While listening to (what else) Elvis Costello and The Attractions’ Get Happy!! on New Year’s Eve I pinpointed exactly what made the greatest of that great string of the band’s albums: Nick Lowe’s production. And it’s not so much what he did technically – the drum sound, the choice use of effects, the mic choice – but how he decided to capture the band for each album: that is, he captured the sound of the band. All the Lowe productions through Trust feature the full sound of both EC and The Attractions. The style of music is in no way similar, but scope is similar to what was captured on albums by The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and so many more great albums that I’d sound even more cliched and pathetic by listing them.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions w/Martin Belmont (w/o Steve Nieve), "Little Sister" (Live at the Hope & Anchor)
Imperial Bedroom has the same type of open scope, allowing for the listener to chooose to focus on any one of the instruments. Of course that album was produced by a Beatles’ engineer. Compare the Lowe-produced Costello albums and Imperial Bedroom with all the rest: Costello’s voice way out front and the rest of the musicians kind of canned in the background. On albums like Punch the Clock and Spike I might as well have been listening to Elvis Costello and The Association. The best of the non-Lowe-produced bunch, King of America, also sticks the musicians under glass. Quick: Name your favorite lick in a song from King of America.
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New Year’s Day…Philly style!
I hope you play along with 2007’s final edition of Dugout Chatter. If you don’t know how it works, just share your gut answers to the following questions and you can’t go wrong!
What band or album that you’d previously not cared for or got finally hit you in 2007? In other words, what was your most significant “rock conversion moment” of the year?
I’m trying to remember the name of a 1-hit wonder circa 1980 who was formerly a roadie for The Who. I seem to recall an American flag guitar and a gray pompadour. I’m almost certain it’s not Jon Butcher Axis I have in mind. Who is this artist whose name I cannot remember?
Solo or coda?
Here’s one for the musicians (of any ilk – don’t be unnecessarily humble): When you’re being introduced to a new song by a songwriter, what parts of the song and/or which fellow musician do you typically key in on?
How long of an instrumental intro to a song should be allowed before the song has to “declare” itself an instrumental? Think of Television’s “Little Johnny Jewel”, for instance: by the time the vocals enter, do you think to yourself, “Why bother?”
What’s your favorite song by a fictional band?
What musician’s onstage beverage most recently made you sit up and take notice?
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There’s a lot of music I don’t like – and damming faults that I find with a range of artists, but while deciding to look into whatever became of Billy Squier, I stumbled across what might be the worst song in the history of rock. Perhaps some of you know it, “Lady With a Tenor Sax”, a collaboration between Squier and Freddie Mercury.
What the hell motivated this? How much coke must these guys have done before lowering their inhibitions enough to crank out something this lame? If the song itself isn’t bad enough, try reading through the lyrics. Continue reading »
One of the many super powers yielded by your very own The Back Office is the ability to review the internet search terms that resulted in hits to this digital rock refuge of ours. Sadly, it wasn’t until I started to put this together that I found out that the system only archives the previous 623 search terms, which isn’t even two weeks worth.
But still, here’s a choice selection from the previous 623:
One year comes to a close, another is about to begin. Let’s hear your 2008 Rock Prognostications. Here are a few of my own:
I look forward to your own prognostications.
