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By Jeff Salamon he dreams of performing a few songs in front of the entire world and then OU RKKI) CAMK. TO NEW YORK Elvis Costello's original spin telling the assembled how much last month, commanded a pain he wants them to feel. Broadway stage and played How strange—the only commu- L the song "" for nity he can imagine is based on the umpteenth time. The rendition mutual hostility. But then, Newman was passable—springy, lively, the doesn't write songs to establish a audience was up and dancing—but common ground between him and for a song about somebody whose his audience; he'd rather justify his life was saved by music, there was own alienation. The songs work be- little at stake. cause he's talented enough to dig Odd, but not surprising. Safe at the same hole for the rest of his life last in his middle years, Reed is and find art sticking to the end of struggling to defy Neil Young's fa- his shovel every time. mous dictim about burning out or Costello finds himself in a similar fading away. The solution Reed's situation. Politics for him has long most recent album offers—politi- been not an opportunity for solidar- cal commitment—is as noble as it ity but an affirmation of his essential is intermittently successful (see In aloneness. And there are many who These Times, Feb. 22). Not all of would be happy to see Costello do Reed's topical verses succeed, but nothing but crank up that o!' per- on his best new songs (the Andy petual anger machine once a year Warhol eulogy, the AIDS song), he's for the rest of his life. found a new muse: his own mortal- Costello, fortunately, isn't one of ity. them. Spike is a stab at establishing At 34, Elvis Costello is 12 years a sense of community, and its most Reed's junior, but on his new ^•[•MBH^^^^^I^Kt ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^fmemmimprnm^^m moving song, "Satellite," shows how album, Spike, he's also got death iill angry after all these years, Costello grasps the power of restraint. far he's willing to go to get it. "Satel- on his mind. "God's Comic" fea- butt afteaftprr a whilpe hi«s witherinwithprinog fnrfurvy tioHnn asideaciHp, Costellfnetpl1r>o wearurparsc hies rpolitu - hope you live long now," he tells lite," like his earlier "Watching the tures a weary deity who lies on a seems creepy. What, after all, is this ical sympathies on his sleeve. Thatcher. Detectives," details the lives of waterbed and greets the deceased supposedly happily married, artis- "Let Him Dangle," the story of a / pray the Lord your soul to people who find in mass media the with a half-hearted harangue about tically successful man so damn wrongful execution, puts Dylan's keep intimacy they can't experience in the state of popular culture. Sipping angry about? Rather than resolve similar "Hurricane" to shame. Ellip- I think I'll be going before we real life. But where "Watching" was a cola while He spouts off about tically written, sparsely arranged, fold our arms and start to weep caustic, "Satellite" declines to judge. everything under the sun, He could MUSIC it sidesteps the sort of grandstand- I never thought for a moment As someone who himself chooses to be the inspiration for Reed's avun- ing that passes for social commen- that human life could be so cheap communicate through a commercial cular stage patter. In any case, the the contradiction of growing old tary nowaways: there's nothing 'Cos when they finally put you medium, Costello realizes that any music—from the sprightly verses and continuing to rock and roll, here but Costello's sense of wound- in the ground finger he points will eventually be to the chorus' echo of a beer hall Costello simply is talented enough ed justice. They'll stand there laughing directed his way. sing-along- is a far cry from the to have avoided it. Righteous reserve: He also and tramp the din down. This is, indeed, a kinder, gentler apocalyptic fury Costello embod- Spike faces this dilemma and keeps himself out of the picture in The song's structure is perverse. Costello. But don't get the wrong ied on his debut record's "Waiting comes up with the same answer