tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:55:59 +00001977EC storiesEC GuestsFolie A DeuxThis Year's Model1994EC livebrutal youthblood and chocolateKing of America1986Armed ForcesMy Aim Is True1979EC covered2008DemosRock Band 2You Say There Is No Antidote? You Always Did Know Better.http://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Jeff)Blogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-7092527661880303841Tue, 25 May 2010 13:45:00 +00002010-05-25T06:45:26.369-07:00 via eatthis.menshealth.com Posted via web from Pop Geek http://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2010/05/worst-beverage-in-america-i-want-one.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-5468132035545051220Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:28:00 +00002009-01-05T14:23:50.830-08:00EC GuestsFolie A Deux2008I won't lie; there's something fun and poppy about Fall Out Boy that appeals to me. I won't apologize for it, and I shouldn't have to. Yes, their music is 'teh emo', substitutescleverness for true intelligence and is generally an overwrought confessional about just how difficult it is to be Fall Out Boy, but I think that they're just good enough that there's value there.And so, apparently, doeshttp://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2009/01/ec-guests-fall-out-boy-what-catch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jeff)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-103417234487483766Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:01:00 +00002008-10-08T11:09:38.697-07:00This Year's ModelRock Band 2Being Poisoned Letter's resident gamer geek, it didn't escape my notice that "Pump It Up" is on the track list of Rock Band 2. Which is good news, except that I'm still having trouble getting five stars on the thing on Hard. It frustrates me more than Elvis Costello should. It's the master recording, not a cover, and other than the chord-y bits that vex me, it's fun to play. I'm hoping that http://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2008/10/pump-it-up-in-rock-band-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jeff)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-8915115964650793977Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:47:00 +00002008-10-07T10:57:06.764-07:00This Year's ModelEC coveredI've been a fan of mashups for a couple years now, but no one has taken it to quite the luscious extremes of Girl Talk. His tunes are less mashups than total reimaginings of pop and hip-hop tracks built from the detritus of sound itself. It's like cutting together fifty different scenes from fifty different movies to create a new film, or swiping paragraphs from different novels to craft one http://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2008/10/ec-covered-girl-talk-swipes-pump-it-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-1296437071904720436Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:36:00 +00002008-09-29T07:04:43.878-07:00brutal youth1994My wife hates baby boomers.Maybe "hate" is a strong word, but she blames them (and rightly so, in my opinion) for much of what's wrong with our country and culture. She's especially right about their dominance over popular art; they're the reason Mick Jagger and his fellows still have a career in spite of their age and general lack of whatever it was that first made the true spirit of rock 'n' http://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2008/09/pony-st.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-7254205190072487350Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:26:00 +00002008-09-02T07:26:03.600-07:001986King of AmericaEC liveOn some EC tunes, it's hard to uncover his meanings and motives; on this track, it's hard to miss them.This is a song about being seriously fucking hung over. The album cut from King of America boasts fiery guitar work from James Burton, a legendary studio hand and part of Elvis Presley's infamous TCB backing band. In fact, the entire TCB combo, including bassist Jerry Scheff and drummer Ronnie http://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2008/09/big-light.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-6799849289156092212Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:35:00 +00002008-08-29T13:18:16.681-07:001977My Aim Is TrueDemosLike Roddy Doyle's Barrytown musicians at the end of The Commitments, maybe Elvis Costello's real calling was country music.Elvis has had some notable performances with country luminaries like Emmylou Harris and George Jones, released his own country album with Almost Blue and wrote a whole mess of songs - like Complicated Shadows - that he wanted Johnny Cash to sing.That may not sound like the http://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2008/08/honky-tonk-demo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jeff)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-4091214952877148212Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:20:00 +00002008-08-27T07:24:17.505-07:001986EC coveredblood and chocolateCovers like this are the reason why I love cover songs. The original track off of Blood and Chocolate is a favorite of mine (and probably every EC fan's - let's be honest), but this performance from 2006's largely-forgettable Decades Live: Elvis Costello and Friends concert is maybe the most perfect version of the song I've heard.Fiona Apple's voice is so goddamn emotive, and she plays the http://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2008/08/elvis-covers-fiona-apple-i-want-you.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jeff)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-5517944883459653223Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:30:00 +00002008-08-27T07:28:37.461-07:001979Armed ForcesEmotional Fascism was the working title of Elvis Costello's 1979 release with the Attractions, what would become Armed Forces. It's no surprise that the record features military metaphors for relationships throughout, and perhaps nowhere moreso than on its closing track.Yet at the risk of launching the actual content of this blog with a shit-stirring opinion, I have to ask: What's up with EC's http://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2008/08/two-little-hitlers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-2677518895864112653Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:24:00 +00002008-08-25T12:34:16.823-07:00EC storiesIt was Top 40 radio that introduced me to Elvis Costello.That's ironic not only because Costello and Top 40 radio were rarely friends in the US, but also because the tracks and albums of his I've embraced the most wholeheartedly are the ones that never found purchase in the mainstream.I was ten years old. The song was Veronica. I didn't understand the song beyond the driving, poppy beat and thehttp://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2008/08/jeff-and-elvis-4-ever.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jeff)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155872237291110076.post-7399815268193950168Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:56:00 +00002008-08-25T08:33:46.842-07:00EC storiesElvis Presley died on August 16, 1977.Just a few weeks earlier, Elvis Costello was born, with the release of his first album, My Aim is True. Those obsessed with symmetry (namely, me) could pour plenty of meaning into that coincidence. In the foreground, you have the death of a man whose early career gave rock 'n' roll its legs but whose later years represented every bloated excess that the musichttp://poisonedletter.blogspot.com/2008/08/matts-ec-story.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt)3