Rykodisc Elvis Costello is still trucking at the age of 47.
By Alex Palmer
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]
Slowing down is just not something Elvis Costello does.
With a new album and a worldwide tour, the 47-year-old
singer-songwriter continues to push musical boundaries.
Costello will be performing tonight with his new band, the
Imposters, at 8 p.m. in Ackerman Grand Ballroom.
Costello has been making music since the early ’70s, not
only writing and performing his own albums, but also producing and
collaborating on a myriad other projects.
As has been the case with most of Costello’s career, his
most recent music embarks upon something different than his
previous albums.
“When I Was Cruel,” his first solo album in seven
years, is a dramatic shift away from the more subdued work Costello
produced during the later part of the ’90s, which included an
orchestral pop collaboration with Burt Bacharach and an album of
pop standards recorded with classical singer Anne Sofie von
Otter.
On the new disc, Costello has turned up the volume and his album
is being lauded by critics as a return to his rock roots, although
not merely a reprocessing of it.
“When I Was Cruel” is full of the emotionally
charged melodies and booming rhythms that defined his earlier
albums and paved the way for the New Wave movement. But
“Cruel” is also wrapped in a new sense of maturity and
humorous outlook.
The album’s name itself refers to Costello’s
reputation as an angry young man during his punk days of the late
’70s.
Yet, while “rock” seems to be the best word to
describe the music Costello is making, he deliberately avoids the
term, preferring instead to call what he does “rowdy
rhythm.”
“(The term “˜rock’) symbolizes to me all the
pompous, conceited music that I can’t stand,” Costello
told the Associated Press.
Just as Costello’s new music draws on his early work, his
new band is comprised of members from his former group, the
Attractions, including drummer Pete Thomas and keyboard player
Steve Nieve.
Appropriately, fans can expect a mix of new and old music at
tonight’s show, spanning Costello’s entire repertoire
of over a dozen albums.
“I don’t feel the responsibility to play all of the
well-known songs. It’s better to mix things up,”
Costello said to the AP about his current tour. “One night
we’ll play “˜Alison’ and one night I might
not.”
Tonight’s show also marks Costello’s second
performance as UCLA’s Artist in Residence. He performed a
jazzier set last September with the Charles Mingus Orchestra.
As UCLA’s first Artist in Residence, Costello has not only
performed on campus, but worked in a variety of academic capacities
at the university.
Extending his already lengthy resume, Costello has been dabbling
in film and television, appearing in “Austin Powers 2,”
“Ally McBeal” and, most surprisingly, as a public
defender alongside Mary J. Blige and Fat Joe in the film
“Prison Song,” co-written by rapper Q-Tip.
At Elvis Costello’s show tonight, the audience will see an
artist who thrives on trying new things, one of the few musicians
who has managed to stay hip for almost three decades, consistently
garnering respect from music aficionados and Top 40 music fans
alike.
Whether it’s his sardonic wit, infectious melodies or his
signature glasses, after years of making music, Costello is out to
prove that Elvis is still king.