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Teenage Kicks: Our Aim is True

Posted at 2:38 PM on February 5, 2010 by Jacquie Fuller (2 Comments)
Filed under: Teenage Kicks

This week on Teenage Kicks, we're celbrating Elvis Costello's recent appearance on A Prairie Home Companion by crowning him Artist of the Week.

In his 33-year career making music under the moniker Elvis Costello (real name: Declan Patrick MacManus), Costello has proven himself as one of the most prolific and erudite songwriters in popular music.

Irish blood, English heart aside--in my heart, Costello is a great American songwriter. With their gleeful appropriations of country, blues, and even Tex-Mex (Costello's organ-driven sound was inspired by Texas' 60s psychedelic outfit, the Sir Douglas Quintet) Costello's narrative songs explore the darker side of banal, suburban landscapes. Costello is to pop music what Raymond Carver was to literature, or Edward Hopper to art.

And he's also got some serious moves:

I'd be hard pressed to tell you my favorite Elvis Costello song, but I think "Accidents Will Happen," and "A Kinder Murder" are high-up on the list. What's your favorite Costello song, and what do you love about it?

Tune in to Teenage Kicks for more Elvis!

Comments (2)

It is hard to pick just one, but I adore "Imagination is a Powerful Deceiver". It was on an old demo bootleg LP, with which I sadly parted ways. For many years I only heard it in my memory. It has been available as one of the bonus tracks on the CD reissues for years now, but I still usually hit 'repeat' when it comes up on my iPod.

Posted by simba | February 6, 2010 12:08 AM

Elvis Costello is more of a Jack Nicholson: a prolific, accomplished artist who takes on eclectic roles while maintaining his own archetype. I'd compare Raymond Carver more to someone like the National's Matt Berninger, but that's the English major in me talking.

My favorite is probably still "Pump It Up". It takes masturbation accusations & sets them to a perfectly jerky (ahem) series of riffs. The vacuousness of masturbation meets the vacousness of pop music. Pump it up.

Posted by Mac Wilson | February 6, 2010 9:56 AM

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