A Rare Pilgrimage

I made an increasingly rare trip to Amoeba last weekend to make a couple of purchases. In my sights: Elvis Costello's new "Momofuku", and Hayden's "In Town & Country". The main motivator was that as of last weekend "Momofuku" was only available on vinyl. That's right baby, I took the bait.

Amoeba was pretty much the same as always, only noticeably much more breathing room for Saturday at noon. We had no trouble parking underneath the building and at no time did I have to step over someone's dog or baby stroller while checking out the bins. People still tell me that Amoeba is doing great!, but the slim Saturday attendance hints otherwise.

So on to the music. I'm starting to think about the new Elvis Costello record in this light: the songs I'm hearing are good, but I'm not hearing much that has the mark of real Costello genius. Momofuku comes on the heels of a few truly magnificent records: North, Delivery Man, and The River In Reverse. By comparison this one feels extremely undeveloped (or raw, if you're feeling generous). Don't get me wrong. It's not bad work. But would the world have noticed if Momofuku had never been released? Probably not. I felt the same way about "When I Was Cruel".

The Hayden record is simply the next in a line of spectacular and intimate works from a shamefully under-recognized Canadian. This is the record that will haunt your summer. Buy it. If you don't own his Elk Lake Serenade from 2004, buy that too.