Some albums get better over time. When an album comes out and you really like it you listen to the shit out of it and then you let it go for a while, and then if it’s really good you can come back to it and its just as great as it was. Sometimes those albums reach that “personal favorite” status by some magical form of musical inflation (even in a recession). Elvis Costello does that a lot (King of America, My Aim Is True). And sometimes I forget how good he is because he’s been making amazing music for so long. And I don’t think I’m being premature here but I’ve given his new record Momofuku (on Lost Highway) a few listens now and it’s pretty fucking good. You will hear a lot of that Attractions sound thanks to the keyboard work of Steve Nieve (see Vox Continental Organ in “American Gangster Time”) and the new addition that you’ll really like is the subtle backing vocals from the queen of Silverlake, Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis. (Perhaps most audible on “No Hiding Place” and the final track “Go Away”) When I’d heard they were working together I thought it would be like a duet album but really she is just a backing vocalist like it says in the liner notes. I guess they really couldn’t have called it just an Elvis album if she was any more prominent.

Momofuku has the right mix of moderate rocking in tracks like “Stella Hurt” and mellowness in the latin rhythmed “Harry Worth” and is super solid overall. Because of this, Momofuku has been added to my Saturday afternoon being-lazy-and-pretending-to-clean-my-apartment music. I never notice the lyrics in a piece of music first, I hear them and sometimes I note lines that stick out but I follow the melodies and let the music build in my head until after a few listens I hear the album overall as it is. This makes Elvis’ music last a bit longer to me because after you peel away all the layers of this bloomin’ onion of great musicianship and perfect songwriting there are some AMAZING lyrics waiting to find you. And the great thing about it is that when you get done with it, you can let it go for a while, come back, and it might be even better than now.

So I’m gonna give Momofuku an 8/10.

“…to the bridge”

And now the CONTEST! AvantTrash and Filter Magazine have teamed up again to give away Elvis Costello’s new album Momofuku on CD and VINYL to one lucky reader. Actually though, i think i’ll break this up and give the VINYL to the first place and the CD to the 2nd place winner.

So I’m gonna make this game easy. I’ll show you 4 Elvis’ and you just have to tell me whether its Elvis Presley or Elvis Costello:

1)

2)

3)

4)

Bonus dealbreaker question: What song did Elvis Costello interrupt on SNL to play “Radio, Radio” and with whom did he perform “Radio, Radio” years later on SNL?

Send your ANSWERS ONLY to: contest@avanttrash.com. I will ask for your info if you are a winner. Winners will be selected at random from the CORRECT entries. Dealbreaker is simply for my amusement.

This contest ends WEDNESDAY, MAY 21st at 11:59pm PST.