing Susanna Hoffs come up to knock out the Bangles' version of EC's "Doll Revolution" made this worth the cost.

   

My Amazon Reviews: Moon Martin "Escape From Domination"

Escape from Obscurity
4 Out Of 5 Stars

John "Moon" Martin earned his recording contract the old fashioned way; he duked it out in several unsuccessful bands (even releasing albums with a group called Southwind), got his songs placed with prominent artists like Mink Deville and Robert Palmer, and finally found his moment. Unfortunately, he never got the huge break his songs were worthy of. This reissue is the only time any of his solo albums have made it to single CD (and his remaining three Capitol albums "Street Fever," "Mystery Ticket" and "Shots from A Cold Nightmare," are are listed as coming soon on this CD's advertisement slip sleeve. one can hope!) and "Escape From Domination" was his finest hour.

In fact, his best known song and sole top 40 single, "Rolene" (Billbaord #30) is also here. Martin's interesting style, sort of a New-Wave Buddy Holly with rockabilly leanings and a keen sense of pop, is at its best here. "Escape" was produced sparingly by Craig Leon (The Ramones, Willie Alexander), with a live feel. It makes the AC/DC chords that open "Rolene" kind of surprising (albeit not as loud as the Aussies, but still rocking) and the brevity of the songs - all hovering around the 3:30 mark - expected. Rachel Sweet, once being groomed as a New Wave Linda Ronstadt, chose "I've Got a Reason" for all these reason. Sweet, stark and hooky, Martin should have had substantially bigger success.

"Escape" is also darker and more fleshed out, production-wise, than the debut. His steady touring band, The Ravens, gave the LP a tight sound. Other than the addition of new-wavey synths, the sound and songs are similar to the debut. (In addition, one of my fave artists, Jude Cole - "A View from 3rd Street" - was a bandmate.) Martin's appearance (think of John Denver crossed with Elvis Costello) was also attracting attention, making some of the edgier songs ("I've Got A Reason" and "Bootleg Woman") garner positive comparisons to the likes of EC and Nick Lowe. It made me wish Lowe had been at the boards for a Martin CD...now that would have been a match! As it stands, Moon Martin is an interesting cult item, one that I won't part with (and my autographed "Street Fever" letter is a prized possession). Now that you can find this (and I hope, the rest of his OOP catalog soon!) grab one.

   

My Amazon Reviews: Scott Wilk and The Walls

Like Uranium Dynamite
4 Out Of 5 Stars

In 1980, the long lamented progressive rock station Starview 92 in Harrisburg/York started playing a great new wave ditty called "Radioactive." As a huge fan of Elvis Costello and The Attractions, I was trying to figure out why I hadn't heard this song on any EC album or B-Side. The answer was simple: the band was from Chicago. Scott Wilk and The Walls released this lost New Wave rave-up in the year of "Armed Forces" and did their utmost to pass him/themselves off as an American Elvis. The cover art screams 80's and the back cover photo of Wilk, wearing goofy glasses with the rest of the band in tight, fishbowl style close-up did nothing to deter the "Armed Forces" allusions. One thing, though. "Scott Wilk and The Walls" was a darn good album.

In addition to the previously mentioned "Radioactive," there was "Suspicion," a pure EC piece of paranoia that also picked up some localized airplay and even had a video made around it. Wilk's keyboards as sophisticated and nervy, there's a dark sense of humor that runs through many of the songs. Joe Jackson even gets a nod on "Instant This, Instant That," and producer Michael Omartian lays down a nifty piano solo on the final song, "Shadow Box Love." Yes, for those of you who follow such things, the same Michael Omartian who the same year delivered Christopher Cross's cheesy debut delivered a production job here worthy of Nick Lowe.

However, Chicago and Central PA must have been Wilk's lone pockets of fandom, as the debut stiffed commercially, and an argument with management and record label left Scott Wilk and The Walls high and dry, even with a large chunk of songs ready for a follow-up. (You can find these for download as "The Lost Session.") For those of us that can't get enough of the prime skinny tie new wave that was embodied by "This Year's Model" or "Look Sharp," "Scott Wilk and The Walls" is an absolute must. I've been waiting for this one myself a long time.

   

Elvis Costello and...Elmo! Happy Haloween

My Amazon Reviews: The Clash "London Calling"

Phony Beatlemania Has Bitten The Dust
5 Out Of 5 Stars

"London Calling" is one of those albums that changed all the rules for rock at the time. Filled to the brim as a double album, The Clash insisted that it be sold at a single album price. While the first two albums slipped between sloppy but angry punk and the second tried oh-so-hard to come off as a clean, big rock record, "London Calling" threw the rules and pretense out the window and let their freak flag fly. There was the blistering hard rock of the title track and "Clampdown," the reggae of "Rudy Can't Fail" and "Jimmy Jazz," the pop of "Train In Vain" and "Lover's Rock."

Above all, they decided that all their idealism was for real. The Clash directed their passion into both the music and the politics of the songs, making rabble-rousers like "Clampdown" and "The Guns Of Brixton" into fire-breathers. Their fascination with early American rock lead to a roaring cover of "Brand New Cadillac." The album was loaded with attempts to break boundaries at every opportunity, and succeeded at almost every shot. Even some of the dopier numbers ("Lost In The Supermarket" or "Death or Glory") don't detract from the album's power.

"London Calling" was a perfectly articulated - if raggedly punky - shout at the frustration that gave birth to the punk scene. Joe Strummer and Mick Jones wanted the whole rock packages; they wanted to be outlaws and revolutionary stars. "London Calling" was the best they ever managed at being that band.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Graham Parker "Imaginary Television"

Channel Changers
3 Out Of 5 Stars



It's been over 20 years since Graham Parker has managed to chart an album on the American top 200, yet the man has been building a steady and sturdy body of work now since "Struck By Lightning" squeaked onto the charts in 1991. Like many of his fellow pub rockers from the period, like Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello, Parker has mellowed with age, but not gone dull. "Imaginary Television" finds Parker playing a game where he invents his own Television network and writes themes for the shows he dreams up. Instead of a lyric sheet, Parker comes up with a synopsis of each show and tart mini-reviews.

The music? Parker can still turn as clever a phrase as ever, but his music now is more folk-rock than pub-rock. His voice is still hardy and gruff, suiting the temper of his selections. "Weather Report" is the closest thing to an electric song here, and one of many character sketches Parker places through the album. Best of the bunch is the sardonic "It's My Party (But I Won't Cry)," which both nods to Leslie Gore and Parker's longevity as an artist. Even the lone cover, of Johnny Nash's "More Questions Than Answers," lopes along on an easy reggae groove.

I'm also partial to the album's closer, "First Responder," about a Dad who tells his kid that Pops'll be there no matter what. Even if the kid's gonna get a 'box your ears till your head comes loose' comeuppance from the old man. It's a fun song and actually has a sweet center, despite the lyrical twists. It's just one more reason why, to his loyal legion of fans that have been picking up the occasional Parker CD since he went independent (on the terrific "12 Haunted Episodes" in 1995), you'll never walk away with a let-down.