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Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... - Episode 1 (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — As he enters his fourth decade as a professional musician, Elvis Costello has successfully parlayed his experience as a chameleonic rock musician into some sort of self-appointed ambassadorial role....

Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... - Episode 1 (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — As he enters his fourth decade as a professional musician, Elvis Costello has successfully parlayed his experience as a chameleonic rock musician into some sort of self-appointed ambassadorial role....

Ear on TV: Week of 12.08.08
thus spake drake —

Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... -- Episode 2 (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — Since we’re in the thick of the holiday season, I should mention that the instrumental theme song to Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... ( Wednesdays at 9pm EST/PST on the Sundance Channel ) is incredibly similar to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”—specifically, the “He knows when you are sleeping” line. Except that last note ("sleeping") goes pear-shaped on what sounds like an oboe. Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-DUUUUH. Subliminal holiday tie-in? Or have the seasonal jingles merely corrupted my sentimental (and susceptible) brain? For the second episode of his weekly talk show, Costello welcomes yet another musical icon. This time the featured guest is Lou Reed, who receives a hero’s welcome ...

Ear on TV: Week of 12.15.08
thus spake drake —

Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... - Episode 3 (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — Elvis becomes the other Elvis for the third episode of his weekly show, Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... ( Wednesdays at 9pm EST/PST on the Sundance Channel ), performing covers of “Mystery Train” and “Baby, Let’s Play House”. Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher are the rock-solid rhythm section, while nimble-fingered James Burton (formerly of Presley’s TCB band in the 1970s) handles lead guitar duties. The band shines, especially Burton, whose licks ripple up and down the guitar’s neck; Costello, on the other hand, takes too many liberties with the lyric’s phrasing, eventually throwing Faragher’s harmony vocal for a loop. Despite its somewhat wobbly course, “Mystery Train” is an apt ...

Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... - Episode 4 (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — James Taylor: isn’t he supposed to be the antithesis of a songwriter like Elvis Costello? Isn’t that what we were once taught, those of us who grew up seeking alternatives to the hold-overs of AM radio’s “soft rock” rein—Taylor, the sanitized, mother-approved opposite of a dangerous, subversive character like Costello? I’ve been guilty of thinking this way before, of championing something that skirts outside the mainstream’s straight-and-narrow merely to satisfy my own contrarian agendas. And yet, this isn’t a healthy way to think, nor a healthy way to absorb music (or the possibilities offered by any experience, for that matter). There is room in our lives for both the James Taylors ...

Spectacle: Elvis Costello With Tony Bennett (Episode 5) (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — Nu-progressive types beware! At first blush, Tony Bennett can seem to be a crotchety old traditionalist, harshly critical of any popular music trend that flirts outside the pages of the Great American Songbook. During his appearance on Elvis Costello’s weekly Spectacle show ( Wednesdays at 9pm EST/PST on the Sundance Channel ), Bennett faults contemporary music for its emphasis on banging and clanging (there’s “too many drums...instead of harmony and melody,” he explains, adding, “and they’re all screaming!"), recalls a time when “the audience was so with the music,” and deems Porter, Gershwin, Ellington, Mercer, and Arlen as “America’s greatest ambassadors.” He even performs Kern ...

Ear on TV: Week of January 5: The Police
thus spake drake —

Spectacle: Elvis Costello With the Police (Episode 6) (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — The day before their supposed Final Show Ever at Madison Square Garden on August 7, 2008 (a hyped-up moment to cap the already hyped-up Improbable Reunion Tour), the Police recorded an appearance on Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... ( airing Wednesdays at 9pm EST/PST on the Sundance Channel ). Costello strives to get at the crux of the group’s musical chemistry through individual interviews with Andy Summers, Stuart Copeland, and Sting, but the episode ultimately revolves around their tenuous relationship, breakup, reformation, and second breakup. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—in fact, it allows for a bit of Sting’s ego humor to elicit some laughs (when Costello asks him if he ...

Spectacle: Who's Got the Biggest Ego?
thus spake drake —

Spectacle: Elvis Costello With Rufus Wainwright (Episode 7) (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — Elvis Costello wears a silly hat throughout this episode of Spectacle . It distracted me. (The offending accessory is a red, short-brimmed fedora that appears to be made from, ahem, velvet.) Is he attempting to be ironic, given that this episode deals with, among other things, pop standards—and, furthermore, that he opens the show with a winking cover of “If I Only Had a Brain”? (A performance that seems to say, Get it, if I only had a brain? Obviously I do have a brain, a big one at that; ergo, what I’m doing here with this song amuses me so. ) Does he think that this sort of questionable fashion choice is, in fact, the sort of thing that would impress or entertain a gay man? His ...

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Cash, Jones, Kristofferson, and Mellencamp (Episode 8) (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — On tonight’s episode of Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... ( airing Wednesdays at 9pm EST/PST on the Sundance Channel ), Costello brings together Rosanne Cash, Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson, and John Mellencamp for an old-fashioned songwriters’ circle, the kind that Rosanne’s father, Johnny, used to host back in the day. (Indeed, at one of those Cash-helmed circles, Kristofferson played “Me and Bobby McGee” for the first time, as he remembers at one point during the episode.) This format is slightly different than the first seven episodes in the series, as it focuses more on performance than discussion—a total of ten songs are performed over the course of the hour, by far the most ...

