Tampa Calling

For the last dozen or so years, Elvis Costello has switched genres like he was trying on shirts at the outlet mall: orchestral works, New Orleans R&B with Allen Toussaint, stately ballads with Swedish messo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter, a writing collaboration with Burt Bacharach and a jazz summit with Bill Frisell. He even managed to squeeze in a bit of rock ‘n’ roll.

While his musical bed-hopping sounds like fun, it has served to render his artistic vision a bit fuzzy. The “what will Costello come up with next?” question started to grow tiresome a few outings ago.

Which brings us to Secret, Profane & Sugarcane — his first for Starbucks’ Hear Music imprint — wherein he calls on producer T Bone Burnett and gets the full-on T Bone treatment. Yup, acoustic guitar, Dobro, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass, banjo, accordion, mountain music arrangements, the tunes configured into contemporary takes old-timey Americana (matched by the CD packaging).

You may recall that Burnett was at the helm for Robert Plant and Allison Krauss’ Raising Sand, a serendipitous convergence of talent that went Grammy wild. Read the rest of this entry »

VINYL:

311 – Uplifter
Free 7″ w/ purchase at Vinyl Fever (while supplies last)!

Amadou & Mariam – Welcome To Mali (2LP w/bonus CD)
Pressed on 140-gram vinyl.

Beck – One Foot in the Grave 2xLP
Expanded 15th anniversary edition of the 1994 album includes 16 bonus tracks (13 of them previously unreleased).

Ryan Bingham – Roadhouse Sun
Produced by Marc Ford, formerly of The Black Crowes.

Delaney & Bonnie & Friends – On Tour with Eric Clapton

J Dilla - J Stay Paid

Faces - A Nod Is as Good As A Wink… To a Blind Horse

Lee Fields and the Expressions – My World
Lee Fields is a bona-fide, 100%, unadulterated, pure, gut-bucket soul singer. Click for more.

Franz Ferdinand – Blood
Upon completion of Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, the album’s co-producer, Dan Carey, began to conduct a dub experiment with the tracks. Carey’s own experience included an apprenticeship of sorts with legendary South London dub specialist The Mad Professor. And thusly, Blood was born. Comprised of eight radical revisions from Franz Ferdinand’s third album, and a bonus ninth track, “Be Afraid.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Thermals

I flew into La Guardia on Saturday January 31st at about 2pm. The temperature was in the mid to upper 20s and slowly dropping. The Thermals were playing a late show at The Bell House in Brooklyn. How cold was it going to be when the show started at 11pm? I didn’t care. I was in New York and was going to catch The Thermals play a one-off show before jumping the pond to the U.K. for a small tour. Read the rest of this entry »

The Police are revisiting the Sunshine State — but not Tampa again. Sting & co. will perform at the Amway Center in Orlando on May 16 and at Cruzan (formerly Sound Advice) Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach on May 17. Elvis Costello & The Imposters open both dates.

Photo credit: Jeff Kravitz/Film Magic.

The idea of seeing Costello again excites me more than catching the much ballyhooed Police reunion tour. Sting’s voice has always grated me. Most of his lyrics, too. Just saying.

Ticket info:

Tickets for the North American concert dates will again be scaled at $225.00, $90.00 and $50.00 in most markets (plus applicable service fees) and will go on sale this weekend (February 23-25). There will be a 4 ticket limit per person in the amphitheatre pavilions and for the top price tiered tickets n the arenas. Visit www.thepolice.com and/or www.livenation.com for complete on-sale information in your city.

Join The Police Fan Club at ThePolice.com for access to tickets, contests and more. Gear up for tour in the official Police Store! For a limited time, fan club members get free shipping on orders of $110 or more, plus 5% off!