as "Any King's Shilling," an old sol- It starts off with a malevolent im- idea, Elvis hasn't repented; he's just for the End of the World." Reed: go left, young man. Costello's dier's plea that a young friend not pulse, justifies it for three minutes, realized, as he once sang a long time Whither fury? Like Reed, Cos- politics have always been what follow in his footsteps. When Cos- and then turns against its own hate. ago, with very different meaning, tello's in the midst of a mid-career you'd call progressive, but his Old tello's voice quavers on the high Costello sounds genuinely weary of that there's no such thing as original crisis. Twelve years after his scab- Testament sense of vengeance hint- notes, it's like he's fighting back the this anger that doesn't change sin. [•] rous debut he still puts out more ed at a separate agenda. The con- disgust that's become an involun- things. He wonders how he's al- Jeff Salamon is an assistant editor at wit and bile than you'd ever need, stant demonization of his enemies tary reflex. The reserve is worth it; lowed himself to get so twisted up the Village Voice. —fascist leader Oswald Mosleyon his tone of righteous fatalism could inside that his first political im- "Less Than Zero," corporate Britain have been lifted from a Wilfred pulse is akin to assassination. in "Night Rally," any number of Owen poem. Where these songs tie their mes- women on any number of songs- "Tramp the Dirt Down," the sages to concrete circumstances, has always been more an act of self- album's centerpiece, is more expli- "Last Boat Leaving" keeps its his- definition than social critique. For cit in its self-abnegation. Costello torical context open, A father, in Costello, the political was per- starts with a snapshot of Margaret the middle of the night, says sonal—and in the worst possible Thatcher on the campaign trail farewell to his son for the last time. way. (When she kisses a baby, he asks, "Do you know what I've done?" he The first sign of a change was "Can you imagine all that greed and asks over and over, and we defi- 1983's "Shipbuilding," about how avarice coming down on that nitely don't. He could be lots of war (the Falkland Islands was the child's lips?") and goes on to ex- people—a laid-off Pittsburgh steel- inspiration) affects a small town in press avsincere hope that when she worker hoping to find a job in England. Pleased by the wartime dies, he'll "stand on [her] grave and Alaska, an IRA terrorist who can no boost to its economy, the town tramp the dirt down." Even for the longer remain safely in his own seems perplexed that people actu- vitriolic Costello this is a real country, or just a beleaguered teen- ally die in combat. Yet, ridiculing shock—set as it is against a sedate age parent unprepared for the de- the small town's small minds, Cos- Irish folk melody. mands of family life. tello sounded crushed by the way Apparently it scared Costello Costello a new man: That's the circumstances reduce people to too. After settling down to a series final song on the album, and it strikes this sort of blood-and-butter cal- of rips at Thatcher, the song ends a faint echo of the last song on the culus. with an ambiguous retraction. "1 latest Randy Newman album, Land 1985's King of America featured i —•—•»-^»—••^^=1 of Dreams. Newman, another mid- moments of similar generosity, but dle-aged misanthrope, closes with "I amidst his typically opaque lyrics Eclectic pop master Just Want You to Hurt Like I Do," they seemed mere ploys in the Elvis Costello's about a masochist who enjoys bring- elaborate cat-and-mouse game ing his loved ones down with him. Costello has played with his listen- new album Spike is Unlike Costello's narrator, who ers for years. Spike opens with a stab at sounds torn apart over leaving his another evasive maneuver—the son, Newman's delights in abandon- first verse of "...This Town..." dis- establishing a sense ing his. parages some cheesy singer who of community. Newman, like Costello, has always burdens his audience with his "top- had problems relating to a mass au- ical verse." But that initial reserva- dience. In "I Just Want You to Hurt"