Cause=Time — Free Sundance Giftpack! Photobucket I wish they were tickets to the movie festival itself, but this will have to suffice. Thanks to the Sundance Channel & Cornerstone Promotion for the schwag! Here is a list of the spoils and all of the prizing is eco-friendly FYI. All you have to do is name me the person that is responsible for Sundance. I'll even give you a hint, he's known as the Sundance Kid. First one to send me the answer with their name and address to: julio.enriquez@gmail.com, takes the spoils.... Each prize pack includes: 1 Keen/Sundance Bag 1 Pair of Speakers 1 T-Shirt 1 Notebook 1 Sigg/Sundance Thermos Elvis Costello w/Kris Kristofferson (Mr. Blade ...

Conest: Win a Spectacle Prize Pack!!!
Pop Tarts Suck Toasted — My DVR is a little backed up right now and it is jam packed with episodes of Elvis Costello's Spectacle. I'm really looking forward to sitting down on a quiet Saturday and blowing through all the episodes which includes guests as varied and accomplished as Lou Reed, Elton John, Bill Clinton, and James Taylor. If you haven't check it ...

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Renée Fleming (Episode 9) (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — The silly red hat : it’s back. At first, when I see Elvis Costello wearing that questionable fashion choice once again atop his head while performing (an abridged) “All This Useless Beauty” at the start of tonight’s episode of Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... ( airing Wednesdays at 9pm EST/PST on the Sundance Channel ), I conclude that he must dust the thing off each time a devotee of opera appears on the show. Tonight’s guest, after all, is American soprano Renée Fleming. Alas, my conclusion is premature: halfway through the episode, Costello introduces, as a surprise guest, Rufus Wainwright, who appears wearing the same outfit from his previous episode. This episode, then, ...

Ear on TV: Week of February 2
thus spake drake —

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Herbie Hancock (Episode 10) (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — “I’m interested in human beings,” Herbie Hancock tells Elvis Costello on tonight’s episode of Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... ( airing Wednesdays at 9pm EST/PST on the Sundance Channel ). Hancock, one of the crucial figures in 20th century jazz and winner of last year’s Grammy Award for Album of the Year ( River: The Joni Letters ), is speaking about his music in relation to its audience, about the bond between the origin of a sound and its destination. The manner in which he breaks down the particulars of performance—whether it be a Gershwin standard, some Headhunters funk, or early-’80s robo-jazz—makes this episode of Spectacle one of the very best. The conversation between ...

Cause=Time — She & Him Picture 403 The two are still making the rounds and this time, they're appearing on the Spectacle: Elvis Costello Show on Sundance. Also appearing are Jenny Lewis and Jakob Dylan. From the video below, it seems as the two are a good interview and M. Ward is a lot more philosophical than I had ever imagined. Go here to enter for a chance to win a signed guitar from Sir Elton John and Elvis Costello. She & Him-Why Do You Let Me Stay Here [mp3] She & Him Jenny Lewis Jakob Dylan

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with She & Him, Jenny Lewis, and Jakob Dylan (Episode 11) (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — Much like the songwriters’ circle episode from a few weeks back, tonight’s episode of Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... ( airing Wednesdays at 9pm EST/PST on the Sundance Channel ) boasts multiple guests, and as a result, more music than talk. Costello is joined first by M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, who released their collaborative debut, She & Him, last year. Ward describes his predilection for music that blurs the distinctions of time and place—a “healthy confusion”, as he calls it. Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley) follows, and emphasizes Ward’s “timeless atmosphere”, a feeling that she chased after on last year’s Acid Tongue . Though She & Him deliver a solid “Change Is Hard” ...

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Diana Krall (Episode 12) (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — It’s about time that Elvis Costello’s wife, pianist and singer Diana Krall, appeared on Spectacle ( airing Wednesdays at 9pm EST/PST on the Sundance Channel )—after all, the cameras cut to her in the audience on most episodes, just another face in the crowd, a face that just so happens to be wed to the series’ host. So for this penultimate episode of the series, the spotlight’s hers. She appears alongside bassist Christian McBride and drummer Karriem Riggins, who back her up on a few terrific performances, including Nat King Cole’s “Exactly Like You” and the instrumental standard “Night Train”. In order to provide some critical distance, the show’s executive producer, Elton John, ...

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Smokey Robinson (Episode 13) (Sound Affects)
PopMatters — The great Smokey Robinson joins Elvis Costello for the final episode of the first season of Spectacle: Elvis Costello With…, airing tonight at 9pm EST/PST on the Sundance Channel. Costello, wowed by the Motown singer-songwriter’s presence, remarks that if Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and Groucho Marx all walked onto the stage, he wouldn’t be more thrilled. For his part, Robinson doesn’t disappoint. He holds court with great stories about meeting Berry Gordy for the first time, writing and recording songs for the original Motown roster, and watching on, dumbfounded, as Ray Charles wrote spontaneous arrangements for “Bad Girl” during his first performance at the Apollo Theater. In ...

'Precious' Interviews (video) (Mixed Media)
PopMatters — If you ignore the absolutely inane questions and lame vanity reaction shots from the interviewer, this brief cast interview from Sundance, with the cast of the upcoming Precious offers a bit of insight. Can’t wait until someone credible talks to this cast as it looks like they bring much to the table!— Matt Mazur ...