{"id":1391,"date":"2008-04-24T10:46:01","date_gmt":"2008-04-24T14:46:01","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-12-16T01:29:28","modified_gmt":"2008-12-16T01:29:28","slug":"assisted-listen-elvis-costello-s-momofuk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/assisted-listen-elvis-costello-s-momofuk\/","title":{"rendered":"Assisted Listen: Elvis Costello&#8217;s Momofuku"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Circumstances of purchase:<\/strong> Having decided it was too hot to cook dinner, we went out to a dairy bar in Watertown that has the best hamburgers in the greater <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=boston_rock_s_most_fertile_journeyman_ci&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=boston_rock_s_most_fertile_journeyman_ci&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">Boston<\/a> metro area and some damn fine vanilla soft-serve. Afterwards, we went to the nearby <strong>Newbury Comics<\/strong> at Fresh Pond, where I purchased the LP and Charity got the two-disc deluxe edition of <em>Forever Changes<\/em>. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=is_it_really_time_i_revisit_love_s_lemgf&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=is_it_really_time_i_revisit_love_s_lemgf&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">(Suck it, Mod.)<\/a><\/p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AF1txVDFDck?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><p>Mood at time of first listen: Still full of excellent burger and soft-serve, and pleased that that screechy Irish girl was finally voted off <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=in_defense_of_american_idol&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=in_defense_of_american_idol&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">American Idol<\/a><\/em>.  Somewhat tired, but with a fair amount of work to do before I can go to sleep in good conscience.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Place of first listen:<\/strong> In the office, sitting at my desk.  Charity&#8217;s at her desk behind me, filing an invoice and looking at her nightly blogs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>While taking off the shrinkwrap:<\/strong> Cool, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=albums_that_were_adversely_affected_by_r&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=albums_that_were_adversely_affected_by_r&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">gatefold<\/a>.  Can&#8217;t even remember the last time I saw a gatefold LP cover &#8212; even back in the &#8217;80s, they started just shoving both discs in a single sleeve.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On opening the package:<\/strong> Oh, it&#8217;s like <strong>PiL<\/strong>&#8216;s <em>Metal Box<\/em>. Two discs, three songs per side.  I would have preferred a single disc, but that&#8217;s just the purist in me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best line in liner notes:<\/strong> &#8220;This album has no connection with the restaurants of the same name, but Elvis Costello does recommend their cooking.&#8221;  There was a profile of the chef who owns Momofuku, David Chang, in the <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/reporting\/2008\/03\/24\/080324fa_fact_macfarquhar\" title=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/reporting\/2008\/03\/24\/080324fa_fact_macfarquhar\">New Yorker<\/a><\/em> a few weeks ago.  Honestly, even by chef standards, he came off like a major-league dick.  I do hear the restaurants are good, though.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On taking out the first disc:<\/strong> There&#8217;s a cardboard stencil.  I am so doing this.  There&#8217;s stenciled graffiti all over my neighborhood, and I suspect this is just going to confuse people.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On placing the disc on the turntable:<\/strong> Good heavy vinyl.  180-gram at least.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<em><strong>Side one:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;No Hiding Place&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; Wait.  This is really good.  I wasn&#8217;t really expecting that. (<em>Charity:<\/em> &#8220;This is really old-school.  But not like he&#8217;s trying to sound like his old records or something.&#8221;)  <\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;American Gangster Time&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; Well, surely a song with a title like that is going to be a waster.  Hm&#8230;no, actually, again, this is kinda awesome.  Great garagey organ line. (<em>Charity:<\/em> &#8220;I am really enjoying this.&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Turpentine&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; (Charity, on hearing the opening tribal-style drums: &#8220;This sounds weirdly like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=workin_overtime_or_acquired_taste&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=workin_overtime_or_acquired_taste&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">Kate Bush<\/a>.&#8221;) See, had this been on anything from <em>Spike<\/em> onwards, this would have been a giant, overproduced mess.  But here it sounds more like, say, <strong>XTC<\/strong>&#8216;s &#8220;Travels In Nihilon&#8221;: ambitious, but on enough of a shoestring that it doesn&#8217;t sound bloated.  I&#8217;m thinking this much-publicized strategy of recording and mixing the album inside a week actually might be salutary to the man&#8217;s creativity.<\/p>\n<p>(<em>Charity:<\/em> &#8220;Okay, as much as I&#8217;m liking this, I&#8217;ve been up since 4:00 am. Good night. Play the rest of this for me tomorrow night.&#8221;)<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mInALQd-6OY?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\n<em><strong>Side two:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Harry Worth&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; Okay, I&#8217;m officially on the bus with this album.  