Elvis Costello

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Photos: Elvis Costello + Head & the Heart at the Newport Folk Festival

Harbor Stage + Fort Stage | July 31, 2011
Elvis Costello and Head & the Heart perform at the Newport Folk Festival on July 31, 2011.
By ALI DONOHUE | August 03, 2011

Grupo Esperanza bids farewell

Sibilance
After eight years of being one of the most in-demand party bands in town, GRUPO ESPERANZA have just one last show left in them: April 1 at the Empire. People looking for a working band, starting practicing your Latin beats.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | March 23, 2011

Review: Elvis Costello | National Ransom

Hear Music (2010)
Back in the late '70s and early '80s, Elvis Costello would plot his cosmic knowledge of music history into his own songs, as if they were booty for like-minded music geeks.
By ZETH LUNDY | October 26, 2010

Buzz not loud enough for Burnett's spectacular 'Speaking Clock Revue'

Supposed they gave a splashy benefit show and almost nobody knew about it?
Supposed they gave a splashy benefit show and almost nobody knew about it? This appeared to be the case when artist/producer T Bone Burnett brought his "Speaking Clock Revue" to the Wang Theatre over the weekend.
By BY BRETT MILANO | October 18, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Pernice Brothers | Goodbye, Killer

Ashmont (2010)
In the four years since the previous Pernice Brothers album, Joe Pernice has published a terrific debut novel ( It Feels So Good When I Stop ), released an accompanying soundtrack, and had his name catapulted into Twitter infamy by his acerbic foil (and manager), Joyce Linehan.
By ZETH LUNDY | June 16, 2010

The Unthanks | Here's the Tender Coming

Rough Trade (2010)
Rachel and Becky Unthank appear to have stepped out of another time and place.
By ZETH LUNDY | April 14, 2010

Easy does it

Treme tours New Orleans
Writer/producer Eric Overmyer was quoted in a New York Times Magazine article last month, but it’s worth repeating: “ Treme is not the The Wire .” He went on: “Those who are expecting The Wire or wanting The Wire may be frustrated.”
By JON GARELICK | April 08, 2010

Ghouls on parade

Profiting from the dead; more on ‘Buttercup’; and the latest in Pawtucket
The tale of local businessman Joseph A. Caramadre, who paid the terminally ill a fraction of the face value for the right to buy variable annuities in their names — annuities that paid out in full, plus interest, upon their deaths — is enough to make your skin crawl.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | March 17, 2010

Home and away

Zach Jones's diasporic Fading Flowers
For many songwriters, home is where the art is.
By SAM PFEIFLE | March 17, 2010

Spoon | Transference

Merge (2010)
Any year now, Spoon will release an album consisting of one 35-minute unfailing groove anchored by bass and peppered with erratic guitar-chord grunts and Britt Daniel's wordless exclamations ("Awright!") — an idealized endgame that distills the band's reductive technique to its purest state.
By ZETH LUNDY | January 13, 2010

Lowe life

Nick Lowe on growing up and growing old in the music business
Nick Lowe is a rare creature, a punk rock founding father who has endured and evolved gracefully.
By MICHAEL ATCHISON | October 07, 2009

Girls | Album

True Panther (2009)
On their debut long-player, Girls gorge themselves on the all-you-can-eat buffet that is rock's storied past. Somehow, though, they forgot the crucial dollop of excitement or charisma, so we're left with an earful of directionless heartbreak and failure.
By DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 28, 2009

Rosanne Cash | The List

Manhattan (2009)
In 1973, when she was an 18-year-old rock fan, Rosanne Cash's dad gave her a list of songs he felt she should know — mostly country, all falling under the current banner Americana. She held onto that list, and now she's recorded a dozen tunes from it.
By JEFF TAMARKIN | September 28, 2009

Recap: Bonnaroo 2009

Blog posts, slideshows, and more from Bonnaroo 2009
Live from Bonnaroo 2009
By PHOENIX STAFF | June 19, 2009

Photos: Bonnaroo 2009

Bruce Springsteen, Wilco, Elvis Costello, and more at Bonnaroo 2009
Bruce Springsteen, Wilco, Elvis Costello, and more at Bonnaroo 2009 in Manchester, Tennessee
By LEXY WINTER | June 17, 2009

Elvis Costello | Secret, Profane and Sugarcane

Hear Music (2009)
There are few genres into which Elvis Costello hasn't delved over the years, but he's always seemed particularly comfortable within the traditional back-porch country that occupies this latest session.
By JEFF TAMARKIN | June 08, 2009

The Irish rovers

The Pogues return to their other 'old main drag'
"The Pogues and Boston go together in ways that belong in the realm of the unexplainable."
By MIKE MILIARD | March 18, 2009

Thaww, yeah

Local CDs to help you make it until spring
Ah, wintertime. It's dark, it's cold, it seems like you might lose a few extremities to frostbite on the way to the club. You know what? Just go for it.
By MATT PARISH | December 29, 2008

The Year of the Nerd

Screw the jocks and prom queens — in 2008, geeks took control of entertainment, pro sports . . . even the White House
Barack Obama is many things. Dedicated senator. Devoted husband and father. Adept orator. President-elect. Nerd.
By RYAN STEWART | December 24, 2008