Podcast Review: The First Ten Years: ****

Artist: Elvis Costello
Podcast: The First Ten Years
Available for free at the iTunes store

Elvis Costello’s podcast, three episodes into the ten episode series, is thoughtful, if not slow, but exactly what the music industry needs from podcasts. Filled with clips from early albums and Costello waxing on his past, his music family and how he believes Elvis is merely a cultural image and has had no discernable impact on American music.

This is generally the kind of musical nugget that is best left for the fanatics. Music documentation has become so standard in America that it seems you need some form of documentary to be considered important anymore, even artists who have never been huge on the publicity train (Dylan) need a new documentary every year or two. But there is something special in Costello’s delivery, something charming and intimate about not having narrators, pictures and opinions, just Costello whispering in your ear in the coffee shop, in the car, at home. Point being, that, while it certainly is for Costello fans, it’s engaging enough to bring you to Costello if you’re not a fan. Clips from his songs, his lack of head spinning name-dropping, and his ability to draw you into this period in music history. This isn’t just about him, he was a part of something in the 70’s and he lets you know that, talking about seeing the early punk bands of London taking off, the aging legends of early rock-n-roll, and watching what was happening in the American rock scene from across the sea.

This series is a great introduction to a long prolific career of one of the most influential Londonites of the last 3 decades. Great bits about the London scene in the 70’s, Costello recording in the studio, trying to get started by stopping by studios and trying to audition in person for a job, just carrying an acoustic guitar. Easily worth the five minutes it’ll take you to download the three episodes you’ve missed.



The First Ten Years has only just begun, episode 4 is available for download July 10. A complete list of release dates for The First Ten Years podcast is available at myspace.com/elviscostello

Book Review: No One Belongs Here More Than You - Miranda July ****1/2

I've recently finished reading Miranda July's new book, 'No One Belongs Here More Than You.' If you aren't familiar with July she's a performance artist/filmmaker/author. She is one of the rare artists who is published and seen in many mediums, the kind you want to hate because they are doing so much. Though, unlike artists such as Nick Cave or Kevin Bacon, she is continuously successful at everything. 'No One Belongs Here More Than You' is not an exception. 



For July fans:

Her book floats. It's in another world. Not in the way that Judy Budnitz's 'Flying Leap' is only marginally grounded in reality (though not to its disadvantage) 'No One Belongs...' creates its own reality. If you try to place a finger on what its 'otherness' exactly is you won't find it. It is real, very grounded, but very distant. For any July fan the book is an tenacious lover that demands to be reread, it's her typical, overly-poignant, non-sequitor-esque dialogue. The stories wear bright colors (like the two pink or yellow covers available for the book) they leap in your face and sit on your tongue.



For everyone else:

The book is fresh and intriguing, she may very-well be one of the new voices of the American short story for the 21st century. It is a solid debut collection. Not perfect, solid. Stories like 'The Shared Patio,' and 'The Swim Team' are some of the best short story writing I've seen from any author in the last few years. The tone she has refined (or maybe the tone she was born with, either way, the tone that George Saunders has coined as July-esque) is omnipresent. It leaves you wondering if she is relentlessly, hopelessly optimistic in the face of the horrors of the every-day, or if the characters in her stories are so riddled with pain that they have adopted this tone, refusing to accept that the world is as bleak as it appears.


Read this book. If you have ever been intrigued by Judy Budnitz, Don DeLillo, Nick Flynn, Dave Eggers or need a good view of a harsh world through eyes that only see beauty you need this book as badly as the American short story needs someone of July’s varied talents