IN THESE TIMES MAY 3-9, 1989 21 LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED

Rio area, most of it unavailable in this coun- cians in New York, although 1 have recorded ' rian pop] that's going over big in Paris. And Brazil try. There are some tracks by Martinho da little bits of it elsewhere. It's a mixture of there's the Cumbias from Colombia. It's got Continued from page 24 Vila, but he's probably the only name that new songs and some things that didn't fit on a great groove, very commercial, not aren't going to be overly impressed by my you'll be able to find in North American rec- the last album. folkloric at all. There's also a form called name. I'm sure the music found its own au- ord shops. I'm not sure when the next Talking Heads ghazal; it's a sung poetry from India and dience, mostly by word of mouth, I'd imagine. How about American gigs for Brazilian album will be put together or what form it Pakistan. Some of the records I've heard have I produced an animated video of "Ponta de artists? Will any of these people open for will take. Chris [Frantz] and Tina a nice garage- quality, with backup that Lanca Africano" that's been shown on VH1 the next Talking Heads tour? [Weymouth] are in town rehearsing for some ranges from harmonium to autoharp to elec- and a few of the cable stations, and I've done We'll see what happens. Caetano Veloso just dates, and Jerry [Harrison] tric guitar and big swirling violin sections. some interviews, but that's all I've done to recorded an album, with Arto and Peter from is finishing up his next record, so we're all There's also an Arabic pop artist called Farid promote it. the Ambitious Lovers producing, and I'm pretty busy, although not as a band. Alatrash. The rhythms on his records are When you see a Brazilian artist live, the working on a record myself, so we'll have to How about other kinds of world music? played by a string section, and they get an percussion really cooks, it's got an edge wait and see. Any plans to expose people to more amazing groove going. It's very dramatic. It to it. On record the vocals are usually A solo album? obscure sounds? would be nice to get the rights to some of mixed way up front. Is there a reason for Well, I'm not going into the studio and play- I'm not sure yet, but there's plenty of in- that stuff. g that? ing all the parts on a synthesizer, but it's my teresting music that people don't hear in J. Poet, a critic living in Berkeley, Calif., is a Arto Lindsay tells me that Brazil, until re- project. I'm working mostly with Latin musi- North America. I like some of the rai [Alge- frequent contributor to In These Times. cently, was mostly a preliterate, oral culture, so they place great importance on the way Buy, buy Brazil and more: picks from Dave's World Beat record collection things are said or sung, not only the words Beleza Tropical, Various Artists (Sire). The Island tried, and failed, to market Ade's juju background in Arabic music, you'll find these themselves, but the tone of voice, too. Even Gospel According to Brazil, featuring work music. With five lead guitars, pedal steel, tunes hard to get out of your head. "Ha-Liya- in a love song there's a subtle wordplay going by superstars like Caetano Veloso, Milton talking drums, traps, congas, bongos, two Ouana-Alch" (Why Does This Happen to on, much of it idiomatic and hard to trans- Nascimento, , Gilberto Gil and the bass guitars and a handful of singers, you Me?) sounds like the Castaways' "Liar Liar" late, but very sophisticated. And most sin- ever popular Others. The percussive Afro- might expect the music to be too busy for taken to the casbah, "Ateni Bniti" (Give Me gers consider themselves poets rather than Brazilian energy that drives these tracks will North American ears, but after the hypnotic Back My Daughter) is funky enough to mix with ; they put a lot of time and effort be a revelation to anyone who thinks that juju groove takes effect, you notice how any dance club track, and "N'sel Fik," a duet into the lyrics, so they want them to be heard. Brazilian music belongs in the Easy Listen- much space there is in the arrangements. with rai superstar (and husband) Cheb Sah- There's also a lot of censorship going on. ing/New Age bin. Check the Afro-rock of You Are Mine, Cheba Fadela (Mango). Rai raoui, is considered the rai national anthem. I just read that Chico Buarque had to submit Jorge Ben's "Umbabarauma," the Latin ("wry") is an Algerian brand of pop that will Rai Rebels, Various Artists (Earth Works the lyrics of his last record to the govern- of Chico Buarque's "Canada," Gilberto Gil's force you to redefine your preconceptions Virgin). A collection of rai artists singing ment censorship board, and when he got "Quilombo, o el Dorado Negro" or the gently of African music. You Are Mine is the product their biggest hits, with liner notes that will them back there were only three songs swinging Brazilian of Nazare Pereira's of a collaboration between Rachid Baba fill you in on rai. they'd let him sing. "Caixa de Sol." No matter where you drop Ahmed, a multi-instrumentalistproducer re- Qareeb, Najma (Shanachie). Recorded in Are you going ahead with the samba an- the needle or set the program (the CD has cord mogul who may be the Phil Spector of London with British pop producers, this in- thology you spoke about in the notes on four extra tracks), you're gonna hear some rai, and Fadela, rai's top female star. Since troduces most Western ears to Ghazal, a Beleze Tropical? mind-blowing sounds. The package includes rai is a highly improvisational form, Ahmed traditional music from India with Persian Yeah. The selection is done, and we're work- a discography to guide further exploration records Fadela's vocals first, using a click roots. By increasing the tempo and adding ing on clearing the rights for the tapes. At and helpful notes on the artists by Arto track to keep the time. Later on, he adds modern technology, Najma has produced an the moment it doesn't have any of the same Lindsay. beatbox technology, backbeats Indian pop hybrid that swings in the Western artists on it. This is samba music from the Brazil Is Back, Various Artists (Celluloid). and bluesy Arabic guitar figures to the basic sense while retaining its traditional sound. This compilation is more diffuse than track, with startling results. Even with no -J.P. SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Byrne's, with a harder, almost rock'n'roll edge to some of the tracks. Standouts include CALENDAR If applicable affix your mailing label here. Gilberto Gil's rugged samba treatment of "Soy Loco Por Ti America"; "Vida" by Obina Use the Calendar to announce conferences, lec- Bonds of Love, will speak on "The Myth of the I AM: tures, films, events, etc. The cost is $20.00 for one Dangerous Mother" as the final lecture in New Col- Shok, a band that mixes juju, samba, rock insertion, $30.00 for two insertions and $15.00 for lege's Graduate Psychology Program Lecture Series. each additional insert, for copy of 50 words or less Lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. at New College Valencia NAME and soca; and "Radio Blah" by Labao, (additional words are 50

