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ELVIS COSTELLO first saw the Bredsiry Quartet perform in 1989 after he'd completed his album

Spike.

~ Pop enfant terrible collaborates with quartet

‘

LVIS HAS a fling.
with strings; Mc-
femmes Cartney flings
himself Off The Ground; .
Timothy Leary turns on and
“then flings about; David
Cassidy flails about in a
post-Partridge Family fling.
Elvis Costello/The Brodsky

Quartet — The juliet Letters,
: Warner Bros. 1993 . - .

The Juliet Letters is by no means
a relaxed listen. Elvis (Declan
. MacManus) has not yet given us
his elevator music album. -
The often harrowing resuit of a
string quartet stepping aside from
- the sonic demands of Dimitri
Shostakovich to team up with pop
enfant terrible Elvis Costello is a
“creative collision of merit.
The lyrical. premise here, sur-

mised contents of a series of letters

addressed to Juliet Capulet and

-answered by a Veronese professor,

. gave Costello and company a fer-

__ tile playground.

>,» There are letters of all sorts: the .

confessional, the deranged, the

bitter, the suicidal, the junk mail.

Most deal in extreme expression

of loss, :
in the making of this disc

RECORD REVIEW

Costello was obviously challenged
by the technically proficient
quartet. Never much of a singer
with range, he pushes his voice in
new ways to rise to the demands
made by the musicians.

The Juliet Letters is a release
you'll either love or hate. Costello
has spent much of his career
pushing the bounds of various
musical genres. Invariably, the
best of his work is not found
standing on middle ground.

Paul McCartney — Off The
Ground, Capitel 19°23

He’s still writing sentimental silly
love songs and you can’t help but
be embarrassed for him when he
“rocks out’ telling no one in

_ particular to get out of his way and
out of his life'as he makes his way
to his real fine woman, | mean
come on: Linda, her vegan

cookbcok, the pastoral millionaire
on the farm with his kids and
animals — Paul as gonad-driven
guy with attitude just doesn’t cut
it. :

The thing to Jo with McCartney
at this stage of his career is to stop
expecting felicitous revelation. Do
not attempt to understand the
lyrics, enjoy him for the voice and
the unquestionable mastery he has
with the all-important pop hook.

Try if you can, for example, to
focus on the lovely melody of a
song like Golden Earth Girl and
ignore the soft-headed lyrical frip-
pery: “Golden earth girl, female
animal, sings to wind, resting at
sunset, in a mossy nest...”

Elvis Costello injects much-
needed edge to the affair and re-
joins McCartney as a co-writer,
this time for two songs, Mistress
and Maid and The Lovers That
Never Were.

Hamish Stuart and Robbie
Mcintosh help to harden the
sound with some rough and tum-
ble guitar work. ;
Timothy Leary — You Can Be
Anyore This Time Around,

Ryko 1992.

Whzea! The grain of this disc, the
digital universality of it all, 1 hold it
to the light that beckons and draw

See Rykodisc page 30

LUNCH + DINNER » SNACKS
22"° & MARINE, W.VAN, 925-2218

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR
TICKETS TO THE 1993
SHRINE CIRCUS?

Friday tickets are only available at
Lower Mainland Safeway Stores.
Price is $6.00 plus GST (General
Admission Only). Show time at
7:30 pm. ; .
Saturday & Sunday ticket prices
(including GST) are; :
General Admission $8.00
Reserved Seats, Adults $11.75
Reserved Seats, Children $9.75
Saturday Shows at 3:30 & 7:30pm
Sunday Shows at 2:06 & 6:00pm" §

Tickets availabie at all
Ticketmaster Outlets.

Phone 280-4444 |

FRIDAY, MARCH 1
SATURDAY, THAR
SUNDAY, MARCH 14 - DWSs
AT THE PACIFIC COLISEUM

455s &

THE OFFICIAL ENTRY
form was published in
the weekend edition of
this newspaper,
however, if you'd like
another entry form just
drop into your local
ICAP'S BICYCLE STORES.
Remember, the entries
will not be judged on

' artistic merit, the
1 winner will be selected
by a random draw from
all entries received. All
children between the
ages of 5 and 11 are
welcome to enter!
Contest entry

deadline is Friday,
means , February 26, 1993 at
5:00 pm.

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