22nd July - Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True

Artist – Album: Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True

Released:  22^nd July 1977

Sounds Like: Elvis is king

With my debit card in the ticket machine at Oxford Road on Saturday afternoon, approximately five minutes before my train was due to leave for Liverpool, I drew an inopportune but unshakeable blank. I hadn’t the foggiest what my pin number was, and after three clueless attempts at guessing it, my card was securely locked. Ironically, a large portion of the blame for my monumental brain freeze can be ascribed to the scorching heat, but, without a doubt, another contributing factor was Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True – a record I had playing through my headphones at the time and had crooned its way to my full and undivided attention. 

The album, Costello’s first, is a masterclass in pub rockery. It’s no exaggeration to say that Costello is one of the finest singer-songwriters this country has ever produced, and his idiosyncratic penmanship and cynical quippery is well evident even at this early stage. ‘Welcome to the Working Week’ gets us started perfectly: in less than a minute and a half, Elvis hammers through an insanely catchy punk rock melody, memorable chorus and sneeringly brilliant lyrics. From the exquisite ballad ‘Alison’ to the jilted pop of ‘(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes’ (featuring the immortal line “I said ‘I’m so happy I could die’, she said ‘drop dead’ and ran off with another guy”), the album is peppered with literate punk and new wave highlights.

‘Less Than Zero’ stands as the best track on the album, but it could have been even better – the US version also included the dark, reggae-tinged ‘Watching the Detectives’. Had that have been included, this would have been a nail on ten out of ten. As it is, it’s still a well-earned nine.

Albumaday... rating: 9/10

1.       Welcome to the Working Week – 1:22

2.       Miracle Man – 3:31

3.       No Dancing – 2:39

4.       Blame It on Cain – 2:49

5.       Alison – 2:54

6.       Sneaky Feelings – 2:09

7.       (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes – 2:47

8.       Less Than Zero – 3:15

9.       Mystery Dance – 1:38

10.   Pay It Back – 2:33

11.   I’m Not Angry – 2:57

12.   Waiting for the End of the World – 3:22

Listen to ‘Less Than Zero’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHQK3yo9CBA

Also released on the 22^nd July:

1974: Stevie Wonder – Fulfillingness’ First Finale

Also released on the 22^nd July:

2008: Dr. Dog - Fate

15th Feb - Elvis Costello & the Attractions' Get Happy!!

Artist – Album: Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Get Happy!!

Released:  15^th February 1980    

Sounds Like: Driving soul and R&B through a New Wave filter

So, for 46 days now I’ve been listening to a different album and blogging about it, and it has, for the most part, been pretty cool. To be perfectly honest though, it ain’t always easy to find the time to sit down and give the music your full attention and then bother to write a couple of semi-interesting (ha!) paragraphs about it. This is especially true on Fridays, cos I just wanna get druuuunk! With that in mind, I thought I’d give you a little insight into how I give each record a whirl (which should be quicker than a regular review!):

·   Ages ago - Gave both this and The Ruby Sun’s Fight Softly one evaluative hearing to decide which I’d rather try again. The latter fought a little too softly. Get Happy!! won hands down.

·   7.45 this morning – Banged the album on while I got ready for work. Found myself dancing to ‘The Imposter’ in the shower. Enjoyed ‘New Amsterdam’ whilst cleaning my teeth. These are good signs.

·   6pm this evening – Got home from work. Decided to drink ginger beer and play Mario Kart 64 with my friend, and try the album once more. ‘Human Touch’ had her foot tapping. She didn’t seem interested by my story about how Costello wrote this collection of Motown, soul and R&B type songs to make up for insulting icons like Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles though. I won at Mario Kart.

·   45 minutes later – We just played it through right again. She sang along to ‘Opportunity’. I noted that ‘Secondary Modern’ and ‘Men Called Uncle’ are incredible songs. I’m so much better than her at Mario Kart.

·   An hour later – Ate some pizza. Although the album is a hit with me, I found it hard to write about. She told me to say it’s good to play Mario Kart to.

·   20 minutes after that – I’m done... nnnnnnoooow.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       Love for Tender – 1:57

2.       Opportunity – 3:13

3.       The Imposter – 1:58

4.       Secondary Modern – 1:58

5.       King Horse – 3:01

6.       Possession – 2:03

7.       Men Called Uncle – 2:17

8.       Clowntime Is Over – 2:59

9.       New Amsterdam – 2:12

10.   High Fidelity – 2:28

11.   I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down – 2:06

12.   Black & White World – 1:56

13.   5ive Gears in Reverse – 2:38

14.   B Movie – 2:04

15.   Motel Matches – 2:30

16.   Human Touch – 2:30

17.   Beaten to the Punch – 1:49

18.   Temptation – 2:33

19.   I Stand Accused – 2:21

20.   Riot Act – 3:35

Listen to ‘New Amsterdam’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZFcHF-wjBA

Also released on the 15^th February:

2010: The Ruby Suns – Fight Softly