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IN THESE TIMES MAY 3-9, 1989 23 LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED

By J. Poet

internationalization of pop, known as i/orld Beat, is going strong, and , JJ head Talking Head, has been in its van- guard for almost a decade. Since 1979 CD Byrne has used Afro-Caribbean rhythmic Of in his music to expand the vocabulary n o of European and North American pop. 3 A few months ago Byrne took a more direct involve- ment. He put together Beleza Tropical, a 14-song album (and 18-song cassette and CD) that contains H some of the biggest Brazilian hits of the past 20 years. 0 In These Times recently spoke to Byrne about his love Z affair with Afro-Caribbean forms and his musical plans for the future. rj Let's backtrack and start with African music. You've c listened to enough of it to incorporate it into your songwriting. How did you discover it? o In '78 I picked up a few African albums. When we TJ m were working on the album there was D a sonq called "I Zimbra," and one of the rhythms on [0 one of the records fit it perfectly, so I took it from [fl there There weren't any guides at the time, so it was 0 pretty hit-or-miss. I'd known of Fela and Sunny Ade, CD of course, but just as often I'd find something great m by someone I'd never heard of. > _. . "'T7™?™"^"" sss»w* U Did African music catch your ear right off? .en I had those Island Records' compilations with the guy Q) playing guitar in front of a grass hut [Assalam D Q. Aleikoum Africa}. The title song by Francis Kingsley ~i was pretty nice, but at the time I didn't get too ex- CD cited. Like the Brazilian stuff, I needed to listen to 0 TJ more of it before I enjoyed it, although it might have m been a case of not hearing the right stuff. A lot of people today hear African music and seem to like it en right off. g^^ygfet Well, people like you and Peter Gabriel have been using African rhythmic ideas for almost 10 years now in pop, so maybe it doesn't sound as foreign as it once did. Was there one record or song you re- member as being the pivotal point? Yeah, I heard an album called 17 Mabone. On the iliilfiS|w^ album cover there was a picture of a car with 17 'V^iyv^'^'^'V^VfVi'1^ -"-:-•; -::;.. •.,->-'^"\'":?!-;f'~!:^. '"^..r-v.s'V1: :; ""••:•: y1*;;* *'".?*• •- '"•.. -,"••-"•„:.' <••*;•• headlights on it. There wasn't any information on the record jacket, but I think it was from South Africa or Lesotho. It was mostly instrumental, and it started off with cars revving their engines and people chanting and screaming about the Indy 500 or something. It sounded like some kind of bizarre culture dash. There was violin and sax and the kind of South African drum patterns that we're more familiar with today. It was typical of the kind of musical hybrids that I find in- teresting. People from one culture assimilating some- thing and using it to create something that's brand new. When you hear music that's almost familiar but played in a new way, it's very exciting. In the notes you wrote for Beleza Tropical you said that you "didn't get" Brazilian music at first. In retro- spect, do you know what it was that you weren't hearing? I guess I wasn't in the right frame of mind to enjoy it. The first things I heard could even be the same music that's on [Beleza Tropical], but at the time the light- ness of the rhythm and the groove sounded too mel- low. This is the late '70s I'm talking about, and I was

24 IN THE§E TIMES MAY 3-9, 1989

LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED