Q review of North

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 2:38 pm

Q , October 2003.
-------------------------------------------------------
P.103.
Elvis Costello

North
Deutsche Gramaphon

*** ( three `stars` ` Good . Not for
everyone, but fine within it`s field`)

This time he`s in smoky balladeer mode.

The days when Elvis Costello albums marked the
bench for contemporary British pop are receding from
memory. Now devoted to boutique "projects" , the
48-year-old seems content to flutter between genres ,
his songwriting muse distinctly muted. Which is not to
say North , 11 discreetly arranged and tremulously
sung piano ballads , is anything but accomplished.
Fans of Costello`s Burt Bacharach collaborations will
revel in the elegant melodic gearshifts of You Turned
To Me , while champions of his classical dalliances
will welcome the return of the Brodsky Quartet on the
poignant Still. All very creditable though , for a man
who once oozed vitriol , a tad bloodless.

David Sheppard

-------------------------------------------------------

The same issue of Q has a half page ad.
for North (P.129) , featuring a detail from the sleeve
, a miniature of the album sleeve and the text

`a collection of 11 brand new love songs from the
master of songwriting. includes bonus track
`Impatience`

Bonus Limited Edition DVD available including
videos for `Fallen`, `North` and `Still`. `

Brief details of his U.K. tour dates (Glasgow
, Newcastle and London) finish the ad.

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 2:44 pm

"...his songwriting muse distinctly muted"

Ouch! Talk about damning with faint praise. NORTH is great songwriting, in my opinion. Eejits...

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 2:49 pm

Here`s a more sympathetic review that appeared on Amazon.

see
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 40-5226811
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rich Red Wine, 11 August, 2003
Reviewer: elrickinslayer from Cremorne, Australia
I have been lucky enough to listen to this CD several times over the past week and I have cherished every moment. I am a big Elvis Costello fan and whilst I dont always love his music at first, I find that eventually I grow to love it, seeing the depth and the magic he imbues into the words and notes.

This is a beautiful, simple CD taking advantage of the excellent quality of Elvis' voice and Steve Nieve's piano skills. No distortion or cat-calls here. Elvis Costello has said that he wanted to create music you could listen to from 20 feet away and this is exactly what you get. I can imagine the soulful manner in which Elvis has sung all of these songs when I listen to it.

This is a thoughtful, sincere Elvis harking back to Painted from Memory. If you liked Painted from Memory you will love this. If you are an Elvis fan and his chameleon like musical abilities, you will love this. If you like music like a good rich, red wine of substance you will love this CD. However if you are looking for the Angry Young Man (will he every lose this moniker?), you will be disappointed.

Your music collection will be better off for having this exquisite CD.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:31 pm

Related question (re: "angry young man" moniker):

Is the Billy Joel song of the same name in any way related to EC? I don't know when that song came out. Anyone know?

Jackson Doofster · Post by **Jackson Doofster** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:54 pm

I hate wanky reviews like this. You know what I mean ?? Those "Elvis Costello albums used to be important but they're not anymore" type reviews.

It pisses me off because they are the same bastards who would slagged him off for the retro aspects of Brutal Youth. They built him up, they'll knock him down. The British music press sucks.

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:54 pm

I'd venture to say that BJ song is circa '75 or '76, so no. But memory fails me often! Easily checked though, of course.

The comparison to a good red wine is a good one. Yummy.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 5:58 pm

I was hugely disappointed by that tedious review (I still haven't got round to cancelling my subscription...). Was more encouraged by the four stars they gave Reality, and of course was in heaven with the fun photos accompanying the Kate Moss/Bowie interview. Talking of cliched angles, why do so many Bowie interviews/articles focus exclusively on the 70s? He was quite ready to talk about sex and drugs, which is still interesting as he makes good copy (and, with Noise in mind, he pooh-poohed the idea that drugs = good music, citing Let's Dance as an example of a drug-informed work that 'many people would say wasn't my best album'!), but why was there nothing about where he's at now and how this album came about after Heathen. Oh well, will make do with the photos. Great cover on the magazine, it must be said (a naked Moss clinging onto a divine and stunningly youthful Dave).

DrJ · Post by **DrJ** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 7:21 pm

After 14 years of religiously buying Q every month I stopped this year shortly after the Courtney Love issue 200. I think it's unbeliveably duff. The reviews have become shockingly dire. What's the point af boasting about 200 Reviews!!! on the cover when they're only 50 words long. I buy Uncut/Mojo/Word now.

Although Bowie's on the cover of the new Q.

DrJ

Sour Milk Cow · Post by **Sour Milk Cow** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:00 pm

Jackson Doofster wrote:I hate wanky reviews like this. You know what I mean ?? Those "Elvis Costello albums used to be important but they're not anymore" type reviews.

Q used to be a magazine that really supported Costello, up until ATUB in 1996. Even Kojak Variety warrented an interview feature, and all that year he was regularly mentioned in various small articles. Then, when ATUB came out, Q barely even mentioned it. They didn't even include WIWC in their top 50 albums of last year, which is pretty dismal, to say the least.

Really, NORTH shouldn't even be reviewed in Q-- it's not their kind of music.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:24 pm

Otis,

I would be one of the many people who say it's not his best album.

But it's damn good.

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 6:20 am

Dr J writes-

-After 14 years of religiously buying Q every month I stopped this year shortly after the Courtney Love issue 200. I think it's unbeliveably duff. The reviews have become shockingly dire. What's the point af boasting about 200 Reviews!!! on the cover when they're only 50 words long. I buy Uncut/Mojo/Word now. -

Have to agree , J . Fortunately since I sell the wretched thing in my shop I can merely glance through it and extract info.. I`m extra concious of how good it used to be since I recently boxed up nearly 10 years of back issues - c.1988- 99 - to clear some space. Now it is so lame and corporate. Funny how Elvis with a half page ad. gets an iffy review wheras they slobber all over Bowie and , guess what , his record company coughed up for a full page , colour ad. . Not related , of course!

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 12:30 pm

As someone who occasionally plays the critic game, I try not to dismiss people just because I disagree with their conclusions. I try to judge people on their thought process and how they express it.

However, I do see -- and not only in England -- a lot of "pack journalism" in these reviews. I.e., the conventional wisdom on EC (and lots of other artists) is that they did their best work on their first few albums. So, it's safer for them to sort of follow along. You can see it in the sort of dog-pile phenomon on "Gigli" -- the badness of the movie was almost secondary as too many critics used it as safe place to spew some venom and get some good jokes out.

Of course, they may just be more comfortable with rock and roll. We're all the prisoners of our own predilections. I love it when EC does stuff like PFM (haven't heard "North" yet) -- of course, the fact that I was a reactionary little boy who didn't take to rock and roll until discovering my sister's Beatles collection at age 11 and who was steeped in show tunes, standards and Bacharach during my pre-teen years MIGHT have a little something to do with that.

Also, it is true that sometimes "editorial policies" can affect these things. Sadly, haven't had much experience with off-line magaizines that pay actual money, but I was told several years ago by a now fairly well known L.A. film/pop music critic that he'd been given a record to review at a major magazine (I'm not saying it's "Rolling Stone", but I'm not saying it ain't!) and been told, "We like this album," before he had heard one note.

DrJ · Post by **DrJ** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 1:22 pm

It's funny that when Word came out 8 months ago, put together by all the old Q crew, they put him on the second cover and have featured him every month in little news articles. Word seems to be, quite explicitly, a riposte to what they've done to Dave Hepworth's original Q. Your synopsis is right John, Q was very EC-friendly and I remember when ATUB came out they just had a small Q&A with the man on the backpage, which seemed odd. Mojo had a great interview at that time, which I think was done by Hepworth too.

As a not entirely unrelated point, I think the britpop period c1993-1997, stole a certain cultural zeitgeist away from people like Costello and Morrissey, although EC has weathered it ok because (a) he doesn't care (b) he actually kept making some brilliant records (c) He's actually big in America, he really is, that keeps you afloat. Brutal Youth was the last EC album which hit the radars of the media (cover of NME, ferchrissakes).

Discuss.

DrJ