Album Review: Elbow, “Audio Vertigo”

‘You’re a pitiless millstone / Impossible check / You’re a lure to the shore / And the rocks and a wreck / You’re a slender and elegant foot on the neck / And I love you.’ Elbow frontman Guy Garvey delivers these poetically devastating lyrics on “The Picture,” one of twelve tracks from the band’s tenth studio album, Audio Vertigo. Elbow’s previous album, Flying Dream 1 (which landed on our Top 20 Albums of 2021 list), was whimsical and contemplative, and now the band has emerged post-pandemic with a boisterous spirit, delivering an album full of groovy hooks and dark romantic musings. Continue reading “Album Review: Elbow, “Audio Vertigo””

Show Review: Elbow at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, 7/22/09

Guy Garvey and the Mirrorball about which he may be singing.
Guy Garvey and the Mirrorball about which he may be singing.

Last night, I finally visited The Wiltern in Los Angeles to see my current favorite band, Elbow. [Editor’s note: expect lots of fanboy gushing.] They’re in the U.S. supporting Coldplay, and they added three headline dates. Since none of their shows–the support or headline ones–are coming up to the Bay Area, I decided that I would fly down for the show as well as take the opportunity to visit with some of my Southland friends and drop in on Disneyland, too. Travelling for a show automatically raises the stakes and makes it harder to live up to expectations. So how did this night go? Continue reading “Show Review: Elbow at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, 7/22/09”