SOUND CHECK.ELVIS COSTELLO WITH THE METROPOLE ORKEST: ``My Flame Burns Blue'' (Deutsche Grammophon) - Three and one half stars How boring - another first-rate Costello album. This live package recorded in The Hague two years ago brings together previously unrecorded Costello numbers and some well-known titles in imaginative settings. Accompanied by long-standing keyboardist Steve Nieve and a full orchestra, Costello recasts the 14 songs as artful big-band/swing-jazz numbers. ``Clubland The term Clubland can refer to several different things: Places
The package, in stores Tuesday, also includes a bonus disc of a 46-minute suite from ``Il Sogno,'' Costello's score to an Italian dance adaptation of Shakespeare recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre. History . C'mon, Elvis, make a lousy album for a change. - Fred Shuster DR. JOHN: ``Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack - The Legendary Sessions Vol. 2'' (Clean Cuts) - Three and one haf stars Around 25 years ago, Rebennack, aka New Orleans gris-gris gris-gris n. Variant of grigri. man Dr. John, cut two spectacularly soulful solo piano discs that channeled thrilling Big Easy keyboard styles from Fats, Toussaint, Booker and Longhair longhair Generic term for any member of breeds of domestic cats noted for their long, soft, flowing coat. Longhair breeds include Balinese, Birman, Cymric, Himalayan, Javanese, Norwegian forest cat, Maine coon cat, Persian, Ragdoll, Somali, and Turkish Angora. . This welcome repackaging puts forth ``The Brightest Smile in Town,'' the second of those well-received efforts, with the addition of six extra tracks. The 18 funky instrumental and vocal tracks here cover blues, boogie-woogie and jazz standards with no overdubs, no voodoo and no frills. We love the gospel medley ``Just a Closer Walk with Thee/Didn't He Ramble,'' the monster ``Key to the Highway'' and the jaunty ``Your Average Kind of Guy'' - something this doctor could never be. - F.S. VARIOUS: ``A Tribute to Nicolette Larson: Lotta Love Concert'' (Rhino) - Three stars NICOLETTE LARSON: ``Live at the Roxy'' (Rhino Handmade) - Three stars Harmony singer Larson is best remembered for her version of Neil Young's ``Lotta Love,'' which she made into a soft-rock hit in 1979. She had a lovely, warm voice that epitomized Southern California's country-pop-rock vibe in the 1970s. After her untimely death in 1997,Larson's friends - Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and the like - gave two tribute concerts at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is a multipurpose convention center in Santa Monica, California. It was built in 1958. For trade shows, the Civic Auditorium features 11,775 square feet (1,094 m²) of space, while the stage adds 4,485 square feet (417 m²) more space, . The live disc, held up for years in legal wrangling, is finally here, and contains several beautiful moments, most notably Browne's heart-rending reading of ``For a Dancer'' and Emmylou Harris singing ``Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.'' The limited-edition Roxy disc is taken from a 1978 concert and only saw release as a promotional record. It captures Larson joyfully hopscotching through a variety of styles, comfortable and capable in each one. Available at rhinohandmade.com. - Glenn Whipp MARLEY'S GHOST: ``Spooked'' (Sage Arts) - Three and one half stars The cover art is by R. Crumb. Van Dyke Parks Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, and actor. His work spans six decades, and he has worked with luminaries from Grace Kelley to the Beach Boys and the Byrds. produced the disc and plays keyboards on a bunch of cuts. The band turns Pentecostal staple ``Old Time Religion'' into a pagan rave-up. Yup, Marley's Ghost couldn't be bigger hipster geeks if they tried. But their graying flower child eclecticism eclecticism, in art eclecticism (ĭklĕk`tĭsĭz'əm), art style in which features are borrowed from various styles. would just be a goof if this wasn't also a crack old-timey string band, great at harmonizing, phrasing and arranging everything from sea shanties to freedom hymns to yodeling yo·del v. yo·deled or yo·delled, yo·del·ing or yo·del·ling, yo·dels v.intr. To sing so that the voice fluctuates rapidly between the normal chest voice and a falsetto. v.tr. lullabies, with one of Bob Dylan's stranger chestnuts, ``The Wicked Messenger,'' tossed in for good measure. Or for nerdnik nirvana's sake. Whatever, they can make anything with frets sound lively and immediate no matter how studiedly archaic the material may be. - Bob Strauss RAY DAVIES: ``Other People's Lives'' - Three stars Being compared to yourself ain't easy. The best of this long-awaited solo album from the former Kinks frontman doesn't approach his best with that great band, but it's still pretty good. Songs like the spirited ``Run Away from Time'' or the cheerful ``Is There Life After Breakfast?'' deal positively with the boomer generation getting older. (He smartly stayed away from a remake called ``All Day and All of the Night on Viagra.'') There are memorable cutting personal observations, like the rock ballad ``Creatures of Little Faith.'' And you have to cheer Davies' wryly humorous social jabs, like ``Other People's Lives'' - on the inanity in·an·i·ty n. pl. in·an·i·ties 1. The condition or quality of being inane. 2. Something empty of meaning or sense. Noun 1. of our fascination with gossip, and ``Stand Up Comic'' - on what passes as humor these days (``The clown belches Belches may refer to:
v. To expel stomach gas noisily through the mouth; burp. back''). There are the familiar Kink kink n. 1. A tight curl, twist, or bend in a length of thin material. 2. A painful muscle spasm, as in the neck; a crick. 3. A mental peculiarity; a quirk. 4. elements of power chords, jangly adj. 1. like the discordant ringing of nonmusical metallic objects striking together; sounding with a jangle ; as, a custodian with a jangly set of keys s>. Adj. 1. guitars and horns on the arrangements, but it's Davies' warm and distinct voice we welcome back most. - Rob Lowman CAPTION(S): 6 photos Photo: (1) no caption (Elvis Costello) (2 -- 6) no caption (CD covers) |
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