There&#8217;s a vague &#8217;50s noir soundtrack feel here, a la <em>Touch of Evil<\/em>, but rather than directly try to emulate or recreate that sound (as he would have on other records), the arrangement does nothing more than suggest it through a slinky beat and an old-fashioned organ part.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Drum and Bone&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; First song so far that doesn&#8217;t really move me, but it&#8217;s inoffensive.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Flutter and Wow&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; Fairly basic soft rock ballad in the &#8217;70s Asylum Records mold.  If <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=cat_power_is_the_new_linda_rondstadt&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=cat_power_is_the_new_linda_rondstadt&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">Linda Ronstadt<\/a> was still covering Elvis Costello songs, she&#8217;d for sure do this one.  The liners say <strong>David Hidalgo<\/strong> of <strong>Los Lobos<\/strong> is playing the guitar, and he&#8217;s doing a really weird Eno-esque thing with the guitar part, which I suspect is basically nothing but some sot of effect pedal with the direct signal mixed out.  A shout of &#8220;To the bridge!&#8221; that doesn&#8217;t sound like an affectation &#8212; I think he really was directing the band there.  If this was one one LP like it should be, that would be a fine side-closer.<\/p>\n<p><em>(A brief break to kiss my wife goodnight and play with the cats, who are all sprawled over my side of the bed, directly in front of the window fan.)<\/em><br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Br5B2ZaO79E?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\n<strong>Side three:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Stella Hurt&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; Good fuzztone.  Ooh, excellent compressed piano sound. Crap lyrics (the chorus starts &#8220;don&#8217;t bring me down\/I&#8217;m trouble bound&#8221;), but an excellent groove. Kickass underwater-Duane-Eddy guitar solo courtesy of a <strong>Danelectro<\/strong> baritone guitar and our friend the wah-wah pedal. Razor cut ending.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Mr. Feathers&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; Backwards tapes into a McCartney-style psychedelic-music-hall tune.  Many reviewers are almost certainly going to call this the worst song on the album, but I&#8217;ve always liked this sort of thing, which EC has done surprisingly little of in his career given all his interest in stylistic exercises, and this is a fine example of the form.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;My Three Sons&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; I think I disagree with the sequencing here.  Following &#8220;Mr. Feathers&#8221; as it does, this sounds a bit treacly in a way it might not if it was somewhere else.  Nice little ballad, regardless.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AZ_aOk2NY_k?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\n<strong>Side four:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Song With Rose&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; As in <strong>Roseanne Cash<\/strong>, who co-wrote the lyrics.  Vaguely &#8220;country&#8221; sounding, in that there&#8217;s a steel guitar, but again, there&#8217;s no sense that he&#8217;s trying to do a country song.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Pardon Me, Madam, My Name Is Eve&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; Co-writer this time is <strong>Loretta Lynn<\/strong>, but there is no country whatsoever in this tune, which is mostly based on <strong>Steve Nieve<\/strong> playing a clavinet. Weirdly, it&#8217;s reminding me a bit of <strong>Lambchop<\/strong> in how the various instruments are layered, and that&#8217;s no bad thing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Go Away&#8221;<\/strong> &#8212; Bad ending to an album I&#8217;m pretty enthusiastic about.  Kind of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=keepin_the_faith_thorogood_as_rock_s_sac&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=keepin_the_faith_thorogood_as_rock_s_sac&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">tossed-off bar-band jam<\/a>.  Meh.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overall assessment:<\/strong> quite positive, overall.  A few weaker songs, but they&#8217;re in the minority, and the overall decision not to do a themed album like so many of his more recent projects was a smart one.  Best album since?  Probably <em>The River In Reverse<\/em>, actually.  I really liked that one.<\/p>\n<p><ins>For more on <em>Momofuku<\/em>, click <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/2008\/04\/28\/mo-elvis-costello-s-lemgmomofukul-emg\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/ins><\/p>\n<nav class=\"page-links\"><strong>Pages:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/assisted-listen-elvis-costello-s-momofuk\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">1<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/assisted-listen-elvis-costello-s-momofuk\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">2<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/assisted-listen-elvis-costello-s-momofuk\/3\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">3<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/assisted-listen-elvis-costello-s-momofuk\/4\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">4<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/assisted-listen-elvis-costello-s-momofuk\/5\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">5<\/span><\/a><\/nav>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Circumstances of purchase: Having decided it was too hot to cook dinner, we went out to a dairy bar in Watertown that has the best hamburgers in the greater Boston metro area and some damn fine vanilla soft-serve. Afterwards, we went to the nearby Newbury Comics at Fresh Pond, where I purchased the LP and <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/assisted-listen-elvis-costello-s-momofuk\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[10,65,